News & Updates

Renowned athletics author Garth Gilmour of Milford Auckland died on Thursday 25 June 2020 aged 94.

He was one of the original Auckland Joggers along with Arthur Lydiard and Colin Kay who had their first run of the Club in February 1962. Under Lydiard’s influence Gilmour gave up smoking and took up jogging.

He was born in Dunedin in 1925 and attended Otago Boys’ High School. From 1941 until 1986 he worked as a journalist on various newspapers throughout the country, including the Auckland Star, and then moved into advertising and public relations. Gilmour had a long and distinguished career as a writer and journalist.

Since the early 1960’s he collaborated and helped Arthur Lydiard write a number of training manuals and jogging philosophies which have been published in several languages. His first book with Arthur was Run to the Top in 1962, followed by A Clean Pair of Heels with Murray Halberg in 1963, No Bugles No Drums with Peter Snell in 1965 and Unstoppable with Sandra Barwick in 1993. In total he wrote 23 books and later wrote Arthur Lydiard Master Coach in 2004, Use it or Lose It with Peter Snell in 2006 and Peter Snell from Olympian to Scientist in 2007.