Dunedin distance runner Shireen Crumpton (Hill City) dedicated her win in the New Zealand half marathon championships in Auckland yesterday to her husband, who died on the day of the race a year ago.
Doug Crumpton, who died of cancer, always encouraged his wife to continue with her athletics career.
"The win was special to me. The memory of Doug gave me strength during the race. I dedicated the win to him," Crumpton told the Otago Daily Times.
"It felt good to win another national title in the half marathon, which had 6290 competitors."
Crumpton (39) finished seventh and won gold in the senior women's race with a time of 1hr 15min 59sec, from Nikki Hamblin (Waikato), 1hr 16min 38sec, and Maria Bentley (Wellington), 1hr 20min.
It was Crumpton's fourth national half marathon title.
She won three in a row from 2002 to 2004.
She had doubts before the race because her training had been restricted by hamstring problems since returning from the World Cup marathon in Berlin two months ago.
However, her body was balanced by Dunedin physiotherapist Helen Littleworth last week, and the treatment unlocked her joints.
Crumpton took the lead in the women's race from the start and felt confident when she passed through 10km in 35min 30sec.
Her next targets are winning the New Zealand marathon title in Invercargill on November 22 and breaking the New Delhi Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 2hr 37min.
Dave Rush (Leith) finished 21st in 1hr 20min 21sec and was fifth in the masters men's 40-44 grade.
Julie Wilson (Ariki) was 72nd in 1hr 25min 52sec and won the gold medal in the masters women's 50-54 grade.
