More tributes to Pete Mulholland

Pete with the hard-won Surrey Cross Country League trophy clinched by the senior men in 2019

Kent AC would like to offer its condolences and thoughts to Pete Mulholland's family, his friends and clubmates at Hercules Wimbledon.  He was a familiar and friendly face on the athletics scene for many years and will be greatly missed.

Alan Curtis, President, Kent AC, on behalf of the Committee and entire Club

Tributes to Pete Mulholland continue to flow in from the athletics community, so this is a collection of messages that we weren't able to include in last week's newsletter, along with some photographs and snippets plucked from Pete's own newsletters from years gone by. 

This, from Gary Forde, sums up everything we all loved about Pete beautifully:

I was very saddened like everyone to hear of the passing of our legend, Pete. He was, as so many people said in their tributes, a lovely guy who showed genuine interest in athletes at all levels, even mine! His sense of humour was second to none. My funniest memory was at the Parliament Hill Southern Championships a couple of years ago. I must have come in pretty close to the back but there was Pete still waiting to greet me. 'How did you get on?' he asked. After regaining my breath I jokingly said, 'I thought I could have won it had there not been 300 runners in front of me'. He replied with his usual wit, 'There’s a lot of selfish b*****s out there Gary'.

Above: Pete giving instructions at the start of the Lauriston 5-Mile race in 2016 – presumably with classic Mulholland humour, judging by the looks on faces. The caption is from his newsletter the following week. And below, an old cutting from 1968. again captioned by Pete (holding the trophy).

Above: 'A BLAST FROM THE PAST – SEPTEMBER 1968', from one of Pete’s newsletters. As he explained, 'the photo was actually taken by the late Tommy Robertson in May 1968 on the occasion of the Surrey T&F Championships at Motspur Park. Coincidentally the six HW athletes featured formed the make-up of the winning team five months later in the Surrey Road Relays!'  (left to right, back row: Dave Holt, Kevin McBrearty and Mike Fuller. Front row: Bob Holt, John Halliday and Pete Mulholland)

I met lovely Pete when I started running in my mid-fifties.  From the Bushy parkrun ‘Time Trial’ I moved to the second one held at the Windmill. Pete was a real stalwart and handed out the finishing tokens for so many years, rarely missing a Saturday morning come rain, shine or snow.  He eventually persuaded me to join HW in order to run on the track, so I have Pete to thank for that. Without him I would never have tried Masters’ Athletics. The first time I ran in a British Masters Championships at Lee Valley, eagle-eyed Pete sent me an action photo saying, ‘You were wearing the wrong vest’! He continued to encourage and keep an eye on me as he scoured the results every week to produce his impeccable round-ups, and always found every obscure race I ran at a weekend. I’m not sure how he did it, and as a second-claim member at that time it was gratifying that Pete even bothered with my results. I shall miss his smile, incredible blue eyes and shock of silvery white hair. He was a very special person. Anna Garnier

What dreadfully sad news and what wonderful tributes. Pete's help when I joined the Committee, managed the Young Athletes League team and promoted the Young Athletes Meeting was fabulous, and for Dom (Nick's son and HW athlete) he was just the main man. I would describe Pete as the ultimate Herculean Wimbledonian!  Nick Getting 

I remember Pete still had his youth group training on Sundays when I first became involved with the 7Upsandovers. He was always so encouraging and later always asked how our midweek girls group was going, what competitions we were doing etc....Anne Hegvold

I am sure I won’t be the only one to shed a tear at the news. Chris Hogg

Above: Pete, in his role as Surrey President, handing out medals at the Bruce Judd U13-U17 County Championship Relays

On behalf of Surrey County Athletics Association:

When Pete stopped competing he continued to support athletics in the County in many different ways, including keeping the records and statistics. His amazing memory meant he could quote down to the hundredths of a second how one athlete compared with another. Sometimes the information would be given with a cheeky aside, but that was Pete. As Surrey President in 2016 he was a joy. He knew exactly what to say to athletes when they won medals and how they compared with previous winners.  He inspired so many young athletes with his knowledgeable, kind and enthusiastic comments. He was an inspiration to all of us and we will miss his smile and his stories.
 
Frances Ratchford
Chair SCAA

It is with great sadness that I heard of Pete's passing.  What can I say about such a man?  So many memories.  He was just 'always there' at any event: track, road, cross-country.  I honestly can't remember a Surrey event where he wasn't helping out or cheering on. Please pass on both DMVAC's and my personal condolences to his family, friends and the whole of Hercules Wimbledon AC. Rob Russell, Surrey County Team Manager, U20-Senior Men (Cross Country) /U13 Boys (T&F); and Dorking & Mole Valley AC

I must have known Pete for around 30 years. He was a good runner in his time and gave back to the sport in abundance. Always inquisitive, always funny .... He loved athletics and I would bump into him at the big Grand Prix meeting at Crystal Palace one day, then a few days later at a local league meeting, and a few days after that at a Vets League match where he knew everyone. My best memory of Pete was at his 70th birthday party. It was a really special day, shared with lots of Surrey athletes and officials and also many of his big family who all had the same silver hair!  Rachel Disley, Surrey County Cross Country Team Manager, 13 Girls-U20 Women

...how sad I was to hear of the passing of Pete Mulholland. I was at Wimbledon Windmilers between 2001 and 2012 and trained at the track as well as coaching there independently in the latter years before moving to Essex where I am now based at Colchester Harriers... Pete was always cheery and chatty with a great depth of knowledge of the sport.  I enjoyed conversations with him and also shared the finishing line at the Wimbledon Common parkrun on a number of occasions where he once told me off, quite rightly, for chatting when I should have been ‘clicking’. Hercules Wimbledon is in great shape at the moment and it is the legacy of people like Pete that has given rise to the current batch of superb supporters of the club.  I wish you all continued success and share in your sadness over the loss of a truly fine athletics man. Richard Pickering

I would like to pass on my deepest condolences to everyone at Hercules Wimbledon. Anthony Soalla-Bell, Herne Hill Harriers/Wimbledon College

One of Pete's great attributes was his commitment to following the careers of any athlete he knew, wherever in the world they ended up (New York in the case of Ben Toomer, above). 

Pete truly was an incredible man. We moved to Cornwall when our boys, Harris and Elliot Mier, were 11 and he still kept in touch, following their progress and adding them to the newsletter whenever worthy. We made sure that whenever we came back to London we did the Wimbledon parkrun, mainly to catch up with him. It was his kindness and his wicked sense of humour that I will remember. What a great loss he’ll be to everyone. Fiona Carpenter

I have many fond memories of Pete. A legend in his own lifetime, he epitomised Hercules Wimbledon. Pete was such a gentleman. He had an amazing memory and not only remembered race details, but also remembered people, always asking after my sons and their involvement in sport. How he kept track of where everyone had been running and their times was amazing. In recent years I have not run at Club meetings, but I always wear my Club vest with pride at parkruns and other races. Pete's passing is a great loss, not only to his immediate family and close friends, but also to his 'running family'. It was a great honour to know him. Martin O'Halloran

There have been a lot of great things said about Pete – I’ve known him for over 35 years and he was one of the nicest men I’ve ever met – always full of encouragement and not a bad word said about anybody. He always seemed to have time for you  – he will be missed. Tom Morris

Some of the victorious HW team in the Bank of England match 2015

I was saddened to hear of the passing of HW legend Pete. Reading all the wonderful tributes shared about a much loved man brought a tear to my eye. Alex Dunn-Gundry 

.....a big loss to athletics, Hercules and of course his family and friends. Peter Kerr

RIP Pete, what a great man. Alex Bellew