Goodbye Mr. HW

This is the newsletter that we never wanted to post. The one in which we are paying tribute and sharing our personal memories of Pete Mulholland, 'Mr. Hercules Wimbledon' who so sadly passed away on Wednesday (25 March). Our weekly bulletins, these days, are of course a pale imitation of Pete's own famous newsletters, peppered with his inimitable brand of warmth and wit and his incredible, encyclopaedic knowledge of every race result and PB going back decades. Pete had that rare and precious quality of inspiring real affection and respect across the ages, and many a young athlete, as well as those contemporaries who had run, laughed and socialised with Pete for over half a century, declared those newsletters to be 'the highlight of the week'. When a few years ago, Pete felt he could no longer keep putting them together it was impossible to try to imitate them. So we didn't even try. Apart from anything else no one ever knew how on earth he managed to extract the most obscure result from every part of the world if it involved a Hercules athlete past or present! Not to mention the rankings lists. Having taken on the task of updating them all since Pete was last able to produce them a few years ago, I understand what a mammoth undertaking it was to keep on top of every performance everywhere from U13 to Over 75. But he loved it. He loved athletics and the whole athletic community. Above all he loved Hercules Wimbledon. And we all loved him. 'Legend' is the word that keeps jumping out from the multitude of tributes that are pouring in. Which says it all, really. Sheila White

A huge loss to the Hercules family. He’s given us so many memories to hold onto because he never missed a moment. Heather Jones

No matter where in the country you raced, Pete always seemed to find the result and put it in the HW news. Keiran White

Pete would be proud, because this is also likely to be one of the longest newsletters ever! So many thoughts, memories and tributes have poured in, and we want to share at least snippets from each of them. If your contribution doesn't make it this week, don't worry, there is always next week... we will be talking about Pete for a long time to come.

So here we go, kicking off with the thoughts of Chairman Dave Clarke, one of the UK's finest distance runners and long time friend of Pete's:

Just a quick glance at all the tributes being paid to Pete show how much he was respected and admired, not only by members of our Club, but by athletes all over the country and beyond. 

When I joined Hercules Wimbledon in the mid-1970s Pete was one of the engine room boys in what was a very successful group of distance runners who trained out of Lauriston Cottage. It was a privilege to run with and be inspired by Pete, alongside Bob Holt, Ollie Beard, Mick Hanahoe, John Sullivan, Mike Kortenray, John Roberts, Steve Badgery, and so many more! 

Pete always took time to chat and encourage anyone, no matter how good they were, no matter their age. He had a wonderful dry sense of humour alongside a fascination for statistics, so that he could speak knowledgably with athletes and encourage them to 'do their best'. Athletes wanted to push themselves harder as they knew Pete cared and was there to support 'them', whether it was in the Nationals or parkrun.

Hercules Wimbledon was so very lucky to have had such a loyal supporter as Pete. Once his halcyon days were on the decline, like so many athletes of his generation, he served on the Club committee for over four decades, holding the role of Cross Country Secretary for fifty of these years. He was the Club President from 1983 to 1985, and also President of Surrey County Athletics. He famously edited the quarterly magazine, Team Spirit, and the weekly newsletter until recently. Recognised for his services to athletics with the British Empire Medal, his feet remained firmly on the ground trackside, cheering on all of his HW friends.

How did Pete help and inspire me? In 1978 and a junior international, I ran what I considered to be a brilliant leg of the TVH relays. My coach congratulated me and then, with a wry smile sent me to tell Pete, our team manager, my time, and to ask him what his pb was around the course. Pete was his usual enthusiastic self, congratulated me and then, matter of factly, informed me that his pb was around 20 seconds faster – I had a long way to go! In the same year I turned up at the National XC in Leeds to discover my college had not entered me, but Pete saved the day. He had entered me for HW – just in case! It is the little things that make the difference and Pete was always there when you needed him. Dave and Fran Clarke

Arriving at the London Cross Country Champs at Parly Hill a couple of years ago I came across Pete ensconced on one of the park benches. Being already quite frail he was obviously beginning to feel the cold. I needn’t have worried though because he was being fussed over by a jolly black lady from, I think, Herne Hill. She had wrapped him in a blanket and was plying him with tea. 'You’re looking after me really well', said Pete. 'Well', she said, 'when I was young, you looked after me and now it’s my turn to look after you.' I’ve no idea who she was or what act of kindness Pete had done in the dim and distant past but, whatever it was, it was sufficiently out of the ordinary for this lady to have remembered it. Typical of Pete. Fred Green

Having known Pete for the best part of 60 years this is a tragic personal loss. Pete was one of those truly nice guys – always happy and willing to give help and provide support to whoever, or for whatever. Nothing was too much and he was a great welcomer and encourager for new members of the Club. It was so sad to see him struggling in his final years but I never heard him complain about his situation. He was a true Hercules Wimbledon man and will be greatly missed. Tom Pollak

Pete, you were just one of the nicest people I have ever known – warm, patient and giving, always great company and a Fulham supporter too. I have so many memories, from your organising cross country races from your office bench near the Fox and Grapes on Wimbledon Common, to watching London Marathons with you at Surrey Quays, and many, many more. You were the heart and soul of the Club, loved and revered by all. Irreplaceable. Mick Leigh

Pete was a shining light and it was his kindness and persistence in nurturing and scouting talent that brought lots of people together and inspired them to make the Club (and running in general) great. There can't have been a runner in South London that didn't know his name! Liam (White) once said his newsletter was a highlight and I couldn’t agree more; it was always funny and positive, which was a reflection of Pete himself. We are devastated and so sad for everyone that knew him. Ben and Eileen Toomer (from New York)

It was Pete who encouraged Claire to join HW in 2005, and me to run my first XC race in autumn 2008. And then began my love of running. What an absolute legend. He will be sorely missed... Claire and I spent a lot of time recounting our memories of Pete the night we heard the news and Luca went to bed cuddling a little knitted Hercules runner Pete gave him when he was little. He always had lots of time for our boys and loved to talk to them about Chelsea. Dave Grima
 

Pete is the father of HW to me – used to coach me at the track when I joined the club in 2002 and always led the second group out from Lauriston. Ever present at the track and races, I don't know if we'll ever meet a more generous bloke who loved athletics through and through. So many of us would never have joined HW – and I'd never have met some of my best mates – without Pete. I'm so glad he got to see the Club going from strength to strength in the last 5 years, led by many of the guys he'd signed up. What a legend. RIP King Pete.  Liam White

Oh Peter Mullholland... when a large crowd of 20-something year olds are singing, yes singing (not chanting) your name you know you've made it... I don't think there's a man that feels like family without actually being family like Pete... So glad he stayed with us all long enough to give us the chance to win the Surrey League for him in 2019. I'm sorry I didn't stay at Lauriston those last few times longer and chat longer, Pete. I could have easily chatted to you all day about our loved sport. Finn Johnson

... like many I enjoyed a Sunday chat with Pete after most long runs while he ate cake and checked how many miles we ran. Pete would talk about the present runners and results and focus on the future of the Club, always looking forward and not back.... Charlie Eastaugh

I will miss my chats and texts from Pete... His knowledge of the sport was second to none and he would want to know who was running well, who was running on the weekend and what were the team's chances. He would follow up with me on new joiners he had brought to the group and enquire on their progress. He cared deeply about them and the Club. It was in his blood. I remember the first time I saw him after HW won the Surrey League title – pure joy! So happy he got to witness it. It says a lot about Pete that the many tributes coming in have crossed the generations from athletes who have recently become seniors to runners who are well into their vets careers! Most of whom Pete recruited, encouraged and cheered on. RIP Pete. Ben Noad
 

... a true legend loved by so many. Like many others, I owe so much to Pete who gave endless support and laughs right from first meeting him, as a nervous 11 year old. I’d like to say my dad was at every training session and race to watch me but I’m sure it was for his long conversations with Pete. There are quips from Pete we still quote... my personal favourite being 'where’s the complaints book' when leaving our house for the first time after dinner. I can’t thank Pete enough for what he did for me - I look forward to celebrating his life properly as soon as we can. Cassian Hyde

... I saw him as the Godfather of Volunteers... an example to us all and I am honoured to have known such a man' Emerick Kaitell

The ultimate Club man

Photograph by Mark Shearman

Pete was born on June 2nd 1939 and despite suffering from TB as a youngster, he took up running and became a member of the former Wimbledon AC. This was in the days before the merger with Hercules AC, in 1967, to form Hercules Wimbledon. 

 
Mike Fuller, Pete's former team-mate and long time friend remembers: ‘Pete was already a member of Wimbledon AC when I joined in May 1963. It's fair to say he was not blessed with great natural ability, but he achieved some excellent performances through hard work. His best 3-mile time of 14:10.4 (set in the Surrey Championships at Motspur Park in 1968) equates to around 14:40 for 5,000m, a time only a handful of our extremely strong current squad have beaten’.
 
‘It was as a member of HW's outstanding road relay teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s that I shall particularly remember him’, says Bob Holt, who with his twin brother Dave, was one of the stars of the senior men’s team in the glory days of the newly formed Hercules Wimbledon. ‘Pete always gave a hundred per cent and I can still visualise his sparse frame scurrying along, his head slightly to one side, his features full of determination. He never let us down’. 
 
In 1967 the first HW senior men’s squad took part in the Blackheath road relay, and Pete was a member of the winning ‘A’ team, along with the Holt brothers, Bob Rayman, Ron Symons and Kevin McBrearty.
 
‘In those days, with his blonde hair and small stature he always looked much younger than his years and there was a joke going around the Club that when he answered the door to callers they would often ask if his mother was in’ says John Webster, who reflects that he must have seen Pete ‘at club and county events every season since 1967. He will be very much missed’.

Most of the senior men's team (photographed in May 1969) which had just won the Southern Road Relay Championships, except for Ron Symons and Graham Bradbury.

Left to right, back row: Mike Beevor, Mike Fuller, John Day (reserve), John Sullivan, Bas Collins and Bob Rayman. Front row: Lew Leppan, Pete Mulholland, Bob Holt, Dave Holt and Guy Stogdon.

‘Road relays were the club's forte in our halcyon days and in the Spring of one of our best years, 1969, Pete ran the first leg in our course-record breaking wins in the Cambridge H, TVH and Brighton Front 6-stage relays’, says Dave Holt. ‘He was a gutsy runner – and then some!’
 
1969 also saw the first of two famous victories in the South of England 12-Stage Road Relay Championships (the second was in 1972), in which the senior men’s team beat Belgrave and Mitcham into second and third place respectively in a course record of 3:59:46.

Sharing the kind of total recall for which Pete himself was famous, Mike Fuller remembers every leg of that race (the names and times are also backed up by Bob Holt, who still has the edition of Athletics Weekly containing the results!). 
 
First up was Barry Collins, running the long leg in 24:03. ‘Bas joined us from Surrey AC and was Surrey Cross Country Champion in 1964. A lovely guy taken too soon'. On the second (short) leg was Guy Stogdon (15:42), ‘a young London University student who quit running after uni’. On the third leg was Pete, who clocked 25.18 (he was in exalted company including internationals Jim Hogan and Malcolm Thomas’ adds Bob Holt).
 
On the 4th leg was Lew Leppan (15:55) ‘a South African over here for a year’. 5th leg: Mike Beevor (23:50) ‘a brilliant English Cross Country international’. 6th leg Bob Rayman (15:52) ‘Bob was more at home over longer distances. He emigrated to Aussie soon after’. 7th leg: Dave Holt (23:28) '1972 Olympian over 10,000m who took us into a lead that we did not relinquish'. 8th leg Ron Symons (16:17) ‘Club captain and elder statesman. Unfortunately he drifted away from the sport that summer. Great bloke’. 9th leg M. Fuller (24:16) ‘Weak link!’ jokes Mike. 10th leg Graham Bradbury (16:03). ‘Mr Reliable for HW for over thirty years’. On the 11th leg Bob Holt (23:14) ‘nailed it in a course record’. The final leg was run by John Sullivan (15:48) ‘Like Ron Symons, a thirty-something who went on to coach Dave Clarke’.
 
1969 also saw the first of a run of seven consecutive victories in the Surrey County Cross country Championships by the senior men’s team, led by the Holt brothers. ‘Pete found cross country a challenge but helped HW win the Surrey title in 1970', says Mike Fuller. ‘The same year he ran 1:52:56 for 20 miles and was a key member of our successful road relay squad of the late 60s/early 70s (he was in the team which won the Surrey Road Relay Championships at Woking in 1968 and 1969). In later years he turned his attention to longer distance running, completing several marathons’. 

It was always in Pete's nature to be involved in every aspect of club life, so he became Cross Country Secretary of Hercules AC and continued in that role for HW for an amazing fifty years. From 1983-1985 he was also HW Club President, ‘a role which in those days involved chairing monthly committee meetings. This was something new to Pete’, remembers Bob Holt, ‘but, as with all the jobs he did for the Club, he grew into it, with his own style and good humour'.

Above: Pete's own Surrey County profile – he compiled stats like this for the Association for many years.

When Pete married his wife Pat in Tooting, Maurice Sharp remembers that it was the well known sports photographer, Mark Shearman, who took the photographs. ‘Pete always seemed to know everybody in the sport’. 
 
He was involved with the South of the Thames Cross Country Association, serving as President in the 1984/1985 season. A long time contributor to Athletics Weekly (and former Vets editor) he also compiled the Senior Men’s and Women’s rankings for the Surrey County Athletics Association for many years, as well as serving as their President in 2016.

In 2014, the year he celebrated his 75th birthday with a huge gathering of Club members at Wimbledon Park and a special cake organised by Simon Ingall, his huge contribution to volunteering was recognised at the England Athletics London Region Awards.

Pete loved to add a cartoon or a joke to his newsletters, hence this 'Newsletter Gnome of Lauriston' card (above) for his 75th birthday.

Off to the Palace

In 2015, at the age of 76, Pete was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to athletics – but the story, as he loved to tell it, was that he nearly didn't get to receive the medal at all, because he thought the official letter from the Cabinet Office was a tax demand, so he didn't open the envelope! 

It was only when the office called him to see whether he had received the letter that he realised what it was. 

The award simply underlined Pete's status in the wider athletics community, as demonstrated by the wealth of tributes from members of local clubs:

Pete was a true gentleman who was always a pleasure to talk to for his knowledge, enthusiasm and love of athletics. He will be sadly missed. Deepest condolences to his family from all at Herne Hill Harriers. Steve Bosley, Club Secretary, HHH

Pete was a great servant to athletics in general and HW in particular. He will be greatly missed. Nigel Stone, Herne Hill Harriers

I was so sorry to hear the very sad news about Pete. Please do pass on our thoughts and prayers from all at Sutton & District to his family and all at Hercules Wimbledon at this very sad time. Mandy Walters, Club Secretary, Sutton & District AC 

I first met Pete when I was invited to join Lauriston Runners Club. Pete was a stand out character back then and could be easily picked out in races with his shock of blonde hair. Very much in line with my own athletic abilities, Pete was an average club runner, consistent in his athletic attainments, always looking for improvement, taking part in regular training runs on Wimbledon Common and in Richmond Park - some of us weren't born to be great athletes, but we never lacked in perseverance and dedication. Pete's interest in athletics journalism and photography stayed with him after he ceased to be active as a runner, and through this interest he met my twin sister Anne, whose career had started as ours were nearing their close (many of you will know Anne, now the Young Athletes team manager at SLH).

Anne would often arrange lunch in the City of London, or we would meet at a pub in Streatham with many other old friends from various clubs. Pete never changed; his personality was always vibrant even when both his health and mobility were seriously impeded. I was much saddened to hear of his death; the good times we shared will live long in my memory.Thank you Pete, it was a pleasure to have known you. Tom Roden, South London Harriers.

‘Pete represented all that was good and worthwhile about our sport’ says Bob Holt. ‘His selfless dedication to Hercules Wimbledon was quite outstanding. His membership of the Club straddled its very birth to the modern version of HW with all the technical innovations and responsibilities involved in managing athletic clubs. Pete met all those changes with the ‘get on and do it’ approach which was so typical of him.
 
‘On a personal note, he was best man at my wedding, when my brother Dave was unable to get over from the USA (having moved to New York in 1980). He had probably never had to fulfill such a role, but he rose to the occasion brilliantly with a lovely – in places mischievous – speech. I regard it as a privilege to have known him. 
 
That is echoed by his brother, Dave, who fondly recalls Pete visiting him and his wife in New York in the eighties, when they spent a wonderful evening together, reminiscing into the night.
 
‘I know that many Club members will also have great memories of Pete’ he says, ‘and they will have the consolation of knowing that they, too, were privileged to share comradeship and the love of our sport with one of its really special people.'

When Pete turned 80 last year, HW members presented him with a collage of memories (which appears at the beginning of this newsletter) and friends old and new from the athletics community celebrated with him in style.

Although in his last years he became increasingly immobile, Club members made sure that he was still able to get out to events, collecting him by car or organising taxis. On March 1st he was at the England Masters Inter Area Match at Lee Valley, cheering on the Club's vets. Only a matter of days later, he fell and broke his hip. He had a partial replacement in hospital, but sadly contracted coronavirus from which he was unable to recover.

Pete was the first person to welcome me into the club 44 years ago and was a great Friend. Farewell mate, RIP till we meet again. Tony Austin

... He was always so thoughtful – I remember he dropped me a card after the Surrey Championships at Wimbledon Park in 1995 to say well done... Dave Orchard

Pete brought me into the club 40+ years ago. I met him while watching a track meeting at Crystal Palace just after I came to London and he persuaded me not to join my local club at the time – Herne Hill! I wasn’t around during his best years as a runner but since I’ve known him he has been such a positive force for HW and the sport in general. I daren’t try to add up how much of his spare time he has devoted to all the roles he has filled over the years. Simon Ingall

... thirteen years ago I found the phone number of HW on the internet, called and left a message. It was Pete's home phone. A couple of hours later he called back... It was a Wednesday so I agreed to come up for the Lauriston social run that evening. I remember vividly that Pete joined in, and I was impressed at how welcome he made me feel. I realised very early on that Pete was the heart of Hercules; everyone in the running community knew who he was, and he knew everything about them! His mind was always so sharp, he was so quick witted and to this day I don’t know how he managed to trawl through all the weekly results for the news letter... Vic Ray

Sad news... Pete was a great bloke who convinced me to come to the Club when he saw me running around Southfields. RIP Pete. Justin Kelly (from Australia)

Funnel Vision

For so many of us Pete was the face of HW, the first person we met: always welcoming, interested, there at every training session and seemingly at every race and event. On Sundays he could always be found in the kitchen at Lauriston Cottage, talking running over mugs of tea and biscuits. 

But he was also an early supporter of the Wimbledon Common parkrun when it began in 2007, and every Saturday morning you'd find him there, handing out finishing tokens at the funnel, and, as always, on the look out for untapped talent.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt, CBE, the founder of parkrun tweeted: 'I’m so sorry to hear this news. I met Pete when I ran one of the Hercules Wimbledon AC events in ‘03. After starting parkrun and even though Pete was steeped in Athletics culture, tradition and history, he was so enlightened that he immediately approached me and joined. RIP.'

Pete was a truly lovely man and so generous with his time', says HW's Charles Lawrie, Volunteer Co-ordinator and former Director of the Wimbledon parkrun. 'His dedication to, and enthusiasm for, athletics is legendary, and not just confined to his involvement in Hercules Wimbledon and Wimbledon Common parkrun, where he made his one and only appearance as a runner at the inaugural event. Typically, he then spent years volunteering at parkrun whatever the weather. He is of course remembered, in particular, for his role in handing out finishing tokens, but I also remember him as the man who had a pocket full of HW cards and enticed many a parkrunner, myself included, to join HW, where he was always ready with a warm welcome. Above all else I shall remember Pete’s keen sense of humour and the tireless effort he put into gathering up the HW results from far and wide in his weekly reports. All I can say is a huge thank you. Charles Lawrie 

Pete recruited me to HW from Wimbledon parkrun in 2015. Without him I doubt I would have achieved anything like what I have in running.... Richard McDowell

Jonny Earl can correct me if I am wrong, but I think Pete signed both him and me on the same day at the parkrun funnel... Finn Johnson.

Finn may be right (see above). I do remember Pete was at my first parkrun when I ran 19.42, but he chose not to recruit me until I ran 17.42 a few months later! Jonny Earl
 

Like so many others I was signed up by Pete at the parkrun finish funnel. Always there, always smiling and making others laugh. I owe him so much: this sport, being part of this great Club, and so many lifelong friends. My life would have been totally different without him... Alex Robinson

Mr Hercules Wimbledon was there at every moment, and I mean literally every moment, whether that was to greet us back from a Sunday long run, or out in the wind and rain watching and cheering us on at a cross country race (even if that wasn’t the most sensible of choices at times). I'll take his many words of wisdom forward with me in life. Fred Slemeck

Incredibly sad news, Pete welcomed me into this great Club almost 20 years ago. A great man with a passion for running... Sean Crummy

... I will always remember his razor sharp wit and sense of humour, as well as the newsletters, which he must have put thousands of hours into. I was also introduced to the Club by Pete; we should work out how many people were, as it must be in the hundreds! Joe Toomey

... just the sharpest mind and wickedest sense of humour; always quick with a joke. Pete knew all the results from every weekend, even obscure parkruns in Northern Ireland. As others have said, how magnificent was it for the Club to 'win the Surrey League for Pete' just last year – the songs; the drinking from the Cup; the ear-drum shattering chants from Finn – I’ve no doubt the night of celebration was a great and happy memory for a great man! Justin Reid

There are so many words to describe you Pete: kind, generous, caring, enthusiastic, encouraging, witty are just a few – and oh goodness how you never missed a trick and knew everything that was going on in the Club! You were one of the first people I met and so encouraging to Joe when he first started running with HW and all the way through. Even when I started to plod round slowly you always had a kind word for me – I remember you saying once that HW had never had a first and last finisher from the same family at parkrun! It was lovely having you sit next to me when I did the register on training nights and, without fail, you always knew everyone by name and what events they had been running in. You are one in a million and it’s been a privilege and joy knowing you Pete. You will be missed and always fondly remembered. Sophie Toomey

Just devastated to lose a true Hercules Hero. Whenever I run that Wimbledon parkrun loop I will think of Pete, of all the encouragement he gave me on that first corner, of all the times he made me believe I could go faster without making me feel like I hadn’t tried my hardest. We’re all better runners because of Pete – he’ll live on in our Hercules victories. Gina Galbraith

I, too, met Pete in the finishing funnel at the Wimbledon Common parkrun. He handed me a Club ‘business card’ and suggested I get down to the track. Now, years later, I carry similar cards with me wherever I go with the prospect of recruiting new running talent to HW. I have enjoyed many post-run cups of coffee with Pete at The Windmill café and cups of tea at Lauriston Cottage. I shall remember those times fondly. Being mobile and independent was very important to Pete, and when he had to give up driving, it was through the generosity of people like Tom Conlon and Victor Ray, who would collect him from home, that he was still able to get to events. My only regret is thinking that this arrangement could go on indefinitely. We were all so accustomed to having Pete around. His passing has left a huge gap... Lisa Thomas

Pete, I ran with you on Wednesday nights doing the 3 miles. You always ran with me (despite me being slow) and waved at the other runners we went by, telling them to come join us every Wednesday at 7pm. You created such a wonderful community within the Club. You always encouraged, cared and gave your time to everyone - no matter if they were the best or just ran because they loved it. You were the face of Hercules Wimbledon and will be missed terribly! Florence England

RIP Pete. You were one of the symbols of this great Club and will long live in our memories. The photograph (above right) is I believe, the only race pic I have ever asked someone to take with my own camera. Khalid Diaw

I am so very very sad. Pete was the first person to welcome us to HW when we joined as family in 2009 and he told me that the women’s team needed me! I'm so glad he did as it ignited my love for running... Alison Purnell

Above: Southern Men’s League Promotion Year, 2009

... Pete always had time for people and a welcome for newcomers. Even after my daughter Candy stopped competing over 20 years ago he always asked after her, was very pleased to see her and carried that forward by asking when we might see her kids in HW vests! RIP Pete. Dermot Dunne

Such sad news, Pete was the first contact I had with HW which has given me so much enjoyment over the last ten years - Pete put his heart and soul into the club and local running community and will be hugely missed. Peter Lee

... a legend and a lovely man. I still remember him welcoming me to the Club on my first training night - and of course his meticulously organised newsletters and rankings, all-round support and encouragement. He will be hugely missed... Emilie Bokor-Ingram

Such a great man. He signed me up after I came too many times as a 'guest' to the track on Tuesdays. He will be greatly missed. David Lewin

Reading all the stories nearly all of us signed up to Hercules because of Pete – how many lives did he affect! RIP Pete, there aren't many people that everyone would hold so dearly in their memories. Matt de Freitas

What a lovely bloke. What a role model. We will miss you but your spirit will live on. Never forgotten. God bless you Pete and thank you. Mark Livingstone

Unforgettable dry humour, encyclopaedic running knowledge, exceptional organisational ability and enthusiasm for all things running... although an elite in his day he was full of encouragement even for plodders, and loved and respected by all. A huge loss. Adam Fenton

Pete was just the nicest and funniest guy. He had time for everyone. I remember when I joined the Club he made me and my kids feel so welcome. When I saw him recently at the Vets Inter-Area match as usual he asked 'how’s your lad doing?' - always scouting for talent! He had a genuine interest in all disciplines across the Club and knew all about our sprint group and how we were getting on. A genuine one-off. We all miss him so much already. Mark White
 

Running for Pete

Since the sad news of Pete's passing broke, many HW athletes have been dedicating their solo runs on Strava to Pete – many running in HW colours, and like Andrew Davies, taking in some of Pete's favourite places. 'It is quite incredible to see how much Pete touched so many people's lives', says Andrew.

I joined around 2003 and ran initially with Pete’s slow group at Lauriston. He was indeed Mr HW. Present at so many races and always encouraging, regardless of whether you were a front runner or a plodder like me. Annmarie Seymour

Pete gave myself and so many others a love for running and I couldn't be more grateful to him for that. Ben Palmer

... please pass on my thoughts and prayers to Pete's family and friends. I will never forget how welcoming and kind he was when I first came to Club and I will miss his legendary presence at all HW events. Dominic Kiralyfi (from New York)

Pete made me feel very welcome from my first day of joining the Club. Always enjoyed a chat with him pre-Tuesday session. A top man who will be hugely missed. Robbie Hynes

Very sad news. Lovely man and a great servant of the Club. Richard Jones

RIP Pete; such a friendly down to earth person. He seemed to have time for everyone... Guy Gibbons

... he simply was everything to love about athletics in one person. Ravi Lobo

Pete was one of the main reasons I returned to the Club to give something back. He knew everything about the sport, he was a tireless contributor to athletics as a whole, and he gave my sons Chad and Rechmial great advice throughout the years. Best wishes and God's Peace to Pete's family at this time. He was one in a million. Paul Miller