HISTORY-MAKING: Nick Willis leads Hamish Carson and Eric Speckman over the line for all three to beat the four-minute barrier at Cooks Gardens in Whanganui last night. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
HISTORY-MAKING: Nick Willis leads Hamish Carson and Eric Speckman over the line for all three to beat the four-minute barrier at Cooks Gardens in Whanganui last night. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
CHAMPION Kiwi athlete Nick Willis' love affair with Cooks Gardens in Whanganui continued last night when he yet again made history.
Willis ran his fifth sub-four minute mile when he stopped the clock at 3.55.56 at the Cooks Classic and his speed was infectious with Hamish Carson from Wellington andNapier's Eric Speckman also breaking the four-minute barrier. Speckman beat his personal best for the mile by 7 seconds.
The athletes continue on to the Capital Classic in Wellington this weekend where Willis' preparation for the USA Indoor Championships in Mid-February quickly followed by the World Indoors at the end of March.
"That felt good and I'm happy with my form this time in. It's always hard to say, but I feel I'm on track for the indoor championships coming up. Tonight wasn't my fastest at Cooks Gardens, that was the 3.52 I ran in 2006," Willis said last night.
He was always going to break four minutes after he ran his fastest 800 metres for three years with a speedy outing at the Potts Classic in Hawke's Bay on Saturday - the ideal preparation in his quest to be the first to run five sub-4 minute miles at Cooks Gardens last night.
