Happy Birthday Paul
Tuesday 7 February 2012
It's hard to believe but Paul Darney celebrated his 70th (yes, 70th) birthday yesterday, 6th February.
Lauren Regan had organised a cake and gift and Paul was caught by surprise with a burst of "Happy Birthday" when he returned to the club room after a coaching session.
Paul has been ever present as an athlete and coach since he joined Birchgrove Harriers as a young boy.
As an athlete he developed into one of Wales' best middle distance runners and was Welsh 3 miles champion in 1967 and 1968 as well as 6 miles champion in 1966, 1967 and 1968. He was a very good cross country runner and represented Wales on the track and country on many occasions.
This is a photograph of the 1968 Welsh 3 miles championship held at a rainsoaked Maindy Stadium. Leading (21) is former club President Jeff Kirby, followed by winner Paul Darney (9) and, just behind Paul, former club president Clive Williams who supplied the photograph.
Welsh track championships adopted the metric distances in 1969 so Paul is technically still Welsh Champion at 3 and 6 miles.
Paul has never stopped running and still goes out regularly but, after finishing his competitive career, took up coaching and graduated to become a respected level 4 middle distance coach. He has coached numerous fine athletes and perhaps his proudest moment was to see two of his athletes, Christian Stephenson and Andres Jones, both wearing the Great Britain vest at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
After Birchgrove Harriers merged with Roath Harriers to form Cardiff AAC in 1968, Paul was an important member of the club's successful British League team. He has been one of the club's most loyal and staunch members since he joined and was honoured to be elected President for the two years 1990-91 and 1991-92. He was elected for a second two year term as President for 2007-8 and 2008-09 and was elected as the current Chairman at the 2011 AGM.
Congratulations Paul and thank you for all you have done for the club and athletics. But you're not finished yet.