Return Of Queen Street Golden Mile Offers All Kiwis The Chance To Follow In The Footsteps Of Champions

Wednesday 12 December, 2012: Thirty years after last striding down Queen Street in search of another victory, running legend Sir John Walker is planning a new rush of excitement for the heart of Auckland, only this time he will be a spectator on the other side of the safety barriers.

The 1976 Olympic 1500m champion announced today that his charity, the John Walker FIND YOUR FIELD OF DREAMS Foundation (FYFOD), will reprise the Queen Street Golden Mile, to be held on Easter Monday, April 1, 2013 - almost 30 years after the last one back in 1983.

But unlike the earlier street miles which focused mainly on elite athletes, next year’s event will look to embrace the wider community and provide a full afternoon of races for young and old, the ultra-fit, the sports mad and disabled athletes. Races will include juniors, veterans, celebrities, wheelchair athletes, corporate, social and cross-code teams, plus a feature mile for international men and women.

“This is a great opportunity for those who live in the city - and beyond - to run in the footsteps of champions down Queen St, and at the same time generate some income to support the work of the Foundation and help us gain greater awareness,” says FYFOD Chief Executive Craig Pollock. People interested in participating next Easter can find entry details on www.queenstreetmile.co.nz

“The Foundation was established in 2008 with the backing of Manukau City. At that time Mayor Len Brown was still Mayor of Manukau City and Sir John a Councillor. They shared a common vision; to encourage more young people across the city into sport, to live a healthy life, pursue positive pathways and, like Sir John, dare to pursue their dream. The Foundation is here to give them that opportunity.

“Credit for the return of the Queen Street Golden Mile goes to Trustee Richard Walker, Sir John’s son and new Foundation Chairman. We are delighted with the backing received from Mayor Len Brown and Auckland Council to run it on Easter Monday for the next three years. With Richard driving the project forward, we see it becoming an iconic Auckland event which everyone in the city can enjoy.”

“This is a great event for two reasons,” says the Mayor. “Firstly it will reinforce Auckland’s growing reputation as an events capital. We’ve already been voted second world sports capital behind London and this is another feather in our cap.

Secondly the event will benefit the amazing, ongoing work of Sir John’s Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation with kids across Auckland.”

The first Queen Street mile, promoted by the Auckland Athletics Centre, back in December 1972, was won in a time of 3m 47.6s by Kiwi Tony Polhill, a former British and New Zealand 1500m champion who reached the 1500m final at the Munich Olympics earlier that year. It lapsed for 10 years, was revived in 1982 and featured a high class field including Steve Scott (USA), Ray Flynn (Ireland), Mike Hillardt (Australia) plus a bunch of home-grown talent headed by John Walker.

Scott, who dueled with Walker for a number of years over the mile on the track, sprinted home in a blistering 3m 31.25s - the world’s fastest mile by a runner - followed by Flynn, Hillardt and Walker in a blanket finish. National 800m champion, Christine Hughes, won the women’s race in 4m 3.07s.

A year later Kenya’s Mike Boit, who had edged Walker out of a silver medal in the 800m at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, staggered everyone, including himself, when he scorched down Queen St in 3m 28.3s. It was his first attempt at a street mile and remains the fastest time ever recorded over a mile, he was the first to break 3m 30s for the distance. Scott finished 2nd with Flynn 3rd and both also went under 3m 30s. In the women’s race Hughes won again, in 4m 2.93s.

While he has run several other road miles, including nine appearances in the famous New York Fifth Avenue Mile, 1982 was Sir John’s first and only Queen St mile. He remembers it as both a “frightening but exciting experience.”

“In those days you started just around the top of Queen St into Karangahape Road,” he says. ”It was a mad scramble to get around the corner first, then go flat out down the hill and finally catch your breath when the road flattened out. It was punishing on the legs but a real thrill with thousands of people lining both sides of Queen St.

“It is our hope that each Easter Monday for the next three years, at least, we can repeat those crowds, having made a change to the race start which should be more user-friendly for all runners. The start will now be at the Mayoral Drive intersection. It is a straight dash down Queen St, across Customs and Quay Streets and then along Queen’s Wharf, finishing about 40 metres before the end of the wharf.

“We want to bring the Queen Street Golden Mile to the people and also bring the crowds back to the Queen Street Golden Mile. It will be a unique experience, he says.

“You can run a mile on a track or while pounding the streets any day, but it is hard to beat the thrill you get from running down Queen St with crowds packed both sides of you.”

As well as Auckland Council, the Find Your Field of Dreams initiative also carries the support of Athletics Auckland and the NZ Olympic Committee. The intention is to schedule the Queen Street Golden Mile into the athletics calendar on both sides of the Tasman so it falls between the NZ Track & Field Championships and the Australian Athletic Championships.

More details about the Queen Street Golden Mile are at www.queenstreetmile.co.nz

ENDS

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