Athletics: Quality of entries bonus for Classic

Whanganui's NZ Schools silver medallist Opetini Dryden is chasing the handicap money at the Cooks Classic on Tuesday.

As I work on the entries for the Cooks Classic next Tuesday I look forward to the feast.

The 170 athletes entered is a record for recent Cooks Classic events. There are 25 more athletes than last year (when we hosted the New Zealand 3000m championships that attracted more than 30 athletes). What is more important, there is real quality among the entries and the numbers, combined with the generous sponsorship from local businesses, has meant athletes are competing for more than $6000 of prize money and further performance incentive grants.

Cooks Gardens' "The Home of the Mile" looks set to add further to the rich history of the classic event with a quality field led by New Zealand 1500m record holder and former Olympic silver medal winner Nick Willis, who just before 9.04pm will hope to be the first to achieve five sub-4 minute miles in Whanganui.

He is joined by fellow Commonwealth Games athlete Julian Matthews and three others who have achieved the mark along with others who are attracted to Cooks Gardens to achieve their first barrier breaking performance.

Former Whanganui runner and four-time New Zealand 800m champion Brad Mathas will set the pace over the first two laps and intends taking the field through 1000m which is a bonus for the field.

The touring groups, the Classic Tour of New Zealand young athletes, the Australian group of 10 and the group of relay squad members mentioned in yesterday's Chronicle add quality and vibrancy. This is especially evident in the Junior Mile Field when 24 starters will line up to take their first step towards joining the 60 sub 4-minute milers roll of honour in the future. The quality group of sprinters add real depth to the 200m field where there are no fewer than three heats in both the male and female grades. Many of these will again compete in the 2 x 100m relay which is the penultimate event in the action-packed 100-minute programme.

The track programme starts with quality fields in the men's and women's 400m hurdles, notably the men where four of the top five New Zealand runners are competing while high jumpers will be chasing the incentive height bonus prizes.

There are two handicap events with the winner taking all. The javelin sees the return of long-time international and former Commonwealth Games medal winner Stuart Farquhar who will look to throw the spear over 80m to pick up the incentive bonus and set a mark that will be hard to beat. His training partner Ben Langdon-Burnell has exceeded 77m this season.

Local interest is provided by New Zealand Schools silver medal winner Opetini Dryden who will resume his close battle with Palmerston North's Aiden Smith who snatched NZ Schools gold in the final round in Timaru. Both athletes are coached by Whanganui coach Richard Dtrabczynski.

There is a chance for participation of children under 12 as part of the programme. They need to enter no later than 7.15pm at Cooks Gardens to participate in the age-group handicap run "Fastest kid on the Block" scheduled at 8.05pm. All are welcome, they only need enter as indicated above. Former "Fastest kid on the Block" winner Genna Maples has only a year later gone on to win three gold medals as a 12-year-old at last weekend's Colgate Games.

She will run in the under-20 100m where she joins a strong field and also runs in the 2 x 100m relay while Whanganui children's teammate Tayla Brunger, who took silver in the 13-year-old 400m, has entered the handicap 400m.

We are encouraging the Whanganui public to attend this outstanding meeting by not charging at the gate, only asking for a gold coin donation. In addition there is a significant travel voucher provided by Harvey World Travel for the winner of the lucky number programme on sale at the gate.