Athletics: Muskett wins national 100km running title

Val MuskettWaikouaiti runner Val Muskett was the first New Zealand woman home in the national 100km running championships raced around Lake Taupo at the weekend.

Muskett (54) was beaten by Australian Kerrie Bremner but won the national title as she was the first New Zealand woman home.

Muskett said she was just using the race as a training run as she was concentrating on 24-hour races.

It took her 9hr 38min 55sec to complete the 100km course.

The race started at 3am on Saturday and Muskett said it was hard running on a busy road, and the course had some tough hills. There was 10 female runners in the 35-strong field for the race.

The race was part of the Great Lake Relay. Muskett finished fourth overall, with the winner Graeme Butcher, of Masterton, clocking just over nine hours. Bremner was about two minutes behind Butcher.

Muskett said her body felt good after the race and her big aim this year was the inaugural 24-hour Commonwealth championships in the United Kingdom in September.

She aimed to warm-up for the championships by running a couple of marathons, possibly one in Christchurch and one in the Gold Coast in the next few months.