Australian Olympian Izzi Batt-Doyle has shattered one of the nation’s “most treasured records” after running a stellar half-marathon in Japan.
The 29-year-old claimed third at Marugame in a time of 67 minutes and 17 seconds — a full 30 seconds quicker than Kerryn McCann’s mark from 2000.
McCann, who died aged 41 in 2008 after battling cancer, was front of mind for Batt-Doyle after growing up inspired by the late legend’s run to marathon gold at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
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“This means a lot to me,” Batt-Doyle said of her new half-marathon record.
“We have some amazing women holding our records and to take a record from Kerryn that has stood since 2000 really shows how hard it was. It’s incredible she ran that 25 years ago!”
“She was an amazing woman gone far too soon, I hope she is up there and proud to see girls challenging her times.
“I watched her Commonwealth Games run coming into the MCG and it just gives me chills even thinking about it.”
Batt-Doyle went into the Marugame race hoping to break the record while concentrating on producing a top result as her priority.
“I had the record in the back of my mind, but I really wanted to compete with the strong field,” she said.
“I knew that if I did that well, I would walk away with a good time.
“There was a girl in front of me that I could see with five kilometres to go and I managed to pass her which really helped keep me in that mindset.
“When I came into the stadium and saw the clock, I knew I was going to be well under.”
Batt-Doyle is next eyeing off a strong performance at the Nagoya marathon on March 9.
She missed selection for the 42.2km feature at the Paris Olympics but became the third fastest Australian woman in history with her run at the Valencia marathon last December.
Andy Buchanan, who broke the Australian men’s marathon record in Valencia, also nearly broke the national half-marathon record in his run to seventh at Marugame.
He finished in a new personal-best time of 60:28 that goes down as the second best in history among Aussie men.
“I’m happy but you always want a little bit more,” he said.
Haftu Strintzos now sits third on the list after finishing only eight seconds behind Buchanan, while Brett Robinson crossed the line in 61:58.
Buchanan, Robinson and Jack Rayner are set to race the London Marathon on April 27 before Buchanan competes at Tokyo’s World Championships in September.
Meanwhile, Aussie young gun Cameron Myers broke another record with a third-place result in a 3000m indoor race in the US.
Myers ran 7:33.12 to break Craig Mottram’s record set in 2008, with the mark becoming the fourth best on the world under-20 all-time list.