Gold-medal service from this waiter

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 44

Gold-medal service from this waiter

Patrons of St .Andrew’s Lodge, Blenheim, may not have known it, but the fresh-faced young wine-waiter who served them drinks in recent weeks was one of New Zealand’s heroes of the Commonwealth Games—the 10,000 metres gold medallist. Richard Tayler. Tayler is at present living in Marlborough where he finds the climate ideal for his intensive training programme. “My in-laws have the lodge and I have been doing a bit of bar-tending and wine-waiting," he says. He agreed that the smokeladen atmosphere of a bar was the antithesis of an ideal training environment, but it was an interesting Job, and he met a lot of people.

However, wine-waiting is not Tayler’s niche, and he hopes to take a job as a sales representative soon. Whatever he does has to fit in with training involving 150 miles a week—-

an average of 20 miles a day. He trains both morning and evening. Tayler is building up for a trip to Europe in June and possibly taking part in the American outdoor championships on June 22. He hopes to be back in New Zealand by the end of July and will run in the national cross-country champion-'>ips on August 10 at Whangarei. “I will not be competing with the idea of winning but finishing among the first six so that I can be coni sidered for the team to I travel to Morocco in March—if a team is selected,” he added. i As to the future, he says he is playing it largely by ear. “It depends on my form; I will take it as it comes.”