Top US Pacemaker For Willis Record Attempt

The battle between Nick Willis and Andrew Baddeley for John Walker's 28 year old New Zealand allcomers mile record is set for a blistering pace with the confirmation of top US miler Rob Myers this week as pacemaker for the March 13th race.

With the mile field for the Christchurch event the best assembled in New Zealand for at least 25 years, and most of New Zealand's fastest 1500m prospects racing in their own right, organisers were forced to look overseas for a top class runner who could run Willis and Baddeley through to the later stages of the race at the pace necessary to attack Walker's record of 3:50.6 for the best time set on NZ soil.

"It takes a top runner in their own right to have the speed and strength to lead a field for 2-3 laps at the right pace" said Meet Director Craig Motley. "Myers is a sub-four minute miler and a training partner of Nick's, and securing a pacemaker of his calibre makes it far more likely that the record attempt will be successful".

A member of Willis's US training squad, Myers is a former US representative, is ranked in the top 20 in the world this year and has a mile personal best time of 3:53.78.

The More FM Mile will be the headline event of the International Track Meet to be held in Christchurch on 13th March, featuring top local and international athletic talent.