Beamish Shatters New Zealand 3000m Record With Epic Performance

New Zealand middle-distance athletes excelled at the Millrose Games in New York today (Sunday 12 February) as George Beamish set a stunning national 3000m record and Sam Tanner lowered his mile PB to finish fourth in the historic Wanamaker Mile.

Beamish finished sixth in the 3000m recording a time of 7:36.22 – to take 3.28 seconds from this indoor New Zealand record he set at the same meeting last year. His mark was also quicker than Nick Willis’ national outdoor record of 7:36.91 set in 2014 to ensure he banked the absolute New Zealand 3000m record.

It was another breakthrough run by the 26-year-old US-based athlete, who hails from Havelock North but who attended that great endurance running factory at Whanganui Collegiate.

Great Britain’s Josh Kerr won the race in a meet record of 7:33.47 with Swiss and Guatemalan records also registered in a high-class race chock full of PBs.

In the showcase Wanamaker Mile, Sam Tanner ran a patient race to run a time of 3:51.70 and trim 1.15 seconds from his mile PB he set in Boston just one week earlier. Willis holds the New Zealand Indoor mile record of 3:51.06 recorded in New York in 2016.

The 22-year-old Athletics Tauranga athlete sat sixth or seventh for much of the race, before finishing strongly over the final two laps to sprint home and claim fourth behind race winner Yared Nuguse, who recorded a dazzling 3:47.38 for a Wanamaker Mile race record and US national record time.

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