Cooks Gardens

Cooks Gardens is located in central Whanganui. It includes a multi-purpose stadium with an all-weather synthetic 400m athletic track, a wooden cycling velodrome and grandstands. Cooks Gardens is also Whanganui’s premier rugby ground.

Next to the track is a unique elevated venue – known as the Cooks Gardens Events Centre – which is suited to conferences, meetings, product launches and weddings.

Toilets and drinking fountains are on-site.

Cooks Gardens is famous as the venue where Peter Snell in 1962 broke Herb Elliott’s world mile record on a grass track, covering the distance in three minutes 54.4 seconds.

Whanganui Venues and Events manage this venue, along with all track and field and velodrome bookings.