Track hero was a man of principle

The late Ron Clarke was an athlete, accountant, businessman, writer, ecowarrior, politician and gentleman.

Former athlete Ron Clarke at Couran Cove, South Stradbroke Island, Qld Jul 1996.

Although we know him primarily for his athletic career, when the late great Olympian Ron Clarke wasn’t running on the field he was running up lists of figures as a chartered accountant or running for mayor of the Gold Coast.

Beyond the athletics track Clarke was a politician and businessman, running his own footwear company and chain of fitness centres, always doing so with the strong sense of ethics that made him such a respected athlete.

A committed environmentalist he wrote books on the subject and was the driving force behind an eco-tourism development. As if all of that wasn’t enough to fill the resume he was also an author and promoter of philanthropy.

Clarke was born in Melbourne in 1937. Athletic ability ran in the family. His father Tom was a top player with Essendon, winning best and fairest in 1931, and his older brother Jack played for Essendon in the ’50s and ’60s, taking the team to victory in the 1962 Grand Final.

He was a bright student at high school, matriculating at the age of 16 and then going to work for Kent, Brierley and Fisher, on the way to becoming a chartered accountant. It was a career path that led to him becoming the youngest head office accountant at the accountancy firm Lanson Paragon in 1962.

By then he was already widely known for his athletic prowess. A promising young athlete who had already set some under-19 world records and was close to breaking the four-minute mile at the age of 18, he was given the honour of carrying the torch to light the flame at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. As much of an honour as it was, it was tinged with sadness because a National Service stint had left him out of form, overweight and suffering sinus problems that prevented his selection for the Australian team.

From the age of 20 to 23 he focused mainly on accountancy and his marriage to Helen in 1959, feeling he lacked the ambition to be a champion. He was playing Australian Football to keep fit but gave up that away when he broke a finger. With Helen’s blessing he took up running again.

In the ’60s he broke several world records and won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics but almost died while running in Mexico in 1968. It prematurely ended his career. But he still had plenty going on off the track.

In 1964 he had helped create Marathon Footwear, a company that would bring Adidas, Nike and Le Coq Sportif franchises to Australia. As a man who knew his running shoes, with a head for figures, it seemed a perfect fit. He also took to writing books, sharing his secrets for running and fitness, beginning with Athletics The Australian Way in 1971.

As manager of Marathon, in 1973 he helped Shane Gould negotiate sponsorship with a swimwear company to turn professional.

Looking for something different he moved on from the footwear business to found Lifestyle Australia, creating a chain of fitness centres. In 1983 the fitness centre business took him to Britain.

He later sold his shares in the company and returned to Australia in 1997. He and Helen had spent holidays on the Gold Coast since the ’50s and bought a house at Runaway Bay in the ’90s. Clarke had a vision to develop an eco-tourism resort at Couran Cove on South Stradbroke Island. It opened in 1998, with one nod to Clarke’s Olympic career being a children’s sprint track with his recorded voice telling them to get on their marks.

He retired from his role as chief executive of InterPacific, the resort’s developer, to concentrate on other projects. Couran Cove closed briefly in 2011 due to financial problems but reopened last year.

One of Clarke’s newer projects was the Council for the Encouragement of Philanthropy in Australia founded in 2001, trying to get billionaires to fund worthwhile causes.

In 2004 he defeated Gary Baildon in the election for mayor of the Gold Coast. He served as mayor until 2012, playing a role in securing the 2018 Commonwealth Games for his electorate. In 2012 he resigned as mayor to make an unsuccessful attempt to run for Queensland state parliament.

In 2013 he was appointed an Officer of the order of Australia (AO) “for distinguished service to the community through a range of leadership roles with local government and philanthropic organisations, and to the promotion of athletics.”

He died yesterday on the Gold Coast and is survived by Helen, two sons and grandchildren.

CLARKE’S HONOURS

1956 Lights the Olympic flame at the Melbourne Olympics

1966 MBE in recognition of services to athletics

1984 Father of the Year

1985 Inducted into the Sporting Hall of Fame Australia

1995 Senior Australian of the Year

2001 Centenary Medal for distinguished service to the eco-tourism industry

2002 Corporate Citizen of the Year

2013 Officer of the order of Australia for service to the community “through a range of leadership roles ...”

Originally published as Track hero was a man of principle