News release: for immediate use, 15 July 2008
Lovelock’s world record anniversaries
Today is the 75th anniversary of New Zealand Olympian Jack Lovelock’s world mile record.
The next anniversary to celebrate the achievements of this Kiwi world-beater is 6 August. That’s the day Lovelock broke
the world 1500 metre record at the Berlin Olympics and won New Zealand’s first ever gold medal for athletics.
Throughout his running career Lovelock kept detailed journals about his sporting life. These, together with extracts
from his training diaries, are being published for the first time next month.
As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock is illustrated with over 170 photographs and cartoons from
Lovelock’s own albums. The book is edited by David Colquhoun who is also a dedicated runner and Curator of Manuscripts
at the Alexander Turnbull Library where Lovelock's journals are kept. Colquhoun first started working with Lovelock’s
journals and other memorabilia in 2000 when he curated the exhibition Come on, Jack! for the Sydney Olympics.
As If Running on Air: The Journals of Jack Lovelock will be launched at the National Library in Wellington on Wednesday
6 August, 2008. The journals give a unique record of a sporting life and insight into what it takes to become a world
champion.
//ends