Clarrie Gordon was the pioneer of organised veterans' athletics competitions in New Zealand. Gordon was involved with Canterbury harriers clubs from 1931, when he was 25. In 1960 he tried to raise support among Canterbury athletics clubs for setting up a veterans' club. Despite limited initial support Gordon pressed on with his efforts, leading to the creation in 1962 of New Zealand's first veterans' athletics club, the Canterbury Veteran Runners Association. Gordon was inspired by the example of Joe Deakin, a veteran athlete in England. Deakin had been wounded in the South African War, but recovered to win a gold medal in the three-mile relay at the 1908 Olympics, and was still running competitively in the 1960s.
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New Zealand Masters Athletics
Reference:
Merle Grayburn, and Arthur Grayburn (eds), A history of New Zealand veteran athletics, 1962–-1999. Christchurch: New Zealand Association of Veteran Athletics, 1999, p. 7.
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