"I first met Derek in 1987 at the Melbourne World masters Champs, where I witnessed his six gold medal triumphs. However, to me, the magic moment of all the magic moments was a race he didn’t win."
We used to have friends and family BBQs at the Forest Hill picnic ground on Sundays many years ago and often Derek would appear from the road and head off up the track and reappear an hour later heading back in the direction of his home a few kms away. On one occasion he stopped and asked if we had any coke or another drink with sugar in it. I remember looking at his shoes and they had holes in the sides and looked pretty tattered.
When Graeme Hyde was training a sizeable group of runners a few years later he would go out and run the track right across Forest Hill and return along the road. The track with its up and down terrain was great for building stamina he said.
Southland was well served by guys like Graeme who did it for the love or the sport rather than any personal gain. Laurie Tall in cycling, Ian Hamilton in rowing and many others just loved their chosen sports and would put in time and knowledge that was invaluable in todays world where everything is measured in dollar notes
We used to have friends and family BBQs at the Forest Hill picnic ground on Sundays many years ago and often Derek would appear from the road and head off up the track and reappear an hour later heading back in the direction of his home a few kms away. On one occasion he stopped and asked if we had any coke or another drink with sugar in it. I remember looking at his shoes and they had holes in the sides and looked pretty tattered.
When Graeme Hyde was training a sizeable group of runners a few years later he would go out and run the track right across Forest Hill and return along the road. The track with its up and down terrain was great for building stamina he said.
Southland was well served by guys like Graeme who did it for the love or the sport rather than any personal gain. Laurie Tall in cycling, Ian Hamilton in rowing and many others just loved their chosen sports and would put in time and knowledge that was invaluable in todays world where everything is measured in dollar notes