Athletics: Whanganui blessed with great venues for runners

Whanganui's Virginia Lake reserve has great running circuits. Photo / Rob van Dort

As a group of runners worked on their 2km repetitions at Virginia Lake and as Di Matthews was putting out markers at the same venue for the Wanganui Harrier Club, I was reminded that Whanganui has outstanding venues for runners.

I have extolled the virtues of Virginia Lake every year in the lead-up to the long-established Virginia Lake Relays and how visiting athletes leave with wonderful memories of the park and the city. Whanganui is, however, blessed with so much more for us all and for runners. The riverbank walkaway is used successfully by the parkrun each week and Kowhai Park and Bason Botanic Gardens are all wonderful venues.

Cooks Gardens, in my possibly slightly biased view, is the best athletics track in New Zealand. It is not only a fantastic venue for major competitions but is also a great training venue. As with all good athletic stadiums, it has a good all-weather track and stairs for workouts but also has a wonderful hill up to the Bell Tower for hill training. Last week a group of my athletes were training there, as in the past, when the venue for forthcoming championships is hilly.

Recently I have been able to use the Tide bus service to take a group to train when a mini-bus was not available. Using the bus stop on Victoria Ave close to Whanganui Collegiate School, we took the bus to Castlecliff for a beach run, with the strong runners choosing to run home to add volume to the session. Aramoho was the second destination, allowing runners to run across the Aramoho bridge and along the river through Kowhai Park before returning, avoiding a longer and less interesting run on the road.

A lengthy article appeared in a newspaper last weekend about United States sporting scholarships. We have had many athletes from Whanganui in the US for sporting scholarships in track and field/cross country and for many other sports. The jury is out about the sporting value as opposed to remaining in New Zealand. It would be true Whanganui’s equitable climate and outstanding environment for runners is certainly superior to many in states where our athletes are based.

The success of those who have taken such scholarships has varied greatly. All have saved significant student debt and have had life-changing experiences but so much in terms of sporting success has depended on being at the right college with the right coach.

Good research before signing is important. The newspaper article quotes Sam Tanner’s coach Craig Kirkwood about the bonus such scholarships provide for athletes below the elite level but also highlights the problems for athletes with “lofty goals”. Fellow 1500m runner Nick Willis was, however, a product of the US scholarship system as was Whanganui double Olympian Lucy Oliver (nee van Dalen) and currently Geordie Beamish, all of whom have had illustrious post-college careers.

Coach Kerry Hill mentions that 90 per cent of those who depart on scholarships do not return to New Zealand or, if they did, recorded poorer performances than prior to their study. What is not recorded is the percentage of their cohort who stayed in New Zealand. Did many who they competed with continue for another three to four years in the sport and did they improve? Our challenge in New Zealand is to provide similar tertiary and other attractive opportunities to continue in the sport.

We are only 16 days away from New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country, an event that will be observed from afar by many US universities who are always interested in New Zealand running performances.

Closer to home, Whanganui Collegiate held its cross-country relays on Monday in preparation for the Inter House Cross Country Championships on Friday. The relays were mixed events over four legs of 1800 metres. The relays are the only event that incorporates the whole school in a mixed-team sport. The race is also a “tie-breaker” for the main event on Friday should Houses end equal on standard points gained and on the four to score team event run in conjunction with the standards.

The senior girls’ race brings together Amy McHardy and Louise Brabyn, who ran for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country team in Australia with Rosa Meyer, bronze medal winner at 3000m at North Island Schools. Fellow Schools International Daniel Sinclair is expected to take the senior boys’ title and lead his Harvey team to victory in the senior boys’ teams. There are two junior races prior to lunch, starting at 12.15pm, with the intermediate races starting at 2.10pm, the senior girls scheduled for 2.55pm and the senior boys at 3.20pm. All races are over two 1500m laps.