Cooks Gardens track fully resurfaced and ready for athletes' return

The Cooks Gardens track’s crisp, upgraded surface now meets World Athletics certification standards. Photo / Supplied

The Cooks Gardens athletics track resurfacing is complete and is now open for bookings heading into the new year.

Starting in November, the six-week Whanganui District Council project upgraded the track’s surface and brought it in line with World Athletics certification standards.

Under the new World Athletics rules, tracks over 12 years old are no longer eligible for International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) certification extensions.

Council general manager of community property and places Sarah O’Hagan said the work was completed on time and within budget.

There was $570,000 budgeted in the council’s long-term plan 2024-34 for the track work with an additional contribution of $25,000 from Athletics Whanganui as a grant from the Four Regions Trust.

The total cost of the track resurfacing was $591,390.

In 1966, the track was converted from grass to a rubber surface with an asphalt base and had last been resurfaced in 2012, meaning it was well overdue.

Athletics Whanganui president Alec McNab said the timely resurfacing would save money later because delays would have increased the cost and led to the inevitable further deterioration of the surface.

The old track had begun to show signs of wear, meaning the surface was harder and injuries were more likely.

A full closure of the track was in place while contractor Polytan NZ Limited carried out the resurfacing.

During the track’s shutdown period, the Whanganui Athletics Club trained at Whanganui Collegiate School.

The track has a long, iconic history in Whanganui and was the site where Peter Snell broke the world mile record in 1962 with a time of 3m 54s.

Events such as the Cooks Classic are carried out every year on the track, with many budding Whanganui athletes honing their skills through club-level athletics at the site.

In November, council capital works manager Rosemary Fletcher said it was looking forward to welcoming everyone back to a refreshed Cooks Gardens.

“We timed the project to avoid the high-use periods for organised events and early enough to ensure delivery prior to major planned events such as the Cooks Classic,” Fletcher said.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.