Walker wants sub-4min mile run at Q.E. II

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 92

Walker wants sub-4min mile run at Q.E. II

By

ROD DEW

New Zealand’s former world record-holder, John Walker, arrived in Christchurch yesterday afternoon hopeful that he will get the “really solid run” he needs in the feature mile in the Mita Copiers international track and field meeting at Queen Elizabeth II Park this evening. “I would like to go under 4min, but a lot will depend on getting the pace going. If I am going to break 4min, I will need some help over the first 800 m. I need a pacemaker. If I don’t get any help, then I will just sit and kick,” he said. “I haven’t been to Queen Eliabeth II Park for a couple of years, but I always run well here. I want a good honest race.” He regards the international field in the mile as the best seen in New Zealand for about eight years, but he is not certain how the visitors will perform. They come, however, with strong reputations. Chuck Aragon (United States) ran in the last

world championships and has a recent best of 3min 34.8 s for 1500 m. He is, says Walker, “very capable on his day.”

Glen Ritchie (Australia), Dave Reid (Canada), Paul Larkins (England), and three leading New Zealand runners, Colin McDonald (Canterbury), Robbie Johnston (Otago) and Andrew Campbell (Auckland), are in the field finalised last evening. Walker, who has qualified for the Seoul Olympic 1500 m, is realistic about his chances in the Games without completely discounting them. “I am 36, and shouldn’t even be running. But I am, and I am still able to compete at international level. What I will do at Seoul is anyone’s guess. If I can get into the same sort of form I was in last year then I should make the final. Once there, anything is possible.” He has done “a little more training” than in recent years, and is feeling reasonably confident. He won the Auckland 800 m championship last week-end in Imin 49.65, — the fastest recorded in

New Zealand this summer. “I beat a couple of guys who are probably the best in New Zealand at the moment — both 10 years younger than I am,” he said. He has already recorded his first sub-4min mile of the year, a 3min 59.99 s run indoors in Los Angeles in January. The timing of the national 800 m and 1500 m championships at Hamilton next month makes it impossible for him to attempt the double. “I would have liked to double up, but the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association has decided that athletes shouldn’t double up.” He has elected to run in the 800 m because it is more of a challenge for him than the 1500 m.

Walker’s plans for a European campaign this year are a little indefinite. He will probably go in June and spend no more than four weeks on the circuit — “just enough to get myself in really good shape.” Then he will return to New Zealand and complete his preparation for the Seoul Olympics.