V. 5 N. 5 Gordon Dickson , Canada, RIP

January 20, 2015 Orville Atkins sends us this message and tribute to his friend Gordon Dickson former Canadian Marathon champion and national record holder. Gordon Dickson Gordon Dickson, my friend and lifetime Idol passed away yesterday after a short illness. Gordon was one of the best distance runners on the continent during the late 1950s and early  1960s. He was 3rd in the Pan Am Games and 3rd in the Boston Marathons in 1959, a 1960 Olympian and carried  the Canadian Flag in the 1962 Empire and Commonwealth Games.  He won both the Canadian Marathon  and Hamilton's Around the Bay race (The oldest race on the continent) at least 6 times.  He won other  Canadian Championship races.  Gord was a wonderful friend.  He was very unassuming. Only a couple  runners on this continent could match him when he was not injured. He gave away nothing about training but I just watched.  He was a great friend.  We ran together a number  of times.  Once he brought Jim Green  with him and another time we were joined by Bruce Kidd who was a  lot younger than we were.  Very memorable runs.  Gord was ahead of his time and studied the sport.   At one point in his life he spent time in Kenya training distance runners. I know he sometimes swam at noon.  Gord was very proud that he had beaten former Boston winner (1954) Veikko Karvonen in his 1959 Boston  Orville Atkins Sports Reference has a brief biography of Gordon Dickson Gord Dickson started out as a high school miler, earning a track scholarship to [Drake University]. He attended graduate school at NYU, where he ran with the [New York AC]. Returning to Hamilton, Ontario, Dickson moved up in distance, winning the 19+ mile Around the Bay Race in 1956-59 and 1964. He was Canadian marathon champion in 1957-60, 1962, and 1964, and Canadian cross-country champion in 1957-59, also winning a national title on the track in the 6-mile in 1958. Dickson ran at both the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games, placing 5th in 1958 and 12th in 1962 in the marathon. He won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1959 Pan American Games. Dickson raced many times at the Boston Marathon, with a best finish of third in 1959. His career was shortened by Achilles' tendon problems, but in 1991 Dickson was made an inaugural member of the Canadian Road Running Hall of Fame. His business career was in the business administration department of the Halton Board of Education, where he worked for 25 years. Personal Best: Marathon – 2-21:51 (1958). Here is the progression of Canadian Marathon Records for both Men and Women.  Gordon held the Canadian record for over 7 years. Canadian Men Jerome Drayton 2:10:08 Fukuoka Dec 75 Jerome Drayton 2:11:12 Fukuoka Dec 69 Jerome Drayton 2:12:00 Detroit Oct 69 Robert Moore 2:18:55 Toronto Sep 69 Ron Wallingford 2:19:24 St Hyacinthe Sep 66 Ron Wallingford 2:21:27 Detroit Nov 65 Gordon Dickson 2:21:50 Hamilton May 58 Walter Fedorick 2:28:04 Hamilton Jul 51 Gerard Coté 2:33:42 Salisbury Beach, MA May 41 Gerard Coté 2:34:06 Yonkers Nov 40 Walter Young 2:34:47 Verdun Oct 38 James Bartlett 2:36:35 Hamilton Sep 38 Harold Webster 2:37:36 Hamilton Sep 31 Cliff Bricker 2:39:24 Amsterdam Aug 28 Cliff Bricker 2:40:05 Buffalo NY May 27 Percy Wyer 2:51:10 Montreal Sep 26 Canadian Women Lanni Marchant 2:27:59 Toronto Waterfront Oct 13 Silvia Ruegger 2:28:36 Houston Jan 85 Silvia Ruegger 2:30:37 Ottawa May 84 Jacqueline Gareau 2:30:58 Tokyo Nov 80 Jacqueline Gareau 2:31:41 Montreal Sep 80 Linda Staudt 2:37:39 London Aug 80 Christine Lavalee 2:42:50 Ottawa May 80 Gayle Olinekova 2:44:04 Waldniel, Germany Sep 79 Gail McKean 2:44:53 Vancouver May 79 Christine Lavalee 2:47:39 Ottawa May 78 JoAnn McKinty 2:57:40 Kitchener Oct 75 Maria Brzezinska 3:03:15 Vancouver May 74 Maureen Wilton 3:15:22 Toronto May 67