Allison Pamela Roe (née Deed; born 30 May 1956) is a New Zealand politician and former

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling * Long-distance operator * Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths * Long-distance trail *European long-d ...

athlete.

Athletics career

Roe was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in 1956. In 1981, she won both the Boston Marathon and

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

, becoming the second of only two women to accomplish the feat in the same year. In Boston, she ran 2:26:46 to improve the course record by almost eight minutes, set the previous year by

Jacqueline Gareau Jacqueline Gareau (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian runner who won the Boston Marathon on April 21, 1980. Gareau led the women's field for most of the race, only to find another runner, Rosie Ruiz, wearing the traditional victor's laurels wh ...

. In New York, she set a world best women's marathon time with 2:25:29, to break

Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz wo ...

's time of 2:25:42 from the 1980 New York Marathon. However, after re-measurement, the 1981 course was found to be 150 metres short, though Waitz's 1980 record is also disputed. Also in 1981, she set a 20 km world record in Miyazaki, Japan. In the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's ...

, Roe was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to athletics.

Political career

In the 2013 Auckland elections, Roe was elected to the

Waitematā District Health Board The Waitemata District Health Board (Waitemata DHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to people living in the area that used to be covered by North Shore city, Rodney District, and Waitakere City in New Zealand. ...

and the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. In the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 1 ...

, Roe joined the Rodney First ticket and stood for re-election for the Health Board and election to the Rodney Local Board. She was successful in both contests with the second most popular and most popular votes respectively.

Achievements

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

References

External links

Official website
* 1956 births Living people New Zealand female long-distance runners Athletes from Auckland Boston Marathon female winners New York City Marathon female winners New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Local politicians in New Zealand Waitemata District Health Board members People educated at Westlake Girls High School 20th-century New Zealand women 21st-century New Zealand women {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub