Athletics: Not cheap to stay in the running

Dunedin runner Shireen Crumpton will spearhead the New Zealand women's marathon team at the world athletics championships in Berlin.

But it will come at a cost.

The event has been designated as self-funding and athletes selected must pay their own way to Berlin.

Crumpton estimates it will cost her $7000.

She has received a $1000 grant from the Skeggs Foundation.

"Only the carded athletes are subsidised by Athletics New Zealand," Crumpton told the Otago Daily Times yesterday. "I will have to dig into my capital."

Crumpton (38) qualified for the world championships when she won the Gold Coast marathon in 2hr 38min 16sec in July last year.

It was the third-fastest time of her career and beat the International Amateur Athletics Federation's qualifying standard for the world championships by 5min.

It was the first marathon run by Crumpton for two years since she failed to qualify for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Crumpton, who also won in 2003, is one of the few runners to win the Gold Coast marathon twice.

She had an all-expenses paid trip back this year to attempt to win the event for a third time.

It was a toss up between the Gold Coast event or paying her own way to Berlin for the world championships.

"The world championships is a prestigious event and it is very hard to make the New Zealand team for the event and I wanted to give it another go," Crumpton said.

Crumpton has won nine of her 15 marathons with a best time of 2hr 37min 3sec when finishing 33rd at the world championships in Helsinki in 2005.

"I want to better my 33rd placing from four years ago and help the New Zealand team into the top six," Crumpton said.

The other members of the New Zealand marathon team are all overseas based: Michael Aish (men), Mary Davies, Fiona Docherty (women).

Crumpton expects weather conditions to be between 18degC and 30degC in Berlin and knows it will be difficult to run a personal best time.

"The race starts at 11am and we will be racing in the hottest part of the day." Crumpton said.

Crumpton first competed for New Zealand at the world mountain running championships in Austria in 1996 when she finished 25th.

She has represented New Zealand in road relays and has also competed in the world championship half-marathon.

Crumpton is running 130km a week in training and expects to raise this to 160km before she leaves for the world championships.

She intends to race the Gold Coast half marathon on July 5 and the Otago cross-country a week later.

The world championships in Berlin will be held between August 15 to 23 and this will not give Crumpton enough time to recover to defend her New Zealand road title in Dunedin on September 5.

There is a strong Otago presence in the support staff appointed for the world championships with the physiotherapists headed by Helen Littleworth, who filled a similar role at the world championships at Osaka two years ago.

She is a former Black Ferns captain and also played hockey for New Zealand in the late 1980s.

The team manager is Raylene Bates, who managed the team in Osaka and the track and field athletes at the Beijing Olympic Games last year.