Jack Foster was a running marvel. He never went for a run until he was 32, yet ended up competing in two Olympics and two Commonwealth Games and at the age of 50 was still able to run a marathon in a world age record of 2h 20min.

Foster, born in Liverpool in 1932, had a tough upbringing, surviving The Depression years and the privations of World War II. His father died of tuberculosis when young Jack was seven.

In grimy, working-class Liverpool, he turned to cycling to find some relief from the grind and the smog and became a competitive road cyclist.

Then in 1956 he made the life-changing decision to migrate to New Zealand, seeking a healthier, more comfortable lifestyle, and eventually settled in Rotorua.

One day in 1964 he decided to go for a jog. That fateful decision turned his life around. It transpired he was very good at distance running. By 1970 he’d earned a spot in the New Zealand marathon team at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. Foster finished a solid 4th.

Two years later at the Munch Olympics, he was far from overawed by the big names around him and finished 8th in 2h 16min 56s, having entered the stadium for the final lap in 6th place.

His career highlight was undoubtedly the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, when he ran his fastest-ever time, 2h 11min 18s, for the silver medal. Foster said later he was carried along over the last part of the race by the vociferous support of crowds eight or even 10 deep. Only Englishman Ian Thompson, who ran a sensational 2h 09min, was able to head off Foster. Trailing behind 41-yearold Foster were superstars like Ron Hill, Derek Clayton and Jerome Drayton.

Foster was still in top form in 1976, when, aged 44, he was 17th in the Montreal Olympic marathon. His time of 2h 17min 53s disappointed him. He’d been training well, but his legs wouldn’t respond on the day, he said.

Besides his Games outings, Foster had some other fine marathon performances, including 4th and 3rd at the famed Fukuoka marathon, 3rd in Athens, victory in Kyoto, Honolulu and Auckland and 6th in the New York marathon when he was nearly 46. Before he was done, Foster completed 42 marathons.

He was also a fine cross-country runner and was a member of the New Zealand team that won the world title in Morocco in 1975.

Foster, with his droll sense of humour, was always popular with fellow athletes and there was an outpouring of grief in the athletics world when he died after being struck by a car while he was cycling in Rotorua in 2004.

Jack Foster

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