Celebrating the best of times

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Author: Alec McNab ATHLETICS INSIGHT
• Publication title: Whanganui Chronicle

A personal best can provide both motivation and consolation. It is true that as athletes get better and more experienced, personal bests become rarer and harder to achieve

Jonathan Edwards (UK) set the world triple jump record on August 7, 1995, in Goteborg, Sweden, with an 18.29m jump. The record still stands. Edwards never bettered that mark, even though he won the 2000 Sydney Olympics triple jump title.

The inexperienced Whanganui Secondary Schools team set 46 personal bests in Palmerston North at the North Island Secondary Schools Championships this month.

Last week I highlighted the podium places (12 individuals and one relay team) of the 60-strong Whanganui team. Six of the 12 were personal-best performances, meaning most of the personal bests came from athletes who did not feature on the podium and, in many cases, were towards the back of the field.

James McGregor set three personal bests in his events (400m, 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles), but only in the last did he gain a podium place. McGregor had further reward in the 4 x 400m, as did Samuel Hermann who did not gain a podium place in the 200m or the 400m, but set personal bests in both.

Whanganui High School Year 9 student Alex Payne was another to gain more than one personal best performance and should be encouraged by his PBs over 800m and 300m.

Grace Fannin, who in March won a silver medal in the under-16 300m hurdles, missed the podium in Palmerston North by one place, but gained considerable satisfaction from running a substantial personal best with her first sub-49s performance (48.37s). Fannin also ran in the 400m with high hopes following a personal best at club night over 300m four days earlier. She paid for a slow start and finished eighth in the combined field, but gained considerable consolation from a new personal best.

Hannah Byam, who won a silver medal in the under-16 New Zealand 2000m steeplechase in mid-March with a massive 9s personal best, had to settle for a lower step on the podium and a considerably slower time. Such is the nature of the sport, especially when a peak event is four weeks earlier. Her steeplechasing training partner, Greta Darke, improved her position by one place, finishing second in...