Leading triathlete Hayden Wilde is attempting to break one of the longest standing records in New Zealand's athletics history.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Wilde, 23, has announced he will take on the national one hour record set by the late great Bill Baillie in 1963.
Only Sir Peter Snell's 1962 800m record has stood for longer.
Wilde will attempt to better Baillie's 20,190 metres at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday, October 10.
He was inspired by seeing his friend Matt Baxter compete in a one hour race in the US last month.
"It kind of got me thinking I'd love to give this go," Wilde said.
"I've got the endurance capabilities from my triathlon background with the swim, bike and the run and I know I've got the speed.
"For me it's going to be an extremely big challenge and the time that Bill set back in 1963 was an absolute staple...but I'm looking forward to giving it a good crack."
Baillie's distance was a world record in 1963, eclipsing the legendary Emil Zátopek of the Czech Republic who became the first man to run more than 20 kilometres in an hour in 1951.
Great Britain's Mo Farah now holds the record at 21,330 metres, having broken Haile Gebrselassie's 2007 mark in Brussels last month.
"I'd love to get as close to the [New Zealand] record as possible. I feel that I can get to about 15k comfortably but from there it's going to be a huge battle," Wilde said.
"Mentally running 50 and a bit laps is a mental barrier and running on the track is such a different experience to running on the road.
"You can take so many more risks on the road where on the track you go four seconds faster on one lap and you know you can blow your doors off."
Wilde will be assisted by four pacemakers - Peter Wheeler, Aaron Pulford, Cam Graves and training partner Sam Tanner.
"They'll be helping me through hopefully 12k on the track and from there I'll potentially be solo, trying to grind out that last couple of k."
He is "aiming for about 20.3/20.5ks" and his coach Craig Kirkwood has told him to run a half marathon.
"So when the hour finishes I might just carry on and chuck a few 600 metres on to the end to call it even."
Hayden Wilde competing in the 2019 ITU World Olympic qualification event in Toyko Photo: Photosport Ltd 2019
Wilde beat Baxter to win the 5000 metres at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Christchurch in March and recently won the New Zealand cross-country challenge in Dunedin, but he remains committed to triathlon.
"I've actually been mostly really focussing on my swimming side because that's my weakness. So I've been doing a lot more swimming than anything else.
"I think the thing that's really pushed me [my running] to the next level is...over the Covid period I've had pretty much four to five months of pure, consistent training with no interruptions."
And he's looking forward to competing in a number of triathlons in New Zealand this summer.
"All the New Zealand boys are home so it's going to be some great racing. It's going to be a fantastic opportunity for all of us."
