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ABOUT ME
I AM MICHAEL BEISTY
Born in Liverpool, England, my family immigrated to Burlington, Ontario, Canada in
1963 when I was four years old. Five years later we landed in Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
I started running on 20 December 1970, six days prior to my twelfth birthday joining
Glenhuntly, my father’s athletics club, and the club of multiple world record holder
Ron Clarke. At that time Trevor Vincent (club captain) was on a recruitment drive for
young kids. Though Glenhuntly was one of the pre-eminent Melbourne clubs it had
no younger distance runners under the age of 15. After two summers and a winter
season with Glenhuntly my family moved to Newcastle New South Wales (NSW) in
1972, where I still reside.
As an open competitor, I’d describe myself as a good class club runner who failed to
reach his potential. I ran track, road and cross country, but my best performances were
probably in the 10km to half marathon range on the road. I was a consistent sub 31
minutes 10km road runner and sub 70 half marathon type. I ran a couple of sub-2:30
marathons in my early twenties. My serious running ended when I turned 30, due to
chronic Achilles tendon problems. I eventually ‘retired’ aged 32.
My father was a lifetime distance runner and became a respected coach, and my
mother was a pioneer in women’s marathon running. My father and I spent much time
together enjoying the sport of distance running. Two personal highlights include
equalling my father’s silver medal winning performance of 1954 for the Liverpool
Pembroke Club in the Lancashire 8 Stage Road Relay Championships in England,
when I raced the same event for Pembroke in 1981, and winning the father and son
category of the 1987 City to Surf.
Masters Running
I started running again in 2006 at 47 years of age. However, I didn’t race for two
years, gradually transitioning to a competitive level in my fifties, and performing
consistently at a national standard into my early sixties.
I’ve had significant layoffs from running due to injuries, complicated by ageing
factors. However, when able, I enjoy competing each year in the local events of Hill
to Harbour (10-12km), Lake Macquarie Running Festival (10.5km), Vets 10km Track
Championship and Fernleigh 15km. I generally prefer to run shorter faster races than
the longer races. I compete in the Newcastle Veterans Athletic Club meetings every
week, and I am an occasional parkrunner.
Currently I am rehabilitating a knee condition, osteoarthritis aggravated by wearing of
carbon plated shoes in November 2023. I am hoping to be competitive again in 2025.
Writing
I retired from employment in January 2020, aged 61. I have always had a central
focus on education, having completed a Commerce degree, majoring in industrial
relations, in 1980, and a Master of human resources and industrial relations in 2005.
Both were completed at the University of Newcastle.
My two passions are distance running and writing, so what better than combine the
two? I like the storytelling aspect of writing. In my pastime as a freelance writer, I
enjoy the challenge of wordsmithing, exercising a degree of poetic license, and
putting words in a form that excites the reader or touches their sensibilities. While I
mainly write about distance running, I am a member of the Hunter Writer’s Centre,
located in Newcastle NSW, an organisation that supports writers of all abilities in the
development of their craft.
This connection with established authors has been useful for me in exploring the opportunities to write in other genres. I enjoy writing about distance running and the ageing process, because it’s something that I am experiencing right now, and expect to experience for a long time to come. I also enjoy the nostalgia of distance running, recalling the experiences of past racers that can tend to be discounted by today’s generation. As a kid in the 1970s, I loved reading about the racers of the 1920s and 1930s. Similarly, as a mature aged writer, I enjoy writing about the distance running experiences of fifty years ago. During the past three years, I have turned my hand to what I’d describe as a pseudo- journalistic style, when writing feature articles for Runners Tribe about distance running and racing in NSW and Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. Overall, I’d describe my writing style and tone as informal. I like to have a conversation with the reader.
Echoes has been many years in the making as a pet project of mine, a result of my attempts to build a respectable portfolio, initially through writing a regular column for the Australian print magazine Run for Your Life, using the strapline of Masters Musings. Depending on its success, an Echoes 2 could be in the making. I continue to develop, and experiment with, my writing style.
This connection with established authors has been useful for me in exploring the opportunities to write in other genres. I enjoy writing about distance running and the ageing process, because it’s something that I am experiencing right now, and expect to experience for a long time to come. I also enjoy the nostalgia of distance running, recalling the experiences of past racers that can tend to be discounted by today’s generation. As a kid in the 1970s, I loved reading about the racers of the 1920s and 1930s. Similarly, as a mature aged writer, I enjoy writing about the distance running experiences of fifty years ago. During the past three years, I have turned my hand to what I’d describe as a pseudo- journalistic style, when writing feature articles for Runners Tribe about distance running and racing in NSW and Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. Overall, I’d describe my writing style and tone as informal. I like to have a conversation with the reader.
Echoes has been many years in the making as a pet project of mine, a result of my attempts to build a respectable portfolio, initially through writing a regular column for the Australian print magazine Run for Your Life, using the strapline of Masters Musings. Depending on its success, an Echoes 2 could be in the making. I continue to develop, and experiment with, my writing style.
