Athletics: Whanganui schoolboy Elliot Jones impresses on and off the athletics field

Elliot Jones is impressing on and off the athletics track. Photo / Supplied

It was good to be back in Shetland three years after my last visit and many years back to wonderful childhood visits.

The first thing that struck me in coming out of a New Zealand winter was the long hours of daylight. In Whanganui, sunrise on the day of arrival was 7.42am and sunset at 5.02pm, while in Shetland it was 3.39am, with sunset at 10.34pm; added to this was the wonderful long twilight. It was not the temperature, which was, if anything, a degree or two cooler than on the same day in Whanganui but, as Sir Billy Connolly said, there is "no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing".

As in 2019, I came by ferry early in the morning via Orkney and left the following evening with just a one-night stay, but I did have the best part of two days. As before, the time was all too short but, as I have so many other places to visit planned on my UK visit, it had to suffice.

As I said in last week's column, on my previous visit in 2019, I was introduced to parkrun on the island of Bressey where I crossed by ferry with the Jones family and watched them all run, highlighting the family nature of the sport.

I also mentioned that Elliot and Oliver Jones three years later ran in the silver medal-winning Whanganui cross-country team.

Their mother, Lesley, comes from Shetland and my brother and I were met by Lesley's sister, who kindly took us to our rental car. She also took me to the Shetland Times to speak with their reporters about Elliot Jones' success in running, but also about his impressive documentary Unlocking Potential reported on in the Whanganui Chronicle on July 7 (an opportune time). I passed on details about Elliot along with contacts. This article will also be sent on to them.

One of the real privileges of being a coach is not just trying to make athletes better performers, but learning about their interests and aspects of their lives that inspire and motivate them.

I am sorry that I will miss Elliot's presentation at Whanganui Collegiate on July 27, but I look forward to seeing the recording and the exciting follow-up. He has worked hard on the project with a mission to reframe dyslexia. He has talked to and interviewed many inspirational New Zealanders from around the globe.

As Elliot has stated, "I have talked to all sorts of amazing Kiwis with dyslexia to prove that dyslexia is a strength and superpower that gives you skills that can take you to amazing places. Our dyslexic superheroes".

I have heard about the calibre of his outstanding guests who include Olympic medal winners, leading scientists and leading people from the arts and business sectors, and those interviewed have come from around the world. I have been sworn to secrecy as all will be revealed in the presentation at the end of the month.

I have appreciated the effort that Elliot has invested in this project and, in light of the time the project has taken, I particularly value the effort he made as captain of a successful cross-country team.

He was not well in the week leading up to the New Zealand Schools Championships in Nelson in late June and we were pleased to see him on the bus south. He dug deep on the day in the mud at Saxton Field, probably helped by the late challenge of his younger brother Oliver. Elliot was the fourth scorer in the 6 to score team, two places ahead of his brother. The silver team medal was a just reward for a major effort. Elliot later on that evening made one of the best captain's speeches I can remember at the annual dinner.

Elliot will not be running at the Athletics New Zealand Championships in Taupō at the end of this month because it clashes with his presentation. He has decided to look at a longer buildup for the New Zealand Schools Road Race in Inglewood in December. This will bring the curtain down on his school athletic career. He is a late developer with more ability than he realises. I have been impressed with the progress made over this year and the long string of personal bests at the start of the calendar year.

I look forward to hearing the presentation and wish him well with the accompanying effort to raise funds for dyslexia awareness: https://givealittle.co.nz//fundraise/unlocking-potential