Athletes for U.S. circuit

Press, 9 November 1984, Page 15

Athletes for U.S. circuit

By

ROD DEW

The Olympic steeplechase finalist, Peter Renner (New Brighton), has teamed up with John Walker for a brief campaign on the United States indoor circuit in January.

The talented New Zealand pair will compete in four meetings in 12 days, starting with a meeting in Los Angeles on January 23. Walker, planning to become the first athlete in history to run 100 sub-4min miles, hopes to run a mile at each of the meetings and Renner, who holds the national 5000 m crown as well as the 3000 m steeplechase title, will compete over two miles.

“I might run one indoor mile if I can get a start,” Renner said after his excellent season-opener of 14min 10.2 s for 5000 m at Queen Elizabeth II Park last Saturday. This might be difficult, he added, because of the small fields and small number of lanes on the indoor tracks.

He will, however, have one mile race in February, on home ground. He has been invited to race in the Tokoroa milk race mile, a road event on February 8. Renner has a particularly busy year ahead, and will be on the move for much of the time. After the indoor circuit, he will aim to reach a peak for the Canterbury championships in February, the international series soon aftertwards, and the New Zealand championships in Dunedin in March.

Then he is likely to return to the United States for some of the lucrative road events which he feels will help his preparation for the Pacific Conference Games in San Francisco in June. If he is the first finisher in the steeples from the Oceania area (New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands), then he will be chosen automatically for the World Cup meeting in Canberra in October.

His plan is to travel to Europe after the Pacific Conference Games for a series of major international meetings, and this should leave him in top shape for the World Cup event His bold runs in the Olympics caught the eyes of promoters in Europe and arrangements to run there are “all fixed up” already. Lack of competition may prevent Renner running as many steeplechase events in New Zealand this summer as he would like to. How-

ever, he has his sights firmly fixed on the New Zealand all-comers record of Bmin 20.85, set by the great Kenyan, Ben Jipcho, in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch.

His first chance at this will probably be at the Technical club’s City of Christchurch twilight track and field meeting at Queen Elizabeth II Park on December 15.

At least, Renner will not

be quite such a lonely figure in New Zealand steeplechase races now that his training partner, Neil Lowsley (New Brighton), is back in action. Lowsley, a former New Zealand steeples champion, represented New Zealand in both the steeples and the 5000 m at the Brisbane Commonwealth Games in 1982, and was a finalist in both. However, a troublesome back injury and illness combined to keep him away

from serious track competition until last Saturday. His return in the 5000 m was closely watched, and Lowsley did not disappoint. He ran second to Renner in 14min 225, a very promising run after such a long absence. Lowsley admitted afterwards that he had been very nervous before the race. “I didn’t know how I would go. But that race has done a lot for my confidence. I know I will be okay now.” Lowsley has been in heavy training under the guidance of his coach, Eric Rowe, and considers he has

never felt keener. At this stage, he is not prepared to offer any public targets. “I am just going to take it week by week.” Nevertheless, he will direct his preparation towards reaching a peak for the New Zealand championship in Dunedin. It is unlikely that he will be able to match Renner, who is now very much in world class. But on the evidence of his opening run and his obvious enthusiasm, he might not be too far behind. And a place in the New Zealand team for the Pacific Conference Games is a distinct possibility.