Jake Robertson sets the New Zealand National Marathon Record on his first Attempt

Jake Robertson broke Rod Dixon's New Zealand marathon record at his first attempt on Sunday in Japan. Robertson completed the Lake Biwa Marathon in 2hour 8min 26sec. Hamilton-born distance runner looked strong early on, and stayed in the mix as the lead pack slowly shrunk. With 11 kilometres to go, he made a surge, setting the tempo and leaving only five runners remaining at the 35k mark. With the finish line nearing, and a trio of runners left in front, Robertson was dropped, but he paced himself well to claim third place, and the national record. His time is 33 seconds faster than Rod Dixon's previous record, which has stood since Rod won the New York Marathon in 1983. Remarkably, it was Robertson's first ever competitive marathon. Robertson is set to run the 10,000m at the upcoming Commonwealth Games. When he was 17 he moved to Iten, Kenya with his twin brother Zane who is also a world lass professional runner.

posted Sunday March 4th