By TONY SMITH - Nick Willis took a barefoot trot around the Christ's College track and predicted it would be "absolutely fantastic" for tomorrow's international track meet.
It will be a blast from the past for the Olympic Games 1500m silver medallist, who has been based in the United States for the last decade and has raced on the best synthetic surfaces in the world.
"The last time I raced on grass was my seventh form year at Hutt Valley High. I broke a 50-year-old record set by the All Black Ron Jarden, 1.55 [1min 55sec] for the 800 [metres].
"This will be a really special occasion to get back out on to the green stuff and see how the legs respond."
Willis has been a strong supporter of the Christchurch meet since its inception and will line up in the two-mile handicap race tomorrow evening.
The 28-year-old is delighted to see the meet back on the New Zealand track and field calendar after it was cancelled last year when the February 22 earthquake destroyed QEII Stadium.
"Obviously, the tragedy of the earthquake was absolutely devastating for the city and it's a shame for the athletics community here that QEII Stadium is not available for action any more.
"But I have a small feeling that the success of this occasion is going to encourage the meet directors and promoters to make this the tradition from now on, even once you get another proper all-weather facility going."
Willis, who has brought an entourage of American and British training partners to Christchurch – all fellow proteges of top US coach Ron Warhurst – said there was "a different sense of feeling about a grass event".
"It gives a bit more of that family atmosphere and people might decide to come down to an athletics event, people who may not normally show up to QEII."
The 2006 Commonwealth Games 1500m champion said he would be taking the two-mile race "very seriously".
"My wife really wants me to bring home the bottle of wine that's put up for the first place-getter," he quipped.
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