Ashley makes it another family affair
Ashley Estwanik won her third May 24 Derby in comfortable fashion yesterday, completing the third husband/wife double for the family and restoring order to the local women's running circuit.Fresh from a one-year hiatus she gave birth to the couple's second child Estwanik led from the beginning and never looked back, finishing in a time of one hour, 25 minutes, 35 seconds and sweeping aside all of those in her path.Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the second-place finish of the relatively unkown Rose-Anna Hoey who came in ahead of former track runner Jennifer Alen.A year ago, in the absence of Estwanik, Alen was on the road to victory when she collapsed just a mile from the finish line.In what turned out be a one-horse race, Ashley admitted that with the humid conditions a record time was never on the cards.“I'm just getting back into the swing of things with the babies and so forth and being up at all hours of the night, but it was great out there,” she said.“My training was good in the build-up but I knew I wasn't going to break a record with the humidity. I felt good throughout but it wasn't to be on the day.”While having no one in her sights, Estwanik looked towards track runner Tamika Williams, who wasn't in the individual race, to pace her along Harbour Road.“I never had anyone really on me in terms of being competitive. I saw Tamika on Harbour Road and ran with her for a bit but for the most part it was clear for me.“I won this year but I still feel the need for improvement and that's what I'll look for going forward.”It was also a memorable day for Hoey, who was breathless as she crossed the line in second place in a time of one hour, 29 minutes, 16 seconds.Alen claimed third after the disappointment of a year ago and she admitted that this year was all about finishing the race for her psyche, not winning her maiden derby.“My aim today was to finish so I went out easy and see how I felt and saw that I felt good midway through the race and continued to push on, so overall if was good to be out there,” said Alen.“I knew it wasn't going to be my best time given the conditions but to finish was my main priority and that's what I did.“Mentally it was imperative that I finished today, so I'm happy.”Veteran Victoria Fiddick, who finished fourth, was also pleased with her performance, given her lack of training.“I was going into the race looking to have fun, I was waving to people and talking so it was fun. I haven't really trained that much and people forget I'm almost 50, so with that being said, and the fact that at one point I was only 20 seconds behind Jenny I am pleased.“For me to be out there and do what I have done today is fantastic.”* For more pictures click here.