John Hay, a former Sussex athlete who died last weekend, was a former president of Brighton & Hove AC. John who was 93, was still running until three years ago. His friend and veteran Brighton member Roy Taylor shared his memories:
"I have known John, run with him, and been in continual contact since I first joined the club in 1956. By then he was an established county level runner, having made the Sussex team for the Inter Counties Cross Country in 1947 and 1951 after joining the old Brighton and County Harriers aged 20 in 1946.
"He ran regularly for the club for many years and in the 1970s was the first over 50 in the Sussex Veterans CC Championship. He was generally looked upon as a good reliable cross country runner, but he was quick enough to run inside 16 minutes for three miles on the track.
"In later years he ran many West Sussex Fun Run League events and also Parkrun. He was 86 when he last ran in both events. At the time of the photo, he was 89 and had just called in to see me after a couple of laps of Easthill Park!"
We send our condolences to John’s family and friends.