Athletics Insight: New milestone set at Whanganui riverbank parkrun

Kathryn Stewart crosses the line, setting a new participation record at the Whanganui riverbank parkrun.

The Whanganui riverbank parkun achieved another milestone at the weekend with its 200th edition.

It was established in 2020, in that interrupted-Covid year, and suffered another break during the second lockdown in 2021.

When Kathryn Stewart crossed the finish line and was handed the token for 126th on Saturday, she became the first person to receive that token as the previous highest number of participants had been 125. A further 16 runners crossed the line making 142 – a new record. The event has grown considerably with the first three-figure participation coming late last year, more than three years after the inaugural event. The weekly event on the riverbank has exceeded 100 on many occasions since then and, with warmer summer Saturday mornings, 150 will be the next significant milestone. Protocols at the start and finish have been modified to cope with the welcome increase in participants.

Another milestone will be reached next week with the 2000th volunteer receiving a voucher recognising both the milestone and the importance of volunteers. Among these was Whanganui High School student Aimee Tetzlaff who, at the weekend, completed her service section for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The starters on Saturday included visitors enjoying the Labour weekend holiday and Heritage Weekend (although, by the same token, some regulars were away for the weekend). In years to come, the Saturday morning parkrun could become another part of our rich heritage.

As part of Heritage Weekend, there were displays in the Memorial Hall. Cooks Gardens, “the home of the Mile”, featured as did the World Athletics plaque and history of sub 4-minute miles at this iconic venue. Russell Sears from Wanganui Sports Heritage Trust did a splendid job, not only highlighting Cooks Gardens and the athletes but also the achievements of Whanganui sportsmen and women with the Whanganui Sports Hall of Fame featuring on former displays.

For many years at the overlap of winter and summer sports, Cooks Gardens was shared by rugby and athletics with, on many occasions, the Whanganui Heartland team training on the infield with the weekly Club Night on the track. There was no such overlap this year but, by agreement, the goalposts were left up and the running rail was not installed to allow the two New Zealand Heartland representative fixtures this week to go ahead.

Unfortunately, the original dates (Wednesday, October 30, and Sunday, November 3) were changed to Tuesday, October 29, and Saturday, November 2. The late discovery of the change and the Tuesday rugby/athletics clash was quickly resolved in a commendable spirit of co-operation between the sports and the venue. This co-operation and compromise provided another example of a strength in Whanganui sport which is not always evident in other parts of New Zealand. Rugby started at 5pm and the Senior Club at 7.10pm (25 minutes later than scheduled), providing the opportunity for athletes arriving early to enjoy the Heartland Rugby match.

We regrettably had to call off the proposed children’s training from 6.15pm which included taking part in the early part of the Senior programme. That new children’s initiative has been postponed to a later date but the Senior C programme continued, albeit with the delayed programme and without high jump and javelin because of the wet and cold conditions.

The outstanding Cooks Gardens all-weather track (due to be resurfaced later next month) has meant that Athletics Whanganui has adopted a non-cancellation policy for Tuesday evening Club Nights. On a wet night such as Tuesday, many vote with their feet. However, many still competed in the later programme.

The 60m sprints required four heats with 80 recorded performances over all events on a damp evening.

Filipe Bayly announced his return by a win over the in-form Damian Hodgson although Bayly sustained an injury at the start of the 150m. Hodgson won the race, with Bayly falling with a calf injury. Hodgson won the 300m earlier in the programme. Oliver Jones won the 600m with Tilly Darke heading the women’s division after a close battle with Olivia Gilbertson, Zoe Broadhead and Masters runner Sally Gibbs. Jack Qiu returning from injury, won the 2km road race.

The weekend sees the first of three Regional League Meetings in Hastings. The league started many decades ago and has provided valuable early season competition for senior athletes and vital competition for school-age athletes attending the annual New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in early December. Whanganui will be represented by a small team reduced through injury and unavailability for the long day trip on the eve of NCEA exams. Many more will attend the second meet in Palmerston North one week later and at the final meet in Wellington on Saturday, November 23.