News & Updates

Oli Chignell is the lead name set to compete at the 2021 Athletics New Zealand 10,000m Challenge on Nov 13. Here the New Zealand Cross Country champion chats to Steve Landells about his memorable year and hopes for next weekend’s event at Newtown Stadium.

It has been memorable 2021 for New Zealand men’s endurance running.

From the feats of the likes of Sam Tanner, Hayden Wilde, Nick Willis, Geordie Beamish, Eric Speakman, James Preston, Hamish Carson and Julian Oakley – the year has been overflowing with highlights.

Yet another name worthy of mention is Oli Chignell. The diminutive athlete with the heart of a lion has set PB’s this year in the mile (3:59.77), 3000m (7:59.34), 5000m (13:36.74) and last November run a slick 28:48.03 in Wellington on his 10,000m debut.

In the winter the 23-year-old Dunedin-based athlete successfully regained his national cross country title on his home patch at Chisholm Links and next week he returns to the capital city the star name competing at The Agency Group 10,000m Wellington Festival – the event which doubles as the New Zealand 10,000m Challenge.

Re-named from the Athletics New Zealand 10,000m Championships because of Covid restrictions in the Auckland and Waikato regions, the event amended to Challenge status is a disappointment to Oli and many of the competing athletes.

However, top quality fields are set to take to the start line in the battle for the men’s and women’s challenge titles and Oli is looking forward to making his track debut for the season at a meet he loves.

“The Agency meet takes a leaf out of the Night of 5s and other European and North American distance running festivals by focusing on one event with the aim to get as many athletes as possible running PB’s,” he explains. “This year’s event has more than 100 people which is great to see. Everything is looking really good and I’m pretty happy with how I’m tracking.”

Oli’s 2020-21 campaign was one to be proud of, although the Hill City–University AC athlete was surprised by how well he had performed after picking up a stress fracture of the sacrum in late-2019 and facing several setbacks on his return in 2020.

He opened his campaign in style by blasting to victory on his 10,000m debut in the Agency Group – doing so in that mark of 28:48.03 – the fastest time recorded for the 25-lap distance by a Kiwi in New Zealand for 17 years.

In the New Year the PB’s continued to tumble but does he have any theories as to why his 2021 campaign went so smoothly?

“I actually don’t really know,” explains Oli. “I had a really interrupted season after that stress fracture. It took some time to get over certain mileage humps but that 10km gave me a kick coming into the second half of the summer season.

“Knowing I hadn’t had the most ideal build up meant I sat down with my coach (Chris Pilone) and we decided very early to pick and choose what races we planned to do and fitted all the sessions and training around that to get in the best possible shape.”

It cleared worked. His highlight was the 3:59.77 clocking for the mile at Cooks Gardens. Shattering his PB by the best part of 20 seconds it was a landmark performance as he became the 43th New Zealander to run a sub-four-minute mile.

“From my early days with Chris I said I wanted to run a sub-four-minute mile before I run 10km on the track because I wanted to know I had the speed (to run a sub-four-minute mile),” explains Oli. “I jumped the gun by making by 10,000m debut two months before the sub-four and I got there in the end.

“I put pressure on myself to race well but I also knew I was running against San Tanner, Eric Speakman, Geordie Beamish and Julian Oakley, so the I would get might be fourth or fifth. I just stuck to the back of the chain and tried to hold on. I managed to battle past Geordie down the back straight on the last lap. and although he went past me on the home straight it helped propel me forward. That night was all about the magic of the mile at Cooks Gardens. Under lights it was pretty special and it was the first time four Kiwis had gone under four minutes for the mile in a race since 1985 (when John Walker, Tony Rogers, Kerry Rodger and Peter Renner achieved the feat also in Whanganui).”

In February, Oli maintained his outstanding form to chip 1.5 seconds from his 5000m PB to place second in a time of 13:36.74 at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton. Finishing second behind Hayden Wilde it was another top-quality display but such is his high level of expectation he acknowledges there is room for improvement.

“I was happy with how I ran but I know there is another step for me,” he explains. “Porritt wasn’t ideal. I turned up the night before the race, struggled to get much sleep and then the next morning we ran in temperatures in the early to mid-20s. I finished the race as close as I’ve ever come to passing out. I was not in a good state and with hindsight I should have done a wee bit more heat training.

“I’m used to running in Dunedin in temperatures of 12C but since then I’ve started to incorporate some heat training into my training my running with a few more layers in training to make sure I’m ready for those warmer North Island races.”

After enjoying “a textbook” winter, consistently accumulating 130km a week in training, Oli regained his New Zealand Cross Country title in his home city of Dunedin. 

The victory helped build confidence and now he is on the cusp of kick-starting his 2021-22 track campaign with the New Zealand 10,000m Challenge – on the beginning of a road which he hopes could climax with a spot on the team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and/or World Championships.

Believing his abilities and natural endurance is well suited to the demands of the 25-lap distance, what does he hope to achieve at Newtown Park?

“Originally I hoped to run at a pace to get under the qualification time to make the World Cross team of 29:45,” he explains. “I was down in a pace-making role with the aim to help others achieve the time. But with the World Cross no longer taking place next year and the event no longer being a national championships my role has changed a wee bit.

“My plan is still to go there and help other people get some fast times, but if I get to 8km and I’m still feeling good, which I’m anticipating I will at a 29:45 pace, then it will be nice to see what I can do over the final 2km. Maybe, I’ll pull away and take the win. But a lot of it will come down to windy Wellington. Last year was gusty and tough to run, but I’d love to help some people run fast.”