Athletics Insight: Zoe Hobbs, Sam Tanner, Sam Ruthe headline Cooks Gardens International Classic in Whanganui

World-class sprinter Zoe Hobbs will be in action at Cooks Gardens on January 24. Photo / Alisha Lovrich / International Track and Field Trust

Cooks Gardens will be at the centre of track and field in New Zealand with the Pak’nSave Cooks International Classic on Saturday, January 24.

The long-established classic has been upgraded to full World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze status.

Interest from athletes has been high with a more than 50% increase in entry numbers compared to entries received at the same time last year. Kiwis traditionally leave entry to the last minute, much to the frustration of meet organisers (100 registered in the last 24 hours last year), so organisers are prepared for large fields.

We will be welcoming more than 21 overseas athletes from eight countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Samoa and Ireland, adding quality to the list of impressive confirmed New Zealand entries.

The Cooks Gardens Mile will bring the curtain down on an action-packed two-hour programme at the “Home of the Mile”. The traditional mile at 9pm doubles once again as the New Zealand Championship. Last year entries were such that the championship was run in three divisions, highlighting the attraction of running on the iconic track.

The mile gives Whanganui a chance to see rising teenage middle-distance star Sam Ruthe in action. Ruthe has, over the past 12 months, established a world-class CV with world age group best performances and a raft of New Zealand age group records, including the New Zealand Schools 36-year-old record by a huge margin. Ruthe has started 2026 as he finished 2025 with another batch of age group records. Just three days into 2026, he set a world best for a 16-year-old over 1000m on his home Tauranga track.

Ruthe would love to add his name to the 79-strong Cooks Gardens sub-four-minute roll of honour. Ruthe ran an impressive 4m 1.74s last year as a 15-year-old to finish fourth. Two months later, he became the youngest-ever sub-four-minute-miler, breaking the barrier on the eve of his 16th birthday.

Ruthe would love to better Cam Myers’ (Australia) 16-year-old world best of 3m 55.44s. Ruthe understands the importance of the Whanganui Mile. “I know dad was in that race when Willis set the record but he only ran 4m 1s so I definitely need to beat that.”

The Willis track record is clearly under threat from Sam Tanner who will be looking to join Willis as the only athlete to have run five sub-four miles at Cooks Gardens.

Tanner will also be seeking a fourth consecutive mile victory at Cooks Gardens and is in excellent form. The experienced Tanner and his 16-year-old apprentice Ruthe have Australian opposition in the shape of Callum Davies, who ran 3m 56.06s at Cooks Gardens in 2024 (20th fastest at Cooks Gardens), fellow Australian Luke Shaw and a large group of New Zealanders hoping to add to the Cooks Gardens magic.

Ruthe and Tanner are in action at the Potts Classic over 800m, just as Peter Snell ran in 800m the week before his famous Cooks Gardens world record.

The Potts Classic, which is also the inaugural New Zealand Short Track Championships, will provide valuable information on the form of Cooks Gardens-bound athletes.

These include Whanganui athletes Nat Kirk (800m), Damian Hodgson (short track 300m hurdles) and New Zealand 400m hurdle champion Jono Maples.

Maples will run in the 60m Short Track Championship and the 400m in preparation for the 400m hurdles in Whanganui. Maples is clearly in good form with an impressive personal best of 33.88s over 300m in the first club night of the year.

The Cooks International Classic brings Oceania 100m record holder Zoe Hobbs back to Whanganui for the first time since winning the New Zealand Schools 100m in 2014 for New Plymouth Girls’ High School.

Hobbs is grateful that a 60m (world indoor distance) was added to the pre-meet. It is an event in which she finished fourth and sixth at the 2024 and 2025 World Indoors. Hobbs will run the 100m in the evening Bronze programme.

In her career, Hobbs has set 28 New Zealand records and won 28 New Zealand championship medals, and has worn the black singlet at 13 major global championships. Whanganui people have a chance to see New Zealand’s world-class sprinter in action.

There is an international feel to the hammer field with both men and women chasing the stadium record. High jumper Hamish Kerr will not compete this year but will be in attendance, giving young and old a chance to meet a world and Olympic champion and last year’s sportsman of the year at the Halberg Awards.