Milly Clark qualifies for Rio 2016

Sydney University student and Sydney University Athletics Club (SUAC) member Milly Clark, has qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics after an impressive run at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon on October 18^th. It was an exceptional run from Clark, finishing 3^rd in her second marathon race and taking home the bronze medal.

Clark ran a scintillating 2.29.04, the 2^nd fastest time ever by a female from NSW and a top ten all time performance by an Australian female. To put Clarke’s performance in perspective her half marathon best before this race was 73.43. For the 2^nd half of this marathon she ran an incredible 73.32, a full 11 seconds quicker than her previous best despite having already run a half marathon. 

With the run being an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF) Gold Label Road Race, it was always going to a hotly contested contest with a field full of talent. The conditions were far from ideal as the race began with high humidity, drizzling rain and temperatures reaching below 10°C.

Joyce Chepkirui and compatriot Flomena Cheyech were the only runners who went along with pace maker Eunice Chumba to start off the lead group. Chepkirui was flying early as she reached the half way point in 1:10:26, putting her on track to break the course record. Cheyech faded, yet was able to finish in second place with Chepkirui (African and Commonwealth 10,000m champion) taking out the title, running out the last 10km of the race by herself. She was able to win with a time of 2:24:11, taking almost five minutes off her personal best.

Milly was able to hold onto third after overtaking early pace setter Eunice Chumba and get past Olympic champion Tiki Gelana, who also competed in the race. Clark finished with a time of 2:29:05; an incredible run.

Milly was also in fact the only non-Kenyan runner to get a podium finish in either the men’s or women’s races at the Amsterdam marathon. Defending champion Bernard Kipyego won the men’s race with a personal best of 2:06:22, finishing ahead of fellow Kenyans Ezekiel Chebii and Mike Kigen. Whilst the Kenyan duo of Joyce Chepkirui (2:24:11) and Flomena Cheyech (2:24:36) finished in the top two spots in the women’s event.

Clark had already had a successful running reason, and coupled with her great work ethic, the Rio qualification comes as no surprise to the people who have been tracking her progress. She helped the SUAC win the women’s 2015 Winter Premiership for the third consecutive year where she finished second in the half marathon at the Blackmore’s Sydney Running Festival. Clark also took out the Christchurch half marathon and Bay Run fun-run earlier this year, has finished runner-up twice in the City to Surf, and won the Gold Coast half-marathon last year. On top of this, Milly was crowned the female NSW Distance Runner of the Year in 2015.

The 26 year old is at Sydney University to complete her undergraduate degree in sport/exercise science along with her master’s degree in nutrition.