Andrew Dickens Afternoons

It was a sad start to my working day today.As I sat down to my desk at 10am I turned on the radio to hear that Dick Quax had died after a 5 year battle with cancerTheodorus Jacobus Leonardus Quax. Runner, councillor, scrapper.When I was a kid my Dad got me a book called Kiwis Can Fly by Ivan Agnew. It was about New Zealand’s golden age of athletics in the 70s and it focused on John Walker’s achievements particularly his achievement in Goteburg when he became the first man to run the mile under 3 minutes 50. I loved that book. The book’s magic was the way it concentrated on the three musketeers of athletics. Walker, Rod Dixon and Dick Quax. It was a boys own adventure as the trio travelled the world in the days of shamateurism. When athletes received pay for performance but it came in brown paper envelopes and under the table. My copy is signed by all three men.Couch surfing and making ends meet in Europe the 3 hunted competition and improvement. Walker’s achievements ware well known.  Rod Dixon found his fame