Graeme DOUGLAS Obituary

It was through Graeme that I first heard about John Walker. He told me about this lanky youngster from Manurewa who didn´t do any training but still managed to win all his races, but it wasn´t until a few years later that I actually met John after a cross country race at Hobsonville.
We will always be indebted to Graeme and to Dave Sirl who were two of the main instigators of the project which resulted in the erection of the magnificent statue of John in Manurewa.
Graeme wanted to be a marathon runner which was an unusual ambition for someone who played in the rugby forward pack, for Eden. Only someone with the ability to focus and work exceedingly hard, would face and meet such a challenge. Graeme was such a man. A man of the greatest integrity and the ability to push himself to the limit, or beyond it.
I started coaching Graeme in the early 1960´s and I remember when Graeme ran his first marathon. It was in the 1964 Owairaka marathon and after about 20 miles we could see that Graeme was in very poor condition and had no chance of finishing the race. We begged him to withdraw, but he staggered on until after 25 miles and in 2nd place he collapsed. As we dragged him into the car he was heard to mutter, "People will say I´ve got no guts." But Graeme possessed a very large quantity of the quality known as "guts" and coupled with great stamina, made him a formidable opponent in the toughest of all races, the marathon.
Graeme´s finest hour as a marathon runner came in 1969 when he won the bronze medal at the NZ Marathon Championship behind Olympians Jeff Julian and Ivan Keats. To Graeme, and to me as his coach, it was like winning an Olympic Gold.
In 2021 when I was awarded the CNZM by the Queen, my son Martin was still overseas and was thus unable to attend the investiture at Government House. I invited a person that I held in the highest regard to take Martin´s place. That person was Graeme Douglas.
I was very pleased to see Graeme at my 103rd birthday party, as I knew he had been unwell and I appreciated the huge effort he made just to be there. And I think he enjoyed being there and being involved in the festivities.
I will always remember Graeme with the greatest affection as a marvellous and loyal friend with a sense of humour which we both shared. I will really miss the innumerable wide ranging chats we had over the years involving local affairs, the political situation, the economy, and every form of sporting endeavour. However, despite our great knowledge and acumen, we have never been consulted, but have been blatantly ignored, both by successive governments and the powers that be, including of course, the All Black selectors.

Arch Jelley
One of Graeme´s long term friends,
and his coach