Rachel Kingsford - Elite NZ runner

Tell us a little about yourself? Where you grew up, did you always know you wanted

to run at the top level?

I grew up on a dairy farm in the Waikato and went to a little rural primary. We used to have

to school running training each day through the farmer’s paddocks around the school so I

started out running pretty young. I had a bit of success through primary and intermediate so

started getting some running coaching when I was about 14. I had actually always wanted to

be a netballer until I realised at the end of high school that I was unfortunately probably

much better at running than netball. I’m a relatively competitive person so I think that is what

drives me to continue to attempt to run at the top level.

You’ve had some real success over the shorter distances but you ran your first half

marathon over the weekend…How do you feel like it went

I was relatively happy with the weekends result. I wasn’t too sure of what to expect having

never done one but was pretty stoked to come in under that 1.15 mark. The other girls are

very classy runners so was happy to be so close to them. My experience was made so much

better having two guys doing the marathon, Jason Palmer and Ben Ruthe, running the entire

race with me. They were so encouraging the entire way. Definitely made running that

distance much more enjoyable!

Obviously you run a lot, what does a normal week look like?

I do easier runs on a Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday is usually a tempo, and long run on

Thursday, with morning runs on both these days too. Friday is usually an easy run with some

strides. Saturday I do a hard workout and Sundays a long run of roughly 2 hours.

Out of all the workouts out there what do you think helps the most when it comes to

race day?

I definitely think that Tempos help the most on race day. They get you used to running at

that faster pace for a longer time so that racing feels a bit more comfortable.

Do you think about anything in particular when you are out racing for over an hour?

Not really, I just concentrate on trying to stay relaxed and positive throughout the race.

Any advice for first time runners out there, in particular young ladies?

Definitely to keep at it and have a goal to work towards. The first few weeks of starting

running are the hardest, and you feel like every run is really hard and horrible but if you can

push through this, after a couple of weeks it does become easier. Running is very much a

mental sport so trying to stay positive and thinking of the end result/goal during those hard

runs helps!