Bryan Rose

Bryan Rose, born in Inglewood in 1943, was a giant of New Zealand long-distance running, excelling in the cross-country. He grew up in Taranaki and initially showed promise at rugby before running claimed him. His uncle was the famous miler of the 1920s, Randolph Rose.

Rose won the national cross-country crown in 1969 and one national track title, the 10,000m in 1977.

He qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics in the 10,000m, but was not chosen, “a bitter disappointment”, as he termed that decision.

However, he ran in the 5000m at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, where he qualified comfortably for the final with a heat time of 3min 57.2, the same time as the eventual gold medallist, Ben Jipcho. He was the only New Zealander to make the final. In the final, Jipcho of Kenya and Englishman Brendan Foster battled for the gold medal while Rose finished back in 10th place in 14min 01.0s.

Rose was mainly coached initially by Arthur Lydiard. He lived in New Plymouth, where he worked in a sports store, until he moved to Wellington and was employed by C C Toop.

The self-effacing Wellington Harriers athlete was suited to the cross-country with his durability and his springiness over barriers. He was in the first New Zealand cross-country team sent overseas, to the world champs in Ostend, Belgium, in 1965. In that race, Rose was the 5th New Zealand home, in 24th place, and he stayed in the top six scorers (whose placings counted towards the team title) in each subsequent world event in which he competed, a remarkably consistent record.

In Ostend, Jeff Julian, Peter Welsh, Pat Siddon and Norris Wyatt finished ahead of Rose and the New Zealand team gained 3rd placing, a fine effort for a debut appearance.

New Zealand next competed in 1967 in Wales, when Rose was 3rd, his best individual showing at the event, and the New Zealand team excelled in finishing 2nd. It was a fast, grassy course with hurdles and Rose finished behind two steeplechase specialists.

In 1969, in Scotland, Rose was the 5th New Zealander home, in 39th. In Spain in 1971, Rose was 26th, again 3rd New Zealander, in a field of 122. The New Zealand team was 4th. Then came Belgium, in 1973, when Rose’s 14th placing helped New Zealand to 3rd place.

These were all good performances, but paled compared to the heroics at Rabat, Morocco, in 1975, when New Zealand won the world teams title. John Walker 4th, Euan Robertson 5th, David Sirl 25th, John Dixon 26th, John Sheddan 33rd and Rose 34th were the six whose scores counted. The other New Zealanders in the race were Jack Foster, Kevin Ryan and Dick Quax. The team won decisively, a significant moment for athletics in New Zealand.

This race virtually signalled the end of Rose’s international career, though he continued to be a leading domestic road racer and cross-country competitor.

After his retirement Rose moved to Hamilton and later Auckland.