Whanganui 400m runner Emma Osborne in action at the 2022 Cooks Classic. Photo / NZME
“Injury isn’t the end, it’s a chance to redefine your path.”
“Strength is born from struggle; embrace the journey.”
Injury and the struggle to overcome injury had significance at the Team Ledger Harcourts 2026 Capital Classic on Sunday. A small group of Whanganui athletes took advantage of good competition at the annual Capital Classic, eight days after our own Pak’nSave Cooks International Classic.
Whanganui’s New Zealand 400m hurdle champion, Jonathan Maples, had targeted the Capital Classic as one of two 400m hurdle races in the build-up to this year’s New Zealand Championships in early March.
Sunday’s race followed a successful start to his race programme with his convincing win at the Cooks Classic. His winning time in Whanganui was almost identical to last year’s, in much more difficult conditions.
In Wellington, Maples felt tightness in the hamstring as he approached the first hurdle and pulled out of the race. The prognosis is quite good but there is a definite “redefining of the path” towards defending his title. He was unable to act as pacemaker for the 800m later in the evening.
Whanganui’s under-20 New Zealand 400m hurdle champion Damian Hodgson won the race in a season’s best of 56.29s. This improved on his Whanganui performance and provides a confidence boost for the hard-working athlete five weeks out from the 2026 championships in Auckland.
Whanganui 400m runner Emma Osborne has always shown strength and determination, none more so than in overcoming a serious injury.
Three years earlier, at the same Newtown Stadium, Osborne collapsed at the finish line of the women’s 400m as she fractured her leg in a sickening injury that could be heard from the grandstand.
Osborne has battled back from what appeared at the time to be a career-ending injury. Osborne made a promising appearance in the Central Region League in November, in another major step in her return to competitive athletics.
While at Whanganui Collegiate School, she ran her personal best of 55.58s in Cairns in 2018, running for New Zealand Secondary Schools.
She was part of the New Zealand 4 x 400m squad seeking to qualify for the Covid-cancelled 2020 World Juniors.
Osborne finished third at the Potts Classic in mid-January (57.71s). In Wellington, she finished second to Canadian Georgia Ellenwood.
Osborne has embraced the journey and the frustrations of injury rehabilitation and has the determination and courage to see that journey through.
I have been impressed with the progress of young 18-year-old Whanganui middle-distance runner Lennox Brotherton.
In Wellington, he took a whole 10 seconds off his 3000m best time in cool breezy conditions, finishing 16th in a congested race of 30 starters.
He came tantalisingly close to running under 9 minutes for the first time (9m 00.56s). He would certainly have achieved this had he not missed a small break from a group he was following mid-way through the race.
Brotherton, who was a year 13 student at Whanganui High School last year, is a late starter in track and field. He has made excellent progress and has the dedicated approach that will reap dividends.
It was good to see some younger Whanganui athletes make the journey south on Sunday.
Kopere Maihi–Walker ran his fastest 100m (11.59s) in finishing third in his heat, albeit with a generous tail wind. He would have added a personal best over 200m had he not eased over the final 10m, perhaps a little fazed by the strength of the B heat.
Reiley Thomas made full use of the Wellington experience. He jumped 5.49m in the long jump, benefiting from a tail wind (3.4 m/s). He also had an over-the-limit tailwind in the 100m but should be pleased with his 11.83s performance.
These are confidence-boosting performances and, two months out from the North Island Secondary Schools Championships, Thomas is clearly on the right trajectory.
Riley Symes will have gained great experience from Wellington. He ran in the 100m and 200m and was one of the few to have a performance within the 2m/s for legal performances and enters our rankings with his long jump with an allowable 2m/s tail wind.
Track and field attention moves north with the World Athletics Bronze Sir Graeme Douglas International in Waitākere, Auckland, on Sunday as part of the Summer Circuit.
Back in Whanganui, next week’s weekly Club Night doubles as the first night of the Manawatū/Whanganui Centre Championships. The second week is in Palmerston North a week later. There will be club track events run in conjunction next Tuesday but the field events are only for championship competitors.