Owai out in force again for the 2025 Auckland Marathon

A big club turn out and Anthony Lo's race report

The Auckland Marathon weekend is always a big focus for the club with lots of athletes targeting the various race distances. Well done to everyone who took part. Running marathons requires a huge investment of training and to run a good one, a lot of things have to go right in the build up and on the day. Great to see so many out on the roads again this year. For seniors, the event also doubles as the Athletics Auckland Marathon Champs.

Club results

Kids Marathon: Theodore Ng 8:42

5km: Liam Rimmer 22:28. Tom Rimmer 24:08, Revanth Kishore 26:27

11km: Aidan Jarrold 50:21, Ed Johns 53:00, Evan Keating 55:38, Jessebelle Ng 1:00:00, Jojo Chia 1:00:06, Liam Jarrold 1:08:07

Half Marathon: Mariano Piagentini 1:12:23 (1st M40-44), Joel Bickers 1:19:32, Tharindu Jayasinghe 1:24:17, Bethany Bromfield 1:24:28 (3rd F30-34), Cameron Wilson Hume 1:26:34, James Fisher 1:27:46, Nathan Hayhurst 1:28:21, Artem Verbo 1:29:02, Lachlan Cameron 01:29:33, Logan Steer 1:43:17, Graeme Christie 1:52:47

Marathon: Philip McNamara 2:36:21 (Auckland Champs 3rd Senior Men), Jon Turner 2:45:43 (3rd M35-39 and Auckland Champs 1st M35-39), Haoting Ma 2:46:52, Michael Chin 2:49:15, Tom Mowbray 2:50:55, Harry Warrior 2:52:33, Keith Burrows 2:54:59 (1st M50-54 and Auckland Champs 1st M50-54), Chris Dayaram 2:57:15, Jie Huang 3:02:37, Liam Gaffney 3:05:19, Peter Eng 3:09:37, Simone Rosentreter 3:15:48 (3rd F40-44), Anthony Lo 3:19:08 (Auckland Champs 3rd M50-54), Mark Andrew 3:28:42, Sam Gerber 3:41:10, Ketina Chivasa 4:39:13 (Auckland Champs 3rd W40-44)

Anthony's first marathon - read about his approach and his race

The Week Before

The week before the race was a real mental battle. My wife had pneumonia, and I wasn’t feeling great myself. On top of that, I kept overthinking the target — 3:30? 3:25? 3:20? or maybe even 3:15? I played every scenario in my head: what if I start at 5:00/km? Is that too slow? What if I hold 4:40/km? My mind just wouldn’t stop spinning.

Then I remembered something from Hadd’s article — “The best possible HR/pace/effort you can maintain for a full marathon (without crashing) will not be closer to HRmax than 15–20 bpm.” That clicked for me. My longest run before the race was 35K at 4:50/km, so I decided: keep my heart rate under 155 bpm for the first 35K. That became my race-day rule.

Training Load & Preparation

My marathon journey started back in June. Over the months, I built endurance step by step — 25K runs three times, 28K runs three times, 30K runs five times, 32K twice, and finally a 35K simulation run that mimicked the Auckland Marathon course. That 35K gave me a lot of confidence — it showed I could hold the effort for hours without breaking down.

My training block wasn’t perfectly structured — sometimes I just followed the flow. But I kept a simple rhythm: two hard sessions, one long run, and the rest easy runs to recover and keep the legs fresh.

Around mid-August, I began to experiment with Hadd’s and the NSA running methods. I started paying more attention to heart rate — keeping easy runs within a controlled HR zone, and running hard sessions at Sub-Threshold pace. That approach helped me learn effort control rather than just chasing numbers.

Race Morning

On race morning, I kept calm. Did a short warm-up, stayed relaxed, and reminded myself to enjoy my first marathon. The plan was simple — don’t run too fast at the beginning, stay under 155 bpm, and let the pace flow naturally.

The conditions were good. I found myself running comfortably around 4:40/km, holding that steady heart rate. At every aid station, I stopped briefly for hydration — small resets that helped me conserve energy.

In total, I took seven gels, and my official time was 3:19:09 (with a moving time of 3:18:35).

The first 30K felt surprisingly easy — steady rhythm, controlled breathing, and smooth legs. Between 30–40K, things got tougher but still manageable. The sun came out near the end, and I started cramping a bit in the last 2K, but I managed to hold it together.

The Finish Line

Crossing the line at 3:19 felt amazing. It wasn’t just about the time — it was the proof that all those months of quiet training, long runs, and internal battles had paid off.

I’m truly thankful to Owairaka Athletics and all the crew members — we train together every Tuesday and Thursday, no matter if it’s sunny, rainy, or windy. The shared laughter, effort, and energy on those days kept me going through the hardest parts of training.

Special thanks to Coach Baz — his dad jokes before each session always make everyone smile, even if I don’t always understand them .

And I also want to thank the Chinese running community — a passionate group that lives and breathes marathon spirit. Even though I don’t always agree with every opinion, their energy, dedication, and love for running constantly inspire me to become better.

To all the excellent runners I’ve met along the way — thank you for being my role models. Watching your consistency, discipline, and passion reminds me what running can truly be — a shared pursuit of something bigger than just time or pace.

Running this first marathon wasn’t just a physical challenge; it was a journey of patience, rhythm, and belief. Now I know — this is just the beginning.