History Book
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AGE Is an advantage A HISTORY OF VETERANS/MASTERS ATHLETICS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA George H White - 1 - “All this athletic endeavour will not make you live longer- it will only seem longer” John Doyle, Nov 1989 CONTENTS PREFACE TO ELECTRONIC EDITION INTRODUCTION 4 PART ONE - THE STORY 6 EARLY RUMBLINGS 6 THE FORMATION OF THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN VETERANS AMATEUR ATHLETIC CLUB (SAVAAC) 7 EARLY GROWTH/AMALGAMATION 8 GLORY DAYS 21 DIFFICULT TIMES 30 SEARCH FOR A HOME 35 RESURGENCE 38 CONSOLIDATION 48 MAINTAINING RELEVANCE 63 WE CONTINUE TO CHANGE 75 COMMUNICATION 81 CONCLUSION 83 PART TWO – THE PEOPLE 84 LIFE MEMBERS 84 AL DIGANCE 84 DES PAUL 86 DON PARKER 87 KURT POSTLER 88 GLYNN BOYCE 89 PAUL BOYCE 91 FRANK ROGERS 92 BRIAN WYLD 93 RUTH WEBER 94 GEOFF PETERS 96 PAT PETERS 97 ROWLAND FERRIS 98 GEORGE WHITE 100 JOHN HORE 101 RODGER BARBER 102 RICHARD MOYLE 104 HELEN SURIDGE 105 ROS LOWE 106 - 2 - MAGNIFICENT MASTERS 109 BOB CLARKE 110 LLOYD SNELLING 112 ALEX LAMPARD 113 PERCY BARNES 114 MARGARET CAHILL 114 SYLVIA WHITE 115 JACK WEBER 116 WENDY EY 116 TOM MORGAN 118 JUDY DALY 119 JIM LIASCOS 120 HANS VAN BAVEL 121 ANN COOPER 122 COLIN HAINSWORTH 122 ANNE LANG 123 PETER SANDERY 124 ELIZABETH SLATTERY 125 DAVID PADGET 126 LISA DAVIS 127 MIRIAM CUDMORE 129 CASSIE NEUBAEUR 130 LYN PEAKE 131 DENNIS PECK 132 ALLAN MAYFIELD 133 STARS IN THEIR YOUNGER DAYS 136 ALISTAIR ‘SCOTCHY’ GORDON 136 LILIAN HARPUR 137 ARTHUR JONES 138 JOHN MARTIN 140 MAUREEN MOYLE 141 ROB MCFADDEN 142 PETER BRETT 143 PART THREE – THE NUMBERS 145 MEMBERSHIP HISTORY 145 OFFICE BEARERS 147 SAMA ATHLETES OF THE YEAR 148 WINNERS OF AMA AWARDS 148 AUSTRALIAN/WORLD RECORDS SET BY SA MASTERS 149 Outdoor 150 Indoor 155 SAMA MEDAL WINNERS AT THE NATIONALS 157 SAMA AT THE WORLD MASTERS ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS 205 SAMA MEDAL WINNERS AT THE OCEANIA MASTERS ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS 224 SAMA MEDAL WINNERS AT THE WORLD MASTERS GAMES 233 - 3 - BAY SHEFFIELD MASTERS RESULTS 235 SUCCESS BY SAMA MEMBERS IN OPEN COMPETITION 237 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 243 THE AUTHOR’S MOST MEMORABLE RUNS 244 PREFACE TO ELECTRONIC EDITION The trouble with writing a history is that it is immediately out of date! It is now over 10 years since I completed and published the book (February 2010). While we basically broke even on the cost of publishing the history, it is unlikely that we would do so for a second edition. Therefore the necessary corrections, additional information found since 2009 and the additional year’s new information are incorporated into this electronic edition. Sadly since the original publication we have lost eight of our Life Members in Des Paul, Kurt Postler, Ruth Weber, Frank Rogers, Geoff Peters, Brian Wyld, Pat Peters and Paul Boyce – the Club is a little emptier with them gone. INTRODUCTION We have always looked around ourselves and asked the great philosophical questions. Why are we here? How did it all begin? How does it work? What is its future? Why not look at our Club and ask these same questions. Putting together a Club history is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the successes of the Club and its individuals – all of whom of course have been competitors and/or volunteers. Histories are always there - waiting as stories to be told. If not stories there are at least facts and photos that can be interpreted as such. However until someone does this there is only a great mass of information and a vast number of often conflicting memories which can lead in many directions. I must stress that this history is only my interpretation of the information I have collected. I have no doubt some people will have other interpretations and certainly more information. However if this leads to others writing their stories or just giving me the chance to update, then the history will benefit. Histories are frequently written too late to truly capture the detail and excitement of the beginnings. This may already be the case with Masters Athletics in South Australia. Many of the founding members of the Club have passed on and most are no longer involved with the Club. However at this time I believe there is still a wealth of information around and even though some of the defining stories will never be told, I hope that this short history of the Club will go some way to preserving at least - 4 - some of the many fond memories. For me it has been a wonderful opportunity to bring alive the accomplishments of some of our early members that many of us either never knew, or were not aware of their great achievements. We all learn to run at an early age and fortunately for a great many of us we are still able to do so in our advancing years. My apologies to the throwers and jumpers here and of course to the race-walkers but being from their ranks I feel somewhat justified in admitting that master’s athletics would not exist if it were not for runners. Although technology has advanced shoe design into amazing areas, running is still a very straightforward exercise and frequently can be done by merely stepping out the front door. So it is easy to keep running (not that the body always agrees!) or doing something associated with running. How many of our current throwers, jumpers and race-walkers started out in athletics as runners? Many choose not to run anymore but they are still here on the track rather than “rusting” away in old age. Athletics is not normally regarded as a team sport but the camaraderie amongst masters of all ages is something special. The name has changed over the years and our uniform has seen several changes but whether we are “Vets” or “Masters” our Club members are proud to wear the South Australian colours (which hasn’t changed) and we can still try (and sometimes succeed) in keeping up with or beating the youngsters. We are to outsiders a strange group of people who openly discuss our age and can’t wait to turn a big “0” or “5” just to get that little edge that will help in our age group performance. The introduction of master’s athletics has been a great incentive for both existing athletes to continue in their sport and for ordinary people to take it up later in life to stay active and healthy. I am reminded of a story Andy Smith a Victorian Athlete tells. Andy, when he was about 50, said”I read about the Victorians having a Club, I went to the annual meeting and entered for the championships that year. I was probably the most consistent runner they had – I ran last every time. It took two years to graduate from a calendar to a stopwatch.” Andy of course went on to many victories including world championship wins. Information for this history has come from many sources. Unfortunately during the time the Club had its Clubrooms in the Parklands many documents were stored there. Largely these were not in files and fell into disarray and we suffered losses and damage from moisture and vermin. Fortunately most newsletters have been salvaged and added to from members own collections (only a few are still missing). While much of the ordinary filing has been lost, the minutes of committee meetings appear to be almost intact. Beyond these documents the history is fleshed out with the memories of our members. Particular thanks go to the founding members who shared their stories with me. - 5 - PART ONE - THE STORY EARLY RUMBLINGS Prior to the formation of the South Australian Veterans Amateur Athletic Club (SAVAAC), those hardy souls over 40 who still wanted to compete did so under the open banner. Sensible athletes it seems retired once they hit 30! The first Veterans Club was established in England in the early 1930’s and some significant open records have been set by Veterans such as M40 Egon Nillson (Sweden) high jump 2.05m in 1966 and M55 Karl Hein (Germany) hammer 52.01m in 1964. However the main push for recognition of veteran’s events and the concept of competition in age groups appears to have come from road runners in Europe and the United States where competitors in the 1960’s were competing in ten year age groups. In 1966 long distance road races were held for the over 40’s and the first USA Masters Track and Field Championships was held in 1968 in San Diego. In Germany the Interssen-Gemeinschaft Alterer Langstreckenaufer (IGAL - The World's Best Veteran Long Distance Runners) was formed in 1968 and held its inaugural marathon the same year. Also during the 1960’s, New Zealand organised cross country races for Veterans and their first national Veterans Cross Country Championships was held in 1970. In South Australia the Distance Runners Club (DRC) was the main avenue for Veterans events in the late 1960’s with a 2½ - 3 mile race at Bill Stratfolds Day in Blackwood being one of the few “Vets” only races. Bill was the local baker in Blackwood and sponsored the day’s events by providing a spread of cakes, pies and pasties for afternoon tea, making this event one of the most popular on the program. Even Victorian Veterans came over for this event. Many of our Vets remember this race as a “mud bath”. People like Al Digance, Ron O’Neil, Bob Clarke, Wally Beames, Reg White and others turned 40 in the late 60’s and were keen to continue racing and see how they compared to others in this “old” group.