It is hardly surprising that with the iconic Cooks Gardens, the venue that has seen more sub four minute miles than any other New Zealand track, that middle distance running has featured strongly in Whanganui athletic history.
Earlier in the month I featured a long list of athletes from Whanganui who had gained athletic scholarships in the USA almost all of whom were middle distance runners. I missed. Catherine Conder who attended Coastal Carolina University from the list. The day after writing the article middle distance runner Andres Hernandez, who spent his final school year at Whanganui Collegiate in 2019, contacted me informing me he had just won a scholarship to de Salle University in Philadelphia.
Catherine Conder was part of the second Whanganui Schools Team to travel to the Australian Schools Championships in Adelaide in 1989. There was a large group of middle- distance runners in that team including Hamish Smith and Peter Swinburn both New Zealand under 18 Champions that year in 1500m and 2000m Steeplechase respectively, Smith went on to a Scholarship to Colorado. Conder had her brother Robert in the team who followed his running career in New Zealand and represented New Zealand also in the 1989 team was Vaughan Priddey from Marton who after his successful career became a leading coach.
CV (Don Evans) was Whanganui's first national middle-distance Champion winning both the half and 1 mile at the 1929 -1930 Championship, He repeated his Half mile victory the following year and again in 1934- 35.
Kevin Ross had won the New Zealand Junior Half Mile title in 1965-1966 season and then went on to win four senior title with three consecutive half mile titles starting in 1966 -67 with a fourth title over 1500m in 1970 -71. Bev Shingles made it a Whanganui 1500 metre double by winning the women's title that year. Ross also ran in the World Record breaking 4 x 1 mile team.