She may have missed narrowly three years ago but there was no denying Rebekah Greene (Hill City-University) an open women's record in the Lovelock Relay on Saturday.
Greene's run of 4min 34sec was impressive as it was effectively a solo 1500m around the four laps of the University Oval circuit. The field had spread far and wide, leaving no-one for Green to use as a pace mark.
The Hill City-University team of Greene, Kirsty O'Sullivan, Hannah Adamson and Shauna Pali held off early challenges to comfortably retain the title in 19min 55sec.
Competing for Hill City in 2010, Green crossed the line with Hannah Newbould (University) in 4min 35.41sec, breaking the 4min 40sec mark established by Olympian Margurite Buist 25 years earlier, only for Newbould to be awarded the record in a photo finish.
The record was far from Greene's mind as she took the baton from Southland junior 800m champion Hannah Adamson for the third of four 1500m legs.
With some superb work done by the first two runners in her team, O'Sullivan and Adamson, Greene admitted afterwards she thought she had gone too fast on the first lap and felt she suffered a little in the closing stages.
The conditions were similar to three years ago, creating an ideal setting for Greene to do something special. And for those on hand, it was indeed a run to remember.
Despite her nervous turn of speed on the first lap, she settled into a steady stride and handled each subsequent lap with relative ease, passing the baton on to Pali for the final 1500m lap, still appearing fresh and relaxed.
''It would be really good to come back and make it quicker,'' Green said, after her surprise at learning she had set a record.
The run will have provided a confidence boost for Greene, as next Saturday she will contest a 1500m time trial in an attempt to qualify for the World University Games in Russia in July.
Although her Lovelock Relay time was run on grass, she will need to run 4min 18sec on the track to meet the A standard, and 4min 22sec to meet the B standard.
