Kiwi long distance runners looking to go 'even faster' after Melbourne domination

Kiwi domination at the Melbourne Marathon has left New Zealand’s long-distance women runners in a strong position as the 2028 LA Olympics come into view.

Camille French took the women’s marathon crown in her fourth race over the distance and 11 months after having her second child, while Georgie Grgec went one better than she did last year to win the half marathon.

This follows up strong performances from New Zealand at the Copenhagen World Road Running Championships, including from 22-year-old Hannah Gapes who finished ninth in the 5k race.

For French, however, her journey to winning in Melbourne was quick but complicated.

“It takes a while to recover, because when you’re pregnant, obviously you can’t train anywhere near as much as usual, well pretty much I couldn’t really train very much at all that whole time, and so it’s just a long time away from the sport,” French told the Herald.

“I kind of just started pretty slowly. I did heaps of walking at the start, with the pram, and then gradually started just real easy running.

Camille French won the Melbourne Marathon 11 months after giving birth to her second child. Photo / Getty Images

“It just took a long time obviously to build fitness up again, because you just had so long off and I didn’t do a heap of cross training when I was pregnant either, so it’s just like you’re just sort of starting from scratch really.

“But I knew after having [her daughter] Sienna, once I finally got back, I felt like it came quite quickly, so I just thought well hopefully it’s going to be similar this time.”

She raced the Gold Coast half marathon in July when she was still unable to put a full week of running together, but felt she’s had strong progression in the months since then.

Meanwhile, Grgec has made considerable changes to her training regimen, including moving across the Ditch.

“I just moved to Melbourne last year,” Grgec said.

“So post [last year’s Melbourne half marathon], I started training with a group, Melbourne Track Club, based in Melbourne and I think, although I haven’t run a PB over the distance yet, I’ve just managed to get a lot more consistency in training and in the races.

Georgie Grgec continued the Kiwi dominance in Melbourne by winning the half marathon. Photo / Getty Images

“I’ve done four half marathons this year and they’ve all been within, I think, about 20 seconds of my PB. So yeah, I think it’s really just getting that consistency is a big difference.”

Grgec’s time of 69m 24s is consistent with her recent races, but she’s confident she can go an extra step.

“I think a lot of people have looked at it and seen I’ve run 69 something several times.

“So obviously, trying to break that 69 barrier, would love to be able to do that. But then I guess it’s also just when I get in races is to be competitive and finish high up.

French’s time of 2h 28m 25s in Melbourne was just over two minutes short of her personal best, but her aim is to reach the low 2h 20m mark before the LA Olympics.

“I want to go kind of low 220s in the next like couple of years, so that’s kind of like my main goal and obviously would love to make LA and hitting that direction and perform well there.

“But also really just like becoming a better marathon runner in general as well and getting a lot quicker.”

Camille French competed in the women's marathon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Photo / Photosport

Both runners have the same coach, but were unable to congratulate each other on their achievements in Victoria.

“I didn’t see her. Not on purpose, but it didn’t really link in because we actually finished our race way before they started theirs,” French said.

“So by the time she would have finished, we had other engagements planned. The timing of the day, it just didn’t quite align.

“But I saw her result and I think I watched some of the live streams to see and I was really excited and we messaged each other. We’ve been in touch.”

Grgec said she saw French’s result which she used as motivation in her race, but suggested she could be racing against the 36-year-old over the next few years alongside improve in the 10,000m, with two distances in mind for her ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

“I’ve got my eyes set on trying to do a debut marathon next year and see what I can do in that.,” Grgec told the Herald.

“But also with the 10k, I just want to try and run as fast as I can over the 10k.”

Both felt the state of New Zealand women’s long distance running was in a strong spot, particularly ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.

“There’s lots of the younger girls coming up through, a lot of them are over in America in college,” Grgec said.

“I was rooming with Hannah Gapes and she was in the 5k and top 10 finish there, ran so fast. So I think there’s a healthy number of women in New Zealand that are coming up through the ranks.

“And I think that’s just going to make each other get even faster as well, which is cool. It’s motivating seeing other Kiwis doing well internationally.”

The winning results in Melbourne saw both athletes celebrate in different ways.

“I spent some time with some of my training partners back at the hotel, which was really fun and they have some kids, so our kids and their kids hung out,” French said.

“I also caught up with some of the athletes that I coach and then we went back and hung out with them again. So it was like a big day of just catching up.

“And then the girls basically fell asleep on a couch so we had to head back to the accommodation because they were so tired.

“But it’s an early start for them. They were up at 5am, Luella and Sienna. So they weren’t really going to make it much past 8pm.”

Grgec said she had family already in Melbourne with friends who came in for the event and spent time with them.

“We just all went out for a nice lunch and then there’s a pub that we go to in Melbourne, so a few Aperols there in the sun. Otherwise then back to work on Monday,” Grgec explained.

Fans looking to see Grgec race have the chance to see her in the 10km road race in Tasmania at the Australian road running championships at the end of October and she returns to Melbourne in mid-December for the Zatopek 10km race.

French doesn’t have anything set yet, but is keen to race two marathons next year.

“I’ll do one towards the start of the year and one towards the end of the year, but I just haven’t 100% decided because it obviously aligns with my family and travel and we’ve got to kind of make decisions as to which is best, like how far away we go, like whether we go to Japan, whether we go to Europe.”