Kim Smith has won the Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon, breaking New Zealand and US records in the process.
Smith won the race in 67 minutes 11 seconds, improving her own US Allcomers record by 25 seconds, also setting a New Zealand national half marathon record.
It was Smith's first major race since the Boston Marathon, where she had a big lead after 16km but succumbed to a torn calf muscle and had to drop out.
"It was nice to have this race,'' Smith said. "I needed this for motivation. I was struggling with Boston. Physically, it didn't take me long to recover, but mentally it did. I was just trying to run hard and be relaxed and feel comfortable. I knew I was running fast, but I wasn't sure what my times were translating to.''
Smith and Ethiopian Worknesh Kidane ran together until about the final mile before the New Zealander pulled away.
"I wore her down,'' Smith said. "She was tough. To beat her is something. She's a world champion.''
Kidane, winner of six world championship medals, including a gold, finished in 1:07:28, also under Smith's old US all comers record.
Smith, who is aiming for the New York Marathon on November 6, also set pending US allcomers' records for 10 miles (51:04) and 20km (1:03:38) during the race.
