Handicap meetings (which included cycle races) were a popular part of the athletics scene up until the 1980s. The Masterton Athletic Club held a meeting every year on Wellington anniversary weekend. The track at Queen Elizabeth park was an unusual shape with a home straight which was about 60m long and all the rest of the track a curve. The field for the 1500m was a very strong one including (pictured above) Dan O'Connell, me, Chris Lumley, Kerry Cunningham and Ian Jamieson. Our scratch group had overtaken all of the front markers after two laps, probably because the hadicapper wasn't expecting us to go quite so fast.
Dan led for most of the way until Kerry put in a challenge heading into the final lap. Dan took him back again with about 150m left in the race and I stuck with him. Once into the short straight I gave it everything and just slipped past to win in 3:56.4.
1979 Wellington Champs
Once again I failed to win the Wellington Champs 1500. This time it was Kerry Cunningham who turned out the victor after I fought with Brian Ward for most of the race and destroyed both of us. The Nationals were in Christchurch and I failed to make the final again. This was a shame because the movie "On the Run" was being filmed there with a focus on John Walker. In the movie you can see Brian Ward and Ian Jamieson running in their Wellington colours.
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