Willis gets track up and running

Olympian Nick Willis has been confirmed to run on Masterton's new all-weather athletics track at the Colin Pugh Sportsbowl on Saturday, and organiser Mark Harris is hoping a big crowd will turn out to welcome a Kiwi sporting hero.

Masterton's Mark Harris, who is the on-the-ground organiser for the first meet, said Willis will be the perfect guest of honour to launch the new facility.

Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the athletics star will be able to watch him getting in to his stride as pacemaker for the 1500m A race and B race events.

"I spoke with him last Saturday and he said he'll be there for 4pm," said Harris. "It's not very often you get an Olympian to run in the first races at a new track."

Mr Harris said Willis' achievements in 2008 in Beijing, where he claimed the silver medal, and in 2012 in London, were "awesome".

"The level of dedication and training required to make it to that level is an amazing performance," he said.

"When you think that he was representing a country of just four million people and he was competing against countries with hundreds of millions and countries such as India and China with more than a billion people, it puts his achievements in to perspective."

He said the meeting would be a free-entry event for anyone who wanted to come along and see the Olympic silver medallist and competition on the track for the first time.

He was expecting about 70 or 80 athletes to participate and he said that athletes who wish to take part in the events will have to register with Athletics New Zealand.

The meeting will run from 1.30pm until after 4pm, and Mr Harris said he hoped the day would mark the start of a new era for track athletics in the region. "It's a great promotion for athletics here," Mr Harris said.

The track's official opening will be held at a later date.