Former Otago distance runner John Campbell had his name erased from the world record books this week by Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie.
Campbell (64) set the world masters half-marathon record 23 years ago in a time of 1hr 2min 28sec.
Gebrselassie (40) beat the world age 40 to 44 world record shared by Campbell and Kenyan Nelson Chirchir when he won the Great Scottish half-marathon in 1hr 1min 9sec. In the early 1990s, Campbell established himself as the best masters (over-40) distance runner in the world.
In 1990, Campbell was unbeaten as a masters runner in 22 races. The highlights were his wins in the three big marathons in the United States: Los Angeles, Boston and New York. He set masters world records at four miles (18min 31sec), 10km (29min 4sec), 10 miles (47min 55sec), 15km (45min 10sec), half marathon (1hr 2min 28sec) and the marathon (2hr 11min 4sec in Boston).
Gebrselassie is one of the all-time greats of world distance running and won gold medals in the 10,000m at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and four world championship gold medals in the event.
Campbell started competitive running as a member of the Mornington Athletics Club in 1964 as a 15-year-old and made his international debut in 1969 when he finished 69th at the world cross-country in Glasgow.
In Oamaru in 1988, at the age of 39, he was the oldest runner to win the New Zealand senior men's cross-country title.
Later that year, he finished 12th in the marathon at the Seoul Olympics.
Campbell now lives at Hicks Bay, near Gisborne, and owns the Hicks Bay Motel.
