The meeting, to be held on January 10 at the all weather track at Aorangi Park in Timaru, will also play host to the national 10,000m championship event.
This is only the second time it has been held in Timaru, the last being in 2013.
High Performance Permit meetings, such as the Lovelock Classic, act as pathways for athletes to qualify for major world events and over the years numerous athletes who have competed at the meeting have gone on to compete in the Commonwealth Games, the World Athletic Championships and the Olympics.
The meeting also gives local South Canterbury athletes and officials the opportunity to compete and get experience at a higher level.
In 2025, athlete numbers were up, and even in bad weather two records were set.
The challenge for the Lovelock Mile is to beat the four-minute mark.
Each year athletes get closer to that mark and last year a time of 4min 06.10sec was posted.
Without the strong wind that plagued the event, who knows what might have been?
The Children’s Lovelock starts at 9.30am with athletes able to compete in a variety of events in the allotted time before the Senior Lovelock meeting.
The Lovelock Permit meeting begins at 2pm, with the Lovelock Mile being run at 2.30pm, followed by the 100m blue ribbon events.
The national 10,000m championship events will be run at 5.15pm.
Field events include discus, shot put, javelin, high jump and long jump, while the track events will include the 800m, Lovelock Mile, 100m, 400m, 3000m, 200m and the 10,000m NZ Championship.
— Allied Media
