Sam Tanner heads all-star line up for historic New Zealand road mile champs

Published 5th May 2023

New Zealand middle-distance star Sam Tanner heads a stellar field at the inaugural New Zealand Road Mile Championships on the streets of Rotorua on Friday night.

Featuring as part of the Museum Mile sponsored by Toi Ohomai – the opening event of the three-day Red Stag Rotorua Marathon – look out for the flying Tanner who competes in his first since race since retaining his national 1500m crown at the Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships in early March.

Tanner, who set a mile PB of 3:51.70 at the Wanamaker Mile in New York in February will be looking to add the national road mile title to the national track mile title he plundered in Whanganui in January and he is looking forward to the experience of racing in Rotorua on Friday.

“A road mile really changes it up and brings excitement to the streets,” adds Tanner, who makes his road mile debut. “It creates a lot of excitement on the streets, so I’m hoping Rotorua will be packed with fans and we will receive some awesome support, that would be cool to see.”

The 22-year-old athlete, who climbed to number two on the all-time New Zealand 1500m lists with a stunning clocking of 3:31.34 at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year, uses Rotorua as an occasional training location and he believes he can deliver a strong performance in a race which concludes in front of the historic Government Gardens Museum Building.

“The goal is to take the win,” he adds. “The time will depend on the weather, but it is pretty flat out so I’m looking to run around four minutes.”

Chief among his opposition will be his training partners Julian Oakley and Hayden Wilde. Oakley claimed the national mile title in 2022 and with a PB of 3:55.10 dating from 2018 the Athletics Tauranga athlete, and reigning national 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m, will present a strong challenge.

Wilde, the Olympic triathlon bronze medallist, will also be a threat. The three-time national 5000m champion boasts a mile PB of 4:05.49 and hopes to be in the podium mix in Rotorua.

“It should be good fun,” says Wilde. “It is a cool and innovative idea to have a road mile champs. With Sam and Julian running I’m keen to hopefully help team CK (Craig Kirkwood coaches Tanner, Oakley and Wilde) and get that third place in the mile.

“I would love to run a sub-four with the boys and I feel like I’m in that kind of shape at the moment, but we’ll just have to see what conditions are like and how I’ll go on the road.”

Training partners Sam Tanner and Julian Oakley are all set to compete at the New Zealand Road Mile Championships in Rotorua Credit: Alisha Lovrich

Among the other entrants is former New Zealand U20 800m champion Tom Moulai, who set his mile lifetime best of 4:05.97 in 2021.

The senior women’s field boasts arguably even greater depth than the men with the past three women’s national mile champions on the track all lined up to compete. Rebekah Greene (Hill City) is the fastest women in the field over the mile distance courtesy of her eye-catching New Zealand resident record time of 4:32.92 when claiming the national mile title in Whanganui in January.

Her bid for victory, however, will be far from straight forward as Laura Nagel gained the better of Greene to win the New Zealand 1500m and 3000m titles this season. The 31-year-old North Harbour Bays athlete took out the 2022 national mile title and with a PB of 4:35.23 expect Nagel to be a major threat.

Tokyo Olympian and 2021 New Zealand mile champion Camille French is on the road to full fitness after giving birth to daughter, Sienna, in 2022 but with a best of 4:37.68 will also be a factor.

Also entered are 2023 New Zealand mile silver medallist Holly Manning (4:38.87), the 2022 national mile silver medallist Anneke Arlidge (nee Grogan), who has a lifetime best of 4:37.48 and the versatile Katherine Camp (4:44.24), who has won New Zealand medals in distances from the 800m to the half marathon.

Greene, who later this month plans to head off to North America for a block of racing before then heading to Europe, said: “My coach (Craig Kirkwood) told me that with Sam, Hayden and Julian also competing here it would be a good opportunity to get in a good weekend of racing (Greene is also entered in the RampRun and Runway5 at the Red Stag Rotorua Marathon). To compete in my first road mile is an exciting prospect and feel like it will be a fast race.

“A win would be nice, but I really don’t know what to expect. I just hope to stay relaxed and stick with the pace, I’m up against a top-quality field.”

Athletics Tauranga athletes will expect to be to the fore in the men’s U20 event with the top two New Zealand counters in the men’s U20 race at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst – Matt Hill and Elliott Pugh – both entered. Hill finished a highly creditable 38th in Bathurst – one place in front of Pugh – and the national U20 5000m silver medallist will seek a strong showing in Rotorua. Pugh, however, claimed an U20 New Zealand silver medal over the mile in January, posting a PB of 4:11.02, so expect the 17-year-old to be prominent.

Watch out too for their clubmate Callum Murray who set a PB of 4:13.55 when winning bronze behind Pugh at the U20 mile championship race in Whanganui. New Zealand Secondary Schools 3000m silver medallist George Wyllie further strengthens the Athletics Tauranga challenge. Nick Davies (Takapuna), the U20 New Zealand steeplechase bronze medallist, is also entered.

Rotorua has a strong challenger in the women’s U20 race as Poppy Martin of Lake City AC looks to feature after winning New Zealand U20 track mile bronze medal in a time of 4:57.36 in January.

Other athletes looking to make their mark include national U18 steeplechase champion Courtney Fitzgibbon (Feilding Moa) and Takapuna’s Sascha Letica, the U18 national 3000m silver medallist.

Eleanor Pugh of Athletics Tauranga the U16 national 1500m and 3000m bronze medallist could be a factor as could her team-mate Charo Heijnen who has a 1500m PB of 4:40.69. Also entered are the 2022 U20 New Zealand Mountain Running silver medallist Sophie Robb and Stella Hammond, who claimed 2023 national U20 mountain running bronze.