Alan Gilmour, born in 1950, competed in a golden era of New Zealand middle-distance running, but didn’t have that bit of luck all athletes need at crucial times.

Gilmour attended Lincoln High School, 20km south-west of Christchurch, and joined the Technical club, where he came under the coaching eye of the renowned Valdy Briedis. There was athletics in his family – his sister, Vivienne, was the national long jump champion in 1968.

He ran mainly 800m, which he felt was his best distance, and 1500m. Though he won the Canterbury 1500m title in 1971, he targeted the 800m as the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games approached. His personal best for the distance was 1min 48.2s.

In the 1974 New Zealand championships, held in December 1973 so they could double as a pre-Games trial, Gilmour grabbed second place in the 800m. John Walker was assured of one 800m spot for the Games. Stuart Melville, who won the championship race, claimed another. And the third went to Gilmour. “Stuart won in 1min 49.4s, and I was close behind in 1min 49.6s. I was very pleased with that, especially as Bruce Hunter, who was really sharp over 800m, finished behind us.”

Gilmour struggled during the Games. “It was my first taste of a really big athletics event, and I didn’t handle it very well. I didn’t thrive on the village environment. I also raced very badly.”

With four to qualify for the semi-finals, he finished 4th in his heat, in 1min 51.3s. The race was won by the new Tanzanian sensation, Filbert Bayi. That heat was run at about 10am and a few hours later, in mid-afternoon, the semi-finals were held.

“It was quite demanding, two important 800m races within a few hours. On reflection, I think I was dehydrated. I ran terribly, about 10 seconds slower than I’d been looking for. I had to do a drugs test afterwards and even though I drank and drank, I couldn’t provide a sample. In the end, the officials flagged it.”

Gilmour finished 8th and last in his semi-final in 1min 57.8s. “It was very disappointing. I vowed to do better and afterwards I trained very hard to get myself fit for the European season.”

The Cantabrian enjoyed meeting overseas athletes during the Games, particularly some of the English, and it made him really hungry to run well in Europe and put his Games disaster behind him.

Unfortunately, he had one race in London and partially ruptured his achilles tendon. The injury required surgery. English star David Bedford had a similar injury and told Gilmour he was having surgery in Stockholm, so Gilmour decided to do that as well. In the meantime, he tagged along with John Walker and Rod Dixon around the European circuit, wishing he was out there running.

“I did have the surgery and was hoping I might then be alright and get to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but there was no chance. I had injury after injury and eventually gave it away.”

In his post-athletics life, Gilmour tried various jobs, including working for himself for a time, but found a job he loved in 2004, when he became the turf manager at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre at Lincoln. He had 18 years there before he retired.

“I fell on my feet on that one. I loved the work and learned more and more about it as I went along. I really enjoyed being in a high-performance sports environment.”

Alan Gilmour

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