It is with sadness that I record the passing on 11 March of one of our long-time members, John Turner, age 89. He joined Scottish in the late 1960s and became involved in fundraising for our new Clubrooms. This involved delivering commercial circulars into private letter boxes, and he was responsible for the Kilbirnie/ Lyall Bay area where he lived.
He was a keen social runner but trained hard and ran at least two marathons. He joined the Committee and was also the Handicapper. With his stopwatch, he became the timekeeper for our various races, then also at the Wellington Centre Harrier events, teaming up with Dave Gratton (Olympic) as a long-standing timing/recording team. With the advent of electronic recording, they continued as backup. During the summer, he went to Newtown Park, doing timing and helping officiate at field events. With the arrival of the photo finish, including timing, he continued as back-up as required. Latterly, he often stood at the starts of the 1500 & 3000M races, which were not at the normal 400M start, to call out the lap times to the runners.
John would be the epitome of a good club man: unassuming, reliable, and willing to undertake roles that enable our sport to function. We salute his memory.
Alan Stevens, Patron.