Mile field 4 minutes from glory
Will names be added to honour roll at Classic?
THE STEELFORM Roofing Group Championship Mile at the Cooks Classic in Whanganui tonight poses an exciting conundrum.
The absence of Olympian and New Zealand’s best middle distance athlete, Nick Willis, has left an even field to run this year’s event at Cooks Gardens with only a handful capable of breaking the magic 4 minute barrier.
Eric Speakman, the 63rd Cooks Gardens sub-4 minute miler, will set the pace for the athletes in a field that contains a group of Japanese athletes and two promising Australians.
The big question was whether the Potts Classic 800m winner in Hawke’s Bay on Saturday, Australian representative Alex Rowe, would be tempted to chase the prizemoney and the honour of adding his name to the Cooks Gardens sub-4 roll of honour.
While severely tempted by the prizemoney on offer, Rowe has decided to stick to his plan and run the 400m in Whanganui in preparation for a major 800m event at the Capital Classic in Wellington on Friday.
Rowe barely broke into a sweat in the perfect 23C conditions at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park on Saturday to finish almost 15m ahead of Australian stablemate Andre Waring. The 24-year-old Rowe from Melbourne clocked 1m 48.06s.
Cooks Classic organiser Alec McNab said spectators could look forward to a great night of track and field action regardless of the make up of the main event.
The main track programme starts at 7.15 pm.
“The indicator board at field events and knowledgeable commentary for track events allows spectators to follow the action,” McNab said yesterday. “The full programme is available for a gold coin donation at the gate and carries a lucky number draw with a voucher provided by Helloworld Travel.”