50 years ago, Dick Tayler from Winchester South Canterbury, Ariki Club's favourite son trained by the legendary Arthur Lydiard, stunned the athletic world when he seemingly came from nowhere to defeat world record holder David Bedford in the 10,000m, the opening track event of the 1974 Commonwealth Games. The American Track and Field magazine described this race as one of the top 25 races of all time, and on that day Dick set a NZ 10,000m record of 27:46 that still stands as a NZ resident record today.
Today Dick resides in East Otago and is patron of both Ariki Club and Athletics Otago. We are delighted to celebrate this iconic moment in New Zealand history by hosting the 2024 New Zealand 10,000m champs 13th January at the Caledonian Track, followed by a celebration dinner Thursday 25th January at Glenfalloch Garden Reseaurant on the Otago Peninsula.
We warmly invite you to come celebrate this occasion with us.
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