Jones Secures Three-Peat and Oldroyd Backs Up 2017 Victory

Daniel Jones created history with a first ever three-peat victory at today’s Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Marathon, while Hannah Oldroyd became a two-time winner as the iconic event returned for the first time without COVID restrictions.

Jones relished the conditions this morning, with rain proving no barrier to the 32-year-old as he made it three in a row, including the delayed 2021 event that was hosted in January this year.

It was far from easy though, with Jones running side by side with Luke Cotter (Great Britain) and Daniel Balchin for most of the 42.2km journey, only breaking clear in the final few kilometres.

“It would have been interesting watching the splits but probably more interesting and tougher being out there in the middle of it. Mentally you had to be right on the limit and see who was going to break, we had quite a gap back to fourth, so we knew if you lost contact that was going to be it for the race, if you were to drop off you won’t hold on. So, we all gave it our all until we did finally separate with about 35km gone,” said Jones.

Hailing from Wellington, Jones says he was well prepared for the conditions.

“I was thinking that I was glad I lubed up on a day like this (with chafing cream), and I hope everyone else did too - for those finishing in six or seven hours that is going to be tough, but for us we get things done reasonably quickly and the weather actually gave us a break and cleared up. It wasn’t windy – that was really nice. It was nice not to be blowing a gale, Wellington conditions probably would have been a 40 or 50kph wind, so that was great,” he said.

Jones was just 33 seconds ahead of Balchin who held on for second, with Cotter fading over the final kilometre to finish a further 24 seconds back in third after the three had enjoyed a fantastic tussle for most of the journey from Devonport, across the Harbour Bridge and to the finish line at Victoria Park via the Auckland waterfront.

In the women’s race 2017 winner Oldroyd was delighted to top the podium, finishing strongly in 2:49:35, 1:08 clear of Ingrid Cree, with Australian Rosie Weber in third.

“I haven’t raced well here since 2017 so while I know the course really well, I set off slowly knowing I wanted to enjoy the last 25km, unlike previous years. Knowing the course is an advantage but there are always those bits you forget, those hills that you forgot, the bits that hurt you late in the race, so setting off slowly was the right thing to do,” said Oldroyd.

Sitting second some three minutes down at the midway point of the race, Oldroyd’s plan was executed to perfection – even if she had no idea where her opposition were on the course.

“I am not sure what I did in terms of splits, I had no idea what my time was at halfway, I was just running my own race as always. I didn’t even have a warm-up because I didn’t want to get soaking wet, so the first half of the race was really my warm-up, and then I just ran – I was running for the beer,” she said.

Both Jones and Oldroyd were full of praise for the event organisers, volunteers, and supporters for braving the elements to successfully host the event and deliver on the day, with over 14,000 participants signing up across the five different races on offer.

“Big kudos to the organisers and everyone taking part, for sticking it out, through COVID times as well,” said Jones. “Having raced in January it is unique to be racing the same event twice in the same year. But this is its rightful place, and I can’t wait to be back racing again same time next year.”

Sentiments echoed by Oldroyd.

“Thank you to everyone who stood out in the rain, the support was amazing, the volunteers just amazing, despite those conditions, thank you so much to everyone for making the race so special.”

First to finish on the day were the wheelchair athletes who powered their highly engineered hand-cycle racing chairs through the course and on to the finish line.

Michael Taylor led an all-Aussie podium, with Ian Walker (Auckland) finishing in fourth place.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, there was only one section I went through a lake that I just didn’t see, and I ended up to my waist in water,” said Taylor. “But the rest of it was quite good, it is not cold, it was actually quite warm, it is actually quite good, and the rain is nice – it means you are not overheating or needing to hydrate quite as much,” said Taylor.

Taylor said the conditions were at their toughest when picking up speed coming back down the Harbour Bridge into the City.

“Going over the bridge, you get a lot of spray off these machines, without the visor down you cop a lot of spray in the face, but yeah, I did have a quick look at the view. But you are very much focusing on the road and the bike in front so you can see where you are going.

Julian Oakley took out a hotly contested half marathon event, edging 2021 race winner Michael Voss, and Nathan Tse, while in the women’s half was dominated by Olivia Whitney who won by 2:26 from Bridgid Dennehy and Esther George.

Results - 2022 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Marathon

Marathon – Men
1 Daniel Jones, Wellington, 2:21:56; 2 Daniel Balchin, Alexandra, 2:22:29; 3 Luke Cottter, Great Britain, 2:22:53; 4 Jacob Hendrickx, Auckland, 2:29:44; 5 William Harris, Auckland, 2:29:52

Marathon – Women
1 Hannah Oldroyd, Christchurch, 2:49:35; 2 Ingrid Cree, Wellington, 2:50:43; 3 Rosie Weber, Australia, 2:55:34; 4 Karen Donaldson-Barron, Auckland, 2:57:01; 5 Genevieve Coffey, Wellington, 2:57:40

Marathon – Hand Cycle
1 Michael Taylor, Australia, 1:22:36; 2 Jason McGregor, Australia, 1:51:12; 3 Kevin Gaidies, Australia, 1:55:07; 4 Ian Walker, Auckland, 2:46:45

Half Marathon – Men
1 Julian Oakley, Tauranga, 1:06:27; 2 Michael Voss, Rotorua, 1:06:35; 3 Nathan Tse, Wellington, 1:07:34; 4 Jacob Priddey, Hamilton, 1:07:44; 5 Christopher Dryden, Christchurch, 1:08:28

Half-Marathon – Women
1 Olivia Witney, Auckland, 1:16:55; 2 Bridgid Dennehy, Auckland, 1:19:21; 3 Esther George, Lower Hutt, 1:19:50; 4 Camille Buscomb, Hamilton, 1:22:35; 5 Emma Perron, Wellington, 1:22:59

John West 11k Traverse – Men
1 Eric Speakmen, 37:52; 2 Ben Oxford, 38:57; 3 Denny Adminson, 39:20

John West 11k Traverse – Women
1 Jessie Speedy, 40:19; 2 Laura Nagel, 40:23; 3 Briony Marantelli, 43:51

NZ Avocado NZ 5km – Male
1 Aron Thompson, 18:23; 2 Ewan Paton, 18:46; 3 Ben Brebner 20:18

NZ Avocado NZ 5KM – Female
1 Lucy Sweetman 20:49; 2 Ximena Smith 21:54; 3 Olivia Appleton 22:09