A tribute to Alan Carr-Locke
by Mike Fleet
We have just learned that Alan died in December in the USA, his adopted land.
Alan was a fine middle-distance runner, one of only five Croydon Harriers to beat 1:50.0 over 800m. He ran 880yds in 1:49.9 in Philadelphia in 1971, and this ranks him 3rd in the Croydon all-time rankings. This is the equivalent of an 800m run of 1:49.2.
He won the Surrey junior (U20) 880yds title in 1:59.0 at Motspur Park in 1967
His best 400m run of 48.3sec run in in Boston Mass, in 1970, ranks him 12th in the club all time lists
Alan represented Surrey at U20 Inter-county level in1967, winning his half mile at Brighton. He also ran successfully for Croydon Borough on an exchange trip to Arnhem.
In 1968 he trained regularly with the great 400m hurdler David Hemery who went on to win Olympic gold in Mexico that year.
One of those seemingly effortless runners he once, elicited a classic comment from his Whitgift School Athletics master Robin Macklin “When are you going to start breathing?”
Alan a computer specialist, made a name for himself when pioneered the computerization of medical records for the city of Boston in the USA.