วีดีโอ

Peter Snell wasn’t the most graceful runner, he had very big, muscular legs like a football player. But, he was almost unbeatable. I saw him compete in Toronto in 1965. There was a big crowd there because he was running the 800 metres against Bill Cothers who’d finished second in Tokyo the year before. Crothers won in Toronto in a very exciting race.

WOW !!

Calling it like it was a horse race

I met Roger Bannister in Oxford uk oh boy he looked bad in wheelchair on oxygen...I am.sure I could have taken.him!!!

And this stood as an NZ record until 2024

Peter Snell (born December 17, 1938, Opunake, New Zealand-died December 12, 2019, Dallas, Texas, U.S.

It’s worth a 1:42 on a modern track. This guy is up there with Coe Rudisha, Kipketer, Cruz and Amos

I remember backpacking around NZ in the late 90's and I bought the Snell biography 'No Bugles No Drums' in a bookshop in New Plymouth. Great times! I have read it many times since then. It is a fascinating insight into a different Athletics era, long before professionalism, but Snell himself would still stand out today. A wonderful athlete. Great video. Thanks.

So, how did y'all determine "1:44.3"??? Google??? Or did you just see it before & remember? That could be; I still remember Jim Ryun running the World Record time of "3:51.1" in 1967 when he was "20" years old; I think he ran sub-4 min mile ... "5" times in high school!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! ** WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY OFF-THE-CHART!!! **

You know you are fast when you lap your competition in an 800m.

This brings me memories of my days in Auckland where I was clocking my hours to do an instructors rating.That was in 1976 before returning to Malaysia .I did this flight and cotinued on to Christchurch and Invercargil.I returned to Malaysia became an instructor and proceded to fly for Malaysian Airlines My best time of my life was in New Zealand.Wonderful contry with wonderful people and fantestic instructors.I am retired and am in my young 70 s.

this is really a beautiful video, long live Peter Snell

i was at this race crowd was so large had to climb onto toilet roof to see the race properly

Remember seeing him run when he came to South Africa

Un idole De mes jeunes années,

And this is STILL the New Zealand National Record. Consider all the great athletes that have attempted to better it over all this time and all the great tracks they have had the opportunity to run on with their high tech shoes and advanced training techniques. I think this must be one of the longest lived national records anywhere in the world.

Snell like Eliot and ryun were so superior they could never take advantage of pace making...

1.44.3 on grass, it’s incredible

Peter Snell will forever go down as one of the true legends. What an amazing achievement to run this time way back then on grass! He ran with so much POWER. He was trained to run through the mountains of New Zealand like a marathon runner to build up his endurance. Every second of his fast times was earned with painful sweat.

Good to see this race. The pace was much too fast to suit a runner like Snell; a slower pace for the first 2-3 laps, he probably would have gone sub 3:53. A pity no film is available of his mile run at Wanganui in Jan. 1962, when he set his first mile WR of 3:54.4. He was probably in the best form of his life that night; no telling what he could have achieved on a better track, and with better competition (though Tulloh and Halberg, both really 5K runners, were I that race).

Great history

I used to run the 800.. what was his time??

A time-Trial on cinder...

my legs hurt just watching this ( grass track)

One of the greatest !

Always difficult to compare athletes from different eras but I still rate Snell as the greatest 800m runner of all time.

Good stuff, this would have to be one of the first films of heli hunting in nz, bolt actions in use.👍

Audio commentary ?

Crazy to think that Lancaster park which was formerly AMI stadium before the Christchurch earthquakes 11 years ago has now just been opened as a park area with no stands. At least there hasn't been a shopping mall built there haha

Fascinating. It was a combination of an auctioneer and a horse race announcer. "Down the stretch they come." Sold to the lady wearing the peach dress in the front row with the feather in her hat and faux pearl necklace." Love the footage!

A grass track on a perfect day in New 🇳🇿 Zealand. 🎯

A different world back then. Imagine had race organisers had got their act together, and Snell had been given the chance to break other world records. I'm pretty sure, for example, he would have broken - apart from 800m, 880yds and mile - 1000yds, 1000m and 1500m, That is to say, six simultaneous world records. Wow ( and, of course three Olympic golds.)

наконец то удалось посмотреть забег полностью. Снелл начал как никогда быстро, видимо хотел пробежать быстрее 3.50, что по тем временам, тем более на травяной дорожке, было бы фантастикой, но на вторую половину дистанции сил не хватило, но мировой рекорд все же не устоял. По ходу 1500м 337.6. Быстрее бежал лишь великий Герберт Эллиот 3.35.6, 336,0 и 337.4

Один из самых великих рекордов в лёгкой атлетике, ведь показан он на травяной дорожке! Беги Снелл на современном Мондо, в современных шиповках результат был бы минимум 1.42

A Gentleman ahead of his time..PURE GRIT MR. LYDIARD also THE LEGEND..KIWIANA

1.44.3 on grass! 60 years ago. Imagine today's improvements, the shoe technology, the track etc. Minimum 2 seconds A truly unique athlete. Thighs of a 400m sprinter, engine of a marathon runner

Wow! 1min 54sec ( sub 3min.50sec pace) half way then 2mins! for the second half. That's the hard way to do it.

When you get an auctioneer to call a track race....

Hey Roger, I watched him at Western Springs, too. A long time ago. I remember on that night watching women’s 100m also. Was Peter Snell running against Kip Keino?

I remember the days of dirt tracks and yards.

What would he have run in the 2000s? 1.41/1.40?

Thank you

So did this record stand till Marcello Fiasconaro broke it in 73, or was there a time in between ?

Which idiot gave this a thumbs down and why? Be a man/ Woman and explain!

Thank you , Arthur lydiard, murry halberg, snell no bugals no drums 100 a Week i remember 🤗 thanks again 🇬🇧

Broke 3:54.4.

Oh, forgot to mention that Kip Keino ran, and won, the 1500m just after my race. I spoke with him and he said he loved the grass track. This was 1967 and he was training in New Zealand in preparation for his Olympic Games quest in 1968 in the 1500m. We all know that he dominated and won the Gold.

I had the honour of, 5 years later, running on that same track. Peter Snell had signed a note to me, at the request of my mother, saying "Good luck John". He was staying at the hotel that my mother worked at and was due to help commentate the next day. That grass track was lightning fast. (I ran 3rd in an 800m in case your were wondering! LOL) But ummm slightly slower than his time. (OK. A lot slower. LOL)

Mmmm The days of having 30,000 at a running event in New Zealand. The crowds happened again during the heady days of Walker, Dixon, Quax (and others) during the 70's but has, sadly, faded away since then. RIP Peter Snell. Still NZ record holder at 800 meters (from the 1960's). A sad indicment on todays standard of running in New Zealand but also an endorsement on how truly amazing Snell was. Cheers.

Хотелось бы узнать у Роджера Милза, когда он смотрел этот ролик 10 месяцев назад звук был, глупый вопрос, конечно был, а вот у меня мать вашу звука не было, только видео картинка, кто то посчитал, что мне и так повезло, скажи мол спасибо, как по английски сказать благодарю вас миледи