Sam Tanner has his sights set on Walker’s mile record

Sam Tanner
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Bay of Plenty runner Sam Tanner has his sights set on breaking one of Sir John Walker’s records at the same venue the New Zealand legend set the mark 41 years ago.

Tanner has become the countries dominant middle distance runner in recent years and the time has come for him to make an impression on the record books.

The 22 year old is about to head for Europe with his first race the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway.

It’s the same race that Walker set the national record of 3:49:08 in 1982.

“I really want to break John Walker’s mile record this year, so we’ll see what happens in Oslo,” Tanner told RNZ.

“It’s definitely something that excites me and to try and achieve at least.

“But it’s a tough mark and he was an exceptional athlete so to be able to take that down would be an incredible honour.”

Sir John Walker
Photo: Photosport

Tanner always thought he had a better chance of breaking Nick Willis’ 1500 metre record, but he now believes he has a better chance of challenging Walker’s mark.

“I don’t really want to stress out about trying to break a record, I’m just going to try and win as many races as I can.

The Dream Mile at the Bislett Games is one of the iconic events in world athletics.

Those to have won there include many of the legends of the distance including Walker, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Scott, Steve Cram, Noureddine Morceli, Hicham El Guerrouj and Asbel Kiprop.

However Tanner will have to be at his best, he’ll need to shave four seconds off his PB to break Walker’s mark.

“We learnt a lot last year from how my body felt really good for Comm Games and how I responded, so that’ll be our approach this year.

“I’ve got to a point in my fitness and career where I can compete well with the best guys in the world and that was shown when I was ranked in the top ten (1500m) in the world earlier this year.

The 1500 and mile these days isn’t so tactical rather it’s a good pace from the start, which he’s not a great fan of.

“At the 2019 World Champs and it was flat tack from the gun and they ran 3:29 and the Olympics was the same and it’s continued since.

“It’s always the hardest way to run a race because you never really feel good and the hardest part about 1500 or a mile is making sure that you don’t take your foot off the gas at all/.

“Hopefully a fast race that has been set up well then the record is going to come.

The Bislett meeting is on June 15.

He and coach Craig Kirkwood will then base themselves in the alps in Andorra and train alongside triathlete Hayden Wilde.

Tanner has a series of races on his schedule leading up to the World Championships in Budapest in August.

“Last year I struggled to get into a couple of meetings I wanted to, just because I hadn’t quite run fast enough.

“But after running 3’31” (for the 1500 at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games) I’ll get into pretty much all I need to.”

Bislett Stadium, Oslo
Photo: AFP