“Our surface is still in good condition but needs replacing so it stays that way and can be certified by World Athletics,” she said.
Polytan won the tender process against one other company.
According to its website, Polytan is responsible for 25% of all World Athletics-certified tracks globally.
Fletcher said Fulton Hogan put in the asphalt base in 1996 and had done such a good job that it could stay as was.
The track will be closed from November 16.
“Allowing for weather, we anticipate that we’ll be ready to apply for certification just before Christmas,” she said.
“That gives us a bit of time to receive that documentation before the Cooks Classic at the end of January.”
Fletcher said Polytan would use a product called Rekortan, similar to the current surface, which was “rubber granules on a cushioning layer”.
Athletics Wanganui president Alec McNab said the current track had begun to show signs of wear, meaning the surface was harder and injuries were more likely.
“Replacing the surface is vital because without a certified track, you can run school and club meets but not international meetings or anything that official ranking come from,” he said.
“We have been holding our breath for quite a while, hoping that all was going to go through.
“With [inflation] we were somewhat worried it might go way above what was put aside but that hasn’t happened.”
The council approved $570,000 for the work in its 10-year (long-term) plan.
McNab said keeping it within budget had a lot to do with the state of the current track.
It consists of two layers of rubber but only the top layer needs replacing.
“When they resurfaced it last time they said they hadn’t come across a track in better condition,” he said.
“I think that’s got two factors - we look after it and the Whanganui climate is very helpful. It’s neither very cold or very hot.”
Cooks Classic meeting director Russell Sears said resurfacing the track meant the event would be upgraded to a World Athletics Continental Bronze meet for the first time.
Previously, it was a Continental Tour Challenger meet.
“That means we’ll have a higher calibre of overseas athletes competing,” he said.
“It was officially on the World Athletics website last night [Tuesday] and we’ve already had one entry from Canada for the women’s hammer - an Olympic athlete.”
He said a bronze meeting in Christchurch last year attracted 88 overseas athletes.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
