RETURN OF FINE ATHLETE

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32462, 24 November 1970, Page 26

RETURN OF FINE ATHLETE

The former Canter- I bury and New Zealand ' three-mile champion, B. ' R. E. Jones has re- i turned after three years ' of competition and study j in England. He reappeared unexpect- , edly at Rugby Park—the home of Canterbury track and field athletics —on Saturday but only as a spectator. In Christchurch to visit relatives, he was unable to pass up the opportunity to renew old acquaintances. Unfortunately, he will not settle in Christchurch. Having completed a doctorate in chemical engineering while in England, he has taken a position with a food processing company in Hastings. Now aged 28, Jones has no ; thoughts about retiring from competition but his appearances this season will be few. . He had little opportunity to keep in trim during the journey by ship from England and feels that he could not do himself justice this sum-

One of his targets this season, nevertheless, will be the

Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay marathon. Jones switched his main interest from track events to long distance road races while in England and it was in this testing event that he made an unsuccessful bid to win selection for the team which competed in the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. His athletics career in England was far from easy. At one stage he injured his achllles tendon and had to undergo an operation. Afterwards, he was told to begin using it again immediately but the long distances required for training proved too much for it and a “secondary irritation” forced him to break training again. Good time On the track his best performance since leaving New Zealand was 13min 30sec for

three miles. This compared favourably with his previous best time, 13min 24sec, set when running second to I. Studd (Auckland) in a photofinish to the 1966 national championship at Rugby Park. Jones, who was a prominent harrier in New Zealand, rarely found time in England

to run in cross-country events but next winter he intends to compete seriously in this branch of athletics, mainly as a build-up for the summer season. In this he plans to make a full-scale assault on the marathon. "1 would like to see what I qan do,” he said. Jones won his only New Zealand three-mile title in 1967 but when he went over-

seas he had established a remarkable record of performances over a great variety of distances.

Best year His outstanding year was probably 1964-65, when he won every Canterbury championship from one mile to 10 miles. The next year he retained his one-mile and threemile titles and set a provincial record for the mile of 4min s.6sec, a time which still stands.

His visit to England was made through a Mulholland Fellowship.