N.Z. 15-Mile Record Is Aim Of Stevens

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30936, 17 December 1965, Page 19

N.Z. 15-Mile Record Is Aim Of Stevens

Not a great deal has been seen of one of Canterbury’s most prominent distance runners, R. J. Stevens (Olympic), in the last 12 months, especially on the track. But this situation promises to alter drastically in the next few months. He has completed the thesis for his MA degree which took up so much of his time and he is now planning a new assault on Canterbury records and titles. Already he has shown good form on the rare competitive appearances he has made this season.

Baillie Holder One of his long-term tar- ' gets is an attempt on the New Zealand 15-mile track record, which he once held. It is now held by the Aucklander. W. D. Baillie, at Ihr 14min 44.45ec. Stevens holds the Canterbury 15-mile record at Ihr 17min 42.6abc, and the provincial records for the six miles (29min 232 sec), 10 miles (51min ssec), and the one hour run (Umiles 1260 yards). Stevens is quite emphatic that he will not be making his bid for the national record this season. His main object this year is to regain the Canterbury Six miles championship, which he.did not defend last season, and improve his record for the distance. He regards this event, in particular, as a challenge for there are four athletes all capable of winning the title and taking his record.

One of them, D. C. McKenzie (Greymouth), unofficially recorded 28min 37sec for six miles on his way to taking second place in the New Zealand 10 miles road championship a few weeks ago.

Other Rivals The others Stevens considers to be his strongest rivals in the event are B. R. Jones (University), who won virtually every Canterbury middle distance title last season, E. Grey (Greymouth), and B. Turner (Shirley). He has considerable respect for Turner, in spite of his poor showings in recent seasons. “He is now working very systematically. All he needs is a little confidence.” he says. Stevens also hopes to be i selected for the Canterbury , team to contest the New ZeaI land six-mile championship, 'which is being run at Rugby Park this season. If he is successful, it will be the tenth time he has represented Canterbury at the national championships. The reason for his choice of the 15 miles as a target is that he believes be has insufficient pace for the shorter distances and. at the moment, not enough time to train seriously for the marathon. However, he considers that the marathon te his best potential distance.' At 33, and with 12 years of serious competition behind him. Stevens is anything but a spent force. A winner of the Canterbury marathon championship in 1962, he does Mt intend to race in this season’s marathon. Instead, he hopes to build up for a big effort over this distance in the following year.