Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Saturday, May 6, brings the running of an iconic Bay of Plenty sports event with the 53rd Rotorua Marathon taking places around the confines of Lake Rotorua.

This year's running of the race, is a far cry from the first Rotorua Marathon in 1965, where just 16 runners lined up to face the starter. This year will see thousands of runners from a wide spectrum of ages attempt to traverse the unique course.

In the 1960's, marathon running wasn't for the faint hearted and was considered the domain of elite athletes. Over the following decades, running (and walking) for health and fitness benefits has taken off, with the annual Rotorua marathon becoming a festival of running and walking with half and quarter marathons and a fun run, complementing the 42 kilometre full marathon.

An interesting aside, is that this year's event is the 40th time that the race has been run clockwise, with the runners heading for Ngongotaha after leaving the picturesque Government Gardens.

No story about the Rotorua marathon would be complete without telling the tale of four time winner Jack Foster. The Rotorua resident took up running at an age when most athletes are considering retirement.

In his early thirties, Jack hung up his bike in his shed and commenced a running career that would take him to two Olympic Games and a Commonwealth Games Silver Medal. Two second place finishes in the iconic Rotorua distance event, preceded Jack winning the Rotorua marathon in 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1975, with his fastest time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 51 seconds coming in 1972.

1972 was a great year for the Rotorua runner, setting a world 20 mile mark running 1.39.14 and representing New Zealand in the marathon at the Munich Olympics, where he finished a highly meritorious eighth

Fast forward to the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, where at the age of 41 years of age, Foster lined up in the marathon with one of his careers undoubted highlights being to grab the silver medal, behind Ian Thompson from England. His time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds was the fastest marathon ever run by a kiwi athlete.

Like a fine wine, Jack just got better with age. In 1975, he won the Honolulu marathon in Hawaii before   again representing his adopted country at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

During his long and illustrious running career, Jack received a number of significant awards recognizing his triumphs and success's. In 1970 he won the Bay of Plenty Sportsman of the Year, becoming just the second recipient after Tauranga golfer Una Wickam who won the inaugural Bay of Plenty regional sporting prize in 1969.

Jack Foster was awarded the Lonsdale Cup in 1973, which is awarded annually by the New Zealand Olympic Committee to a kiwi athlete (or team) that has demonstrated the most outstanding contribution to Olympic or Commonwealth (Games) sport during the preceding year.

The list of Lonsdale Cup winners read like a who's who of New Zealand sporting heroes over the years. The first winner was Murray Halberg in 1961 followed by Peter Snell the following year. Recent Lonsdale Cup winners include Lisa Carrington, Lydia Ko, Valerie Adams and Mahe Drysdale.