The women’s Half Marathon record at Lalomanu fell on Saturday to the darling of Samoa female long distance running in Ariane Stevenson.

Her run of 1:50:58 on the South East Coast is the new record for the women’s half marathon, taking over from Madeleine McGann’s (1:51:22) record of 2016. 

The win is her third this year in the half marathon distance, to go with her win in Savaii (April, 2:04:32) and the Independence Half Marathon in June (1:48:36). If she runs next month’s Le Lava Half in Manase she will hold all four wins in Samoa – and may do for a very long time.

After the race Ariane thanked her husband Courtney for long suffering assistance with her two wins in June and now July. 

“He’s been the driving force behind my victories, and I thank him for being my water boy,” she said.  

Ariane’s new record was the second course record to be set at Lalomanu. The other is the new 10km time for the men set by Andrew Sexton of Auckland. His time of 40:43 has eclipsed the old record by 3minutes that was set by Samasoni Nimaorta in 2014 (43:48). Aleka Freijah won the women’s 10KM in a sub-hour time of 59:58. 

Sexton who runs for the Glen Eden Flyers in Auckland won the Half Marathon race last year and was determined to return in 2017 to challenge the 10km record. He has done that by quite a margin.   

The men’s Half Marathon was won for the second time by Kuniyoshi Watanabe of Japan the record holder. His time of 1:29:39 was not good enough to beat his old record. 

The race this year drew runners from China, Japan, USA, New Zealand and Australia. 

Kenneth Jackman is a Shanghai-based US State Department Diplomat who travelled to Samoa with his wife and son Caleb Jackman to especially run this race. Caleb competed in the 10km race.

Illinois based academics Professors William Perry and his wife Catherine O’Reilly flew here with their son Josh to run in the Lalomanu race. 

As did many Kiwis and Australians drawn to the Lalomanu Half Marathon event. Fifty runners took part in the race this year, many from overseas who came especially for this race and bringing their own support crew to jeer them on. 

Full List of Winners 

ANZ Men’s Half Marathon 

1. Kuniyoshi Watanabe 1:29:39

2. Wataru Yamasaki (Japan) 1:40:56

3. Peter Timson (Aust) 2:07:46

ANZ Women’s Half Marathon

1. Ariane Stevenson (SAM) 1:50:58

2. Jo Kingsbury (Christchurch, NZ) 2:14:18

3. Ces Dadis (Brisbane, AUST) 2:30:10 

FORD Men’s 10KM 

1. Andrew Sexton (Auck, NZ) 40:43

2. Steve Nimarota (SAM) 45:35

3. Ian Jahnke (SAM) 46:36

FORD Women’s 10KM 

1. Aleka Freijah (AUST) 59:58

2. Vanessa Cuttriss (Darwin, AUST) 1:07:35

3. Ginny McArthur (Pukekohe, AUCK) 1:14:25

FORD Men’s 5KM 

1. Josh Perry (IL., USA) 22:45

2. Tetsuji Nakasone (JAP) 25:59

3. William Perry (IL., USA) 26:25

FORD Women’s 5KM 

1. Kat Riley (AUST) 30:05

2. Catherine O’Reilly (IL., USA) 36:40

3. Sara Todd (USA) 42:37.