Last year was not a good one for Sam Bremer. A stress fracture kept him on the sidelines for most of the time.
He started 2012 in style by winning a bronze medal in the New Zealand junior 3000m in Auckland.
The Kavanagh College pupil then missed four big national events after suffering three stress fractures in his legs.
Bremer first broke down with a stress fracture early in 2012 when he was a member of the Young Olympians squad and had a series of races in a short time.
''The stress fracture probably came from that intense series of races with no let-up, in early January,'' coach Richard Barker said.
He was treated by Dr Hamish Osborne, who is a high performance sports doctor at the Dunedin School of Medicine. He found the stress fractures were caused by Bremer's running style.
He was landing on his heel when training on the hard roads. Osborne changed Bremer's running style. It took most of last year to bed in his new and smoother style.
''A lot of days I would just run for a minute and have to come home,'' Bremer said.
''I built it up to two minutes and I got there eventually. It took a long time to get my brain to completely switch over to that style.''
Bremer now has a smooth and relaxed style and has developed the efficiency that African runners have naturally.
The style change has been an important factor in Bremer's success at national and international level this year.
He won his first national title in the 5000m at the New Zealand club championships in Auckland and was runner-up in the under-20 race at the New Zealand club cross-country in Hamilton.
His crowning achievement was finishing third behind two locals at the Australian cross-country championships in Launceston.
He is looking for a fourth podium spot at the New Zealand secondary schools athletics championships in Hamilton in December.
Bremer started running at the age of 10 under the direction of coach Jim Baird and switched to the Lydiard system with Barker four years ago.
Barker rates his potential.
''Sam's one of the best athletes I've coached,'' Barker said.
''He has natural aerobic fitness, runs economically, is tough and knows how to push himself.
''He's also a superb judge of pace, easily the best in any of the runners l've coached. Sam has the potential to be a very good runner. If he puts in the work he could become a top-ranked national runner or better.''
Bremer has personal best times of 1min 57sec (800m), 3min 59sec (1500m) and 8min 54sec (3000m).
FAST LANE
Name: Sam Bremer (18).
School: Kavanagh College.
Sport: Athletics.
Achievements: 2012, third under-18 NZ club championships 3000m; 2013, gold medal, NZ under-20 club 5000m, second NZ under-20 club cross-country, third Australian secondary schools cross-country.
