Back in 1983, fundraising doubled as endurance training for members of Keilor-St Bernard’s Athletics Club.
Javelins, pole vaults, hurdles and stop watches don’t come cheap, and sometimes annual subscriptions didn’t stretch far enough to replenish the club’s equipment supplies, recalls Paul Kennedy.
So, in the early 1980s, the club took to delivering telephone books to raise funds.
“You needed the endurance of a distance runner to carry the books from the car along the streets … the strength of a hammer-thrower to hurl them over fences or through hedges onto front porches … and the explosive short-twitch fibre speed of a sprinter to escape from guard dogs – and there were plenty of those around St Albans one frightening day in ’83 or ’84,” Mr Kennedy wrote.
The tale is among countless memories shared in a new book published by the Keilor club to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Mr Kennedy, who has been a member since the 1980s, ploughed through half a century of archives to find the most memorable anecdotes for the new tome.
In the process, he says, the relentless drive and struggle of the athletes shone through.
“Training out on local roads through winter, slogging across muddy fields during cross country season, pounding endless laps of a hot track in summer heat,” he said.
The book recognises the invaluable contribution of Ron Stobaus, who co-founded the club in 1965 with St Bernard’s sports master Brother Faulkner, and Rob still coaches today.
Mr Stobaus, 77, says he continues to teach distance running, and “throws” four days a week, to help young members grow into confident, successful adults with the discipline required for competitive sports.
“I’ve been helping the kids develop their belief in themselves. I find they become quite disciplined and that helps them grow in life,” he said.
You’ll also find his two daughters, Maria Abfalter and Cathy Matthews, at the club, teaching hurdles, cross-country and long-distance running.
To purchase the book, go online to www.facebook.com/ksbaths.
