 Robert Hamilton
Robert Hamilton was born in Calgary on March 22, 1941 and lived here
all his life. He attended Crescent Heights High School and won his
first race in 1956, the 1 Mile at the Army Cadets Championships. This
was followed by various wins in the 1, 3 and 6 mile distances. In
1966 he broke the record for the 10-mile at the Edmonton Highland Games,
and broke it again in 1967.
His opportunities to compete nationally and internationally
were hampered by a lack of
travel money and sponsorship, but his contributions to running in Calgary
went beyond his own accomplishments: he coached high school
middle distance runners and encouraged others to exercise.
Robert competed in the first Calgary Marathon in 1963, and
from 1968 to 1971 he won the Alberta Cross Country Championships.
In 1966 he was selected for the Alberta Team to go to the Canadian Cross
Country Championships where the team placed first.
The day before he died Robert was second in a 6-mile race, and on his
birthday the next day he and a couple friends jogged to Prince's Island
Park to work out. At the intersection of Memorial Drive and 10th Street,
a vehicle struck the three friends and two were badly hurt and Robert
died from his injuries.
The grief in the Calgary running community was expressed in a legacy
run in Robert's name. In September of 1974 the fledgling Calgary Roadrunners
Club ran their first 10-mile Robert Hamilton Memorial Road Race in Bowmont
Park.
For the past year Robert's brother Lloyd Hamilton has been working to
get the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame to induct Robert Hamilton, and recently
he has been told that he is being considered for 2007. Each year Lloyd
says a few words before the presentation of the trophy to express his
family's gratitude to the Calgary Roadrunners and all those present that
we're all running a race in his brother's name.
(The trophy, by the way, was purchased by the Calgary Roadrunners with
money they collected by passing a hat at the funeral.) |
