Jeff Julian

Labelled the running machine of the 1960’s, Julian won eleven New Zealand titles and represented New Zealand at two Olympic and three Commonwealth Games. He was NZ Olympian #134.

His record is:
1960 Rome Olympic Games, 18th in the marathon 2:24:51.
1962 Perth British Empire and Commonwealth Games 7th in the marathon 2:30:13, 10th in the six miles 29:50.
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, 29th in the marathon 2:27:58.
1966 Kingston Jamaica British Empire and Commonwealth Games, 5th in the marathon 2:32:46.
1970 Edinburgh British Commonwealth Games, 18th in the marathon 2:24:03.

Julian won the following New Zealand titles; marathon 1963, 68, 69, 70. Cross country 1959, 65. Road 1966, 67, 68, 69, 72. He represented Auckland from 1954 to 1976 and New Zealand from 1957 to 1971.

Julian was obsessive about his training and in 1962 he covered 255 miles a week, 700 miles in three weeks and 2000 miles in ten weeks.

Cross country racing was Julian’s forte and he first represented New Zealand at a trans-Tasman cross country test in Brisbane in 1957. He was the first New Zealander in sixth place at the 1965 International Cross Country Championship in Ostend Belgium with the team taking bronze in the teams. At the Championships in Barry Wales in 1967 he was 21st with the team finishing second.

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Julian won the pre-Olympic marathon in Tokyo in 1963 in 2:18:01 and immediately became known as “The King” and was lauded when he arrived in Tokyo for the Games a year later.

His best marathon time is 2:14:38 for eighth in the 1969 Fukuoka Marathon won by Jerome Drayton of Canada in 2:11:13. Julian was awarded the Lonsdale Cup in 1969.

He completed 65 marathons, his last being the Rotorua Marathon in 1989 where he finished 617 in 3:05:42. He was born in Taumarunui in 1935 and resides in Auckland.

Written by Murray McKinnon