The Peter Snell exhibit currently on show at the Whanganui Regional Museum has brought back memories of an exciting historic night for former New Zealand cycling coach Ron Cheatley.
Mr Cheatley was a 14-year-old novice racing cyclist when Snell broke the world mile record at Cooks Gardens on 27 January 1962 in front of a crowd of 15,000 people. As well as athletics events, there were cycling races on the programme.
"I'd only been riding for about two weeks and my dad said I wasn't allowed to race at Cooks Gardens that night because I was too inexperienced," Mr Cheatley said.
"So I was hanging over the railings watching Peter Snell's race. Everyone thought it was going to rain all that day, it was really warm and humid and there were black clouds all around. There were people everywhere in Cooks Gardens that night, right up the hill around the bell tower."
Mr Cheatley has kept his father's event programme from the night. The late Les Cheatley was an assistant judge for the cycling races and got Snell's signature on his programme after he broke the world record. Mr Cheatley also has a photograph of the participants in the mile race, signed by each of the athletes.
"I don't think there are many of the programmes still around because when Peter Snell was in Whanganui [in 2009] for the unveiling of his bronze statue I showed him the programme and he said he'd never seen one before," Mr Cheatley said.
"He took it off to show his wife and family so I said he had better keep it but he said I should hold on to it because we'd had it for so many years. It was such an incredible night - the Peter Snell story will live forever in Whanganui."
Mr Cheatley has offered to lend the items to the Whanganui Regional Museum for inclusion in the Peter Snell exhibit. The exhibit, which is on display in the temporary museum premises in Ridgway St until February 2018, includes two of Snell's Olympic gold medals on loan from Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand and other memorabilia.