Forbsey: Something Special

Article written by Michael Beisty for Runner’s Tribe

David Forbes, affectionately known as Forbsey, was one of those distance runners with plenty of talent who never quite found his feet in the hurly burly of elite middle distance track racing. Hailing from Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), he was known for his aggressive racing against allcomers in distances from 1500 metres to the half marathon. Though affected by injury and unfortunate circumstances at critical times, Forbsey managed to stay the course for a lengthy racing career, before hanging up his spikes from serious competition in 1990.

My first recollection of Dave was racing against him in an 8 kilometres road race, in April 1979, part of the Newcastle Branch AAA winter race program. A timing handicap system was used to give the better runners some competition because athletic club membership was extremely low, and we started together. At 18 years of age, he arrived on the line as a relative unknown to the tight knit locals, despite winning the Australian Junior 1500 metres Championship the previous month. He turned up latish on his bicycle, surfboard under his arm, having ridden from Merewether Beach. Though he appeared to have a casual approach to this race, and was two years younger than me, he only ran six seconds slower. Both of us ran much slower than Brian Morgan, by that time an established elite runner, who was to be Dave’s main competition in the Newcastle distance racing scene.

While his senior career centred on the 1500 metres, Forbsey beat some of the best NSW and Australian distance runners on the roads. An astute positional runner, he could push the pace or hang in the pack, waiting for his time to strike. This may be an unfair assessment, but with an impressive level of natural speed endurance, it often appeared to me that he only ever did just enough to win. There were many young distance runners at this time aspiring to lift standards in NSW. Apart from Morgan, Dave’s future was to become entwined with the running careers of Andrew Lloyd and Danny Boltz. There were some titanic battles, memorable duels, on the fun run scene, the AAA sanctioned winter events tending to take a back seat.

In preparing this article Dave and I shared some fond memories of past racing and training experiences, with a hint of regret of what could have been. For isn’t that the way of every distance runner? 

1. Personal Bests

• 800 1:51.13, Sydney, 1984 (and 1:51.1 in Brisbane 1983)
• 1500 3:39.89, Melbourne, 1984
• Mile 4:03.1, Melbourne, 1984
• 5000 13:59.57, Melbourne, 1985
• City to Surf 42:24, 1983
• 15 kilometres: 45:45, Sydney, 1987
• Marathon 2:33:33, Sydney, 1992

Researching Forbsey’s absolute personal bests for some distances proved difficult. The ravages of time, loss of personal diaries and a lack of some detailed record keeping by the NSW AAA complicating matters even further for this author. However, it seems that Dave may have run very close to a sub-four minute mile during his racing career and not far off 8 minutes dead for 3000 metres. While Dave didn’t race 10,000 metres on the track, he did race consistently in the 29s in various road races and fun run events throughout his career. 

2. Career Highlights

Dave was a versatile competitor. He had a compact physique, leaning on the small side. Nuggety may be an apt description. Initially concentrating on middle distance track events, he gradually increased his range up to the half marathon. No matter what his track racing preferences were he always enjoyed competing in the shorter road races, particularly at 10 kilometres (though he ‘hated’ the 10 kilometres on the track). Dave’s career had five distinct phases: a developing high school competitor, an Australian junior champion, a NSW middle distance champion and 1984 Olympic Games aspirant, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) experience 1984 to 1986, and a long gradual wind down to retirement from elite track racing as he transitioned to a more relaxed phase on the road racing scene.

Career highlights included two wins in the Australian Junior 1500 metres championship (1979 and 1980), a highly competitive race against Andrew Lloyd and Zeph Ncube in the 1983 City to Surf, twice winning the NSW 1500 metres championship (1983 and 1984), being the first resident New South Welshman to break 3:40 for 1500 metres (1984), and winning the Canberra Times 10 kilometres road race in 1988.

In the midst of these performances, Dave was privileged to wear the Australian singlet on three separate occasions during 1983 and 1984. 

3. Early Days

Dave professes that he loved to race. As a young boy growing up in the 1970s, Forbsey was a raw talent, with a fierce competitive spirit. He had a win at all costs attitude, or maybe it was more about not losing at all costs. Not quite the same thing. It was an ethos he retained throughout his distance running career. Dave’s teen years were typified by inconsistent training interspersed with gutsy performances in junior events at state and national levels. A seeming incongruity that laid the platform for getting down to business in open competition.

He recalls with some relish finishing fourth in a NSW 800 metres high school race at the Sydney Cricket Ground, running about two minutes flat, before vomiting in the hallowed stands. At 18 years of age Dave also won the ‘Boys’ 800 metre event at a meet of the National KB Games series of 1979, held in January on a makeshift grass track at Newcastle’s International Sports Centre (home of the Knights and known as McDonald Jones Stadium). In a close race Forbsey prevailed against Stephen James of Sydney High, 1:58.5 to 1:59.14, no one else in sight. A local stalwart recalls Dave as a rough and ready character, having long unkempt hair and coke bottle eyes, referring to his thick lensed spectacles. Though disappointed about not receiving an invitation to race in senior competition at this meet, direct exposure to the likes of David Moorcroft was an eye opener and provided inspiration to commit to his distance running career. 

His interest in running stemmed from winning some races in high school, done off minimal training three to four days per week. As Dave modestly puts it: ‘I had some success.’ He also played goalie for the Merewether Soccer Club, and in the lower grades as an under 18s player for Adamstown Rosebuds. In year 9 he won the Zone and Area high school cross country races. ‘A teacher, Tony Sullivan, took an interest in my running and we used to meet for a run on the roads around the Newcastle racecourse twice per week. Sometimes we ran on the racecourse itself, doing reps in the straights. I did a lot of surfing but no weights which built strength but not muscle.’ Dave eventually joined Myers Park-Novos Athletic Club, aged about 17, facilitated by a local coach, Hans Tiller. He recalls riding his bike everywhere, often with his surfboard underarm: to and from school, from school to the beach, and from the beach to the track in Newcastle.

Newcastle runners know the racecourse perimeter as a three kilometre ‘flat as a pancake’ stomping ground. Many locals have trained there over the years, its attraction being the opportunity to use either road or soft grass verges. Dave and his family lived within the Newcastle Racecourse precinct (which also included a greyhound track and a cycling velodrome), making it a convenient training area at this time, with high schools, Newcastle Athletics Field (as it was known then) and Merewether and Adamstown Rosebuds Soccer clubs home grounds all in close proximity.

He lived a simple life with his parents and younger brother. It was a working-class environment, his father a butcher and his mum a nurse. ‘I had to look after myself. It bred a discipline and mature outlook in my approach to life and training. To manage my time, I had to be organised and develop set routines.’ Dave’s parents followed his progress with keen interest and supported his ambitions as much as possible, but experienced some difficulty attending events because of their work commitments. He recalls them ‘helping with fund raising for trips and related expenses by organising BBQs and stuff like that.’ 

Dave had to juggle school with employment opportunities and his commitment to distance running. He attended Newcastle Technical High School (boys only) before transferring to Merewether (coeducation) to complete his school certificate in year 10. Thereafter, he took a one year working break to decide upon his future, returning to high school and completing his higher school certificate in 1979, the year his running career took off. 

4. Junior Success

Being from the relative backwaters of Newcastle, it took a lot to get noticed. However, Dave blasted onto the national scene in 1979 winning the Australian Junior 1500 metres Championship, held at Perth in March. In a close race, Forbsey defeated Victorian Rod Bruton 3:52.73 to 3:52.92, and South Australian Mark Arens, 3:53.15. In a championship that didn’t have any clear favourites, it may have been a surprise to others, but it wasn’t a surprise to Forbsey, who always considered himself a chance to win any event he entered. Otherwise, as he states, ‘why bother toeing the start line?’

During 1980, turned 19, Dave took advantage of Australia’s alignment of its junior age categories from Under 19 years of age to the IAAF’s categorisation of Under 20. He had two significant junior races. In March, he retained his National Junior 1500 metres title, held in Sydney. Once again, he beat Mark Arens, 3:51.4 to 3:52.2, well ahead of Victorian Gerard Ryan 3:53.9, and easily beat future international Pat Scammell who was fourth in 3:54.2. As an aside, Boltz won the Junior 5000 metres championship ahead of Marcus Clarke. 

Maintaining impressive form during the winter, on 6 September Dave finished second to NSW teammate Quentin Morley, 25:47 to 25:55, in the Australian Junior 8 kilometres Cross Country Championship, held at Bundoora, Melbourne. Though Dave didn’t compete in cross country much, he liked this discipline, and came to this race with a proven record of placing in NSW high school cross country championships. In a tough competitive race, Forbsey ran shoulder to shoulder against Morley, before the latter edged ahead during the later stages. He finished ahead of two Kiwis, Clive Cullen and Dean Crowe, 25:58 and 26 dead, respectively. Notably, a 17 years old Monas was well back in 15th position, 27:03, one place ahead of Clarke. 

In a race report written for Australian Track and Field magazine, Ron Clarke stated that ‘Quentin Morley ran beautifully in the junior 8000, although David Forbes was also impressive for a 1500 man and I would think has excellent prospects of having a fine track season. These two, with Danny Boltz form a formidable distance trio with the strongest prospects for twenty years of wrestling the running crowns away from Victoria.’ All three were prodigious juniors and ran to elite standard for many years as open competitors, Boltz representing Switzerland (his place of birth) in the 1992 Olympic marathon.

1980 was a watershed year, where Dave’s potential was on show as he became competitive with some of the best in the state on the roads. Between his 1500 junior championship win and the National Junior Cross Country there are a couple of fun runs that come to mind. Held on 20 July he beat Lloyd (27:45), Morgan (27:47) and Boltz (28:02) in the Nelson Bay ‘Pub to Pub’ 9.2 kilometres fun run dropping them all before ‘misery hill’ and holding on for a solid win (27:41). This event that ran from the Salamander Bay Hotel to the Seabreeze Hotel in Nelson Bay became a ritual race for Dave in the 1980s, as it was for many others. Just to emphasise the impact of such events in this era, Frank McCafferty reported that 11 other fun runs were held on the same morning across Australia’s eastern states.

Only two weeks later in a hard-fought race he finished second to Rob MacDonald in the Newcastle based ‘Suburbs to Sea’ 10 kilometres fun run, 29:51 to 29:57 (in later years he was to run 29:35 beating Morgan). At that time a dual World Cross Country representative (1975 and 1979), MacDonald was in superb form all year, winning all of the major NSW Cross Country Championships and a legendary Parramatta 10 miles race against strong competition. With typical candour Dave states that in these early days ‘Andrew Lloyd was more focussed on picking off potential fun run wins and he was not racing that well in NSW AAA events – he was inconsistent.’ He further states that ‘Lloydy was a great talent but a sitter when in similar company.’ 

As a sign that he was getting noticed Dave was offered some low-level sponsorship deals by big athletic organisations, eventually settling on Adidas.

5. Training and Coach

Still without any formal guidance and about to enter the senior ranks, Dave approached my father, Jim Beisty, and asked him to be his coach. Thereafter, commenced a strong bond and a mutual respect for each other. Dave says ‘I had absolute trust in Jim. He knew me well, what worked for me. He was expert at balancing the workload between volume and intensity, to get the best out of me when peaking, but also during build up phases and periods of injury. He knew me inside out and what I was capable of.’

Beisty was a Lydiard disciple and applied his learnings from his previous coaching of Stan Barwick to Forbsey, who was a different animal altogether. Barwick was pure power and his strength lied in the 800 metres, whereas Dave’s natural inclination was towards speed endurance and longer distance racing, the metric mile being at the bottom end of his racing comfort zone. Basically, Dave trained by a Lydiard adapted schedule that emphasised high, but not excessive, volume during winter build ups and lower mileage phases of speed endurance and anaerobic interval sessions leading into peak racing periods. He did half hour weight sessions twice per week in Beisty’s garage, but only for toning purposes. This was supplemented by the occasional swim and surf, though this petered out as he became more serious about his running.

Winter mileage was typically 120-170 kilometres per week at variable pace. Dave advised that his supplementary morning runs were at higher paces than others may expect, not slow. He regularly ran to and from work to maintain the mileage. He worked in ‘Payroll/Finance’ for the local council and starting his working day at 7am meant he had to be organised. In summer, as he gradually increased the intensity of his training his mileage generally sat at 70-110 kilometres per week. Whether winter or summer, the emphasis was on key sessions and routine. He had one day of rest before significant races.

During winter he raced tired most of the time. There was a good standard of club runners to compete against in Newcastle, and there were many great stoushes against Morgan. Forbsey reflects that ‘The races against Brian where always strong contests, no hard feelings, just honest efforts to get the best out of ourselves. For 50 percent of the time, I could beat Brian at his distances from 10k up, but he could never beat me at the shorter distances. And there was a clump of good standard club runners snapping at our heels, including a very young David Lightfoot.’ Lightfoot was also coached by Jim from 1981, winning the Australian junior 5000 metres championship in 1985 and the NSW Open 12 kilometres Cross Country Championship later in his career, well after leaving the Beisty stable.

6. Transition Years: 1981 to 1983 

After a successful junior career, Dave’s transition to ‘elite senior’ was quick but not without its ups and downs.

6.1 Missed College Opportunities 

Shortly after the 1980 Nationals a ‘mystery’ knee condition caused him to decline a scholarship offer with Idaho State University. There were three other such offers during the next three years that he also knocked back. While racing in Taiwan in 1983 he was scouted and actually offered an immediate college scholarship and it was suggested that he travel straight to the USA, without returning to Australia!

His first attempt at a decent winter’s build-up included a win in the Cessnock King of the Mountains 15 miles race, a local classic. However, he missed virtually the whole of the 1981/82 track season with eight months off due to a reoccurrence of the knee injury. This was to plague him the rest of his career and something he learned to manage. During his career, his only other running related injury was a susceptibility to recurrent hamstring strains.

6.2 A Developing New South Wales Champion: 1982-83

After a gradual build up in the winter of 1982, and returning from injury, Dave performed well during the 1982-83 summer track season. His closest NSW competition at 1500 metres/mile proved to be Graeme Cook, Peter Hutton, Michael Donnelly and Lloydy, when he chose to step down in distance. On 18 December Dave was just beaten by Lloyd in the NSW Mile Championship, 4:06.28 to 4:06.43, with Hutton third in 4:06.89. Early January Dave won the NSW v Queensland Challenge match race in 3:46.5, and then working on his speed, Forbsey dropped his 800 metres PB to 1:51.1 in Brisbane. After smashing his opposition in the 1983 NSW Country 1500 Championship (3:47.2), the next month he ran a personal best of 3:44.16 in what was described ‘as a determined all the way win’ in the NSW 1500 metres championship.

One week after his NSW Championship win, Dave competed in a mile race of curious historical significance. This race was part of a Coffs Harbour professional league program, and the first officially sanctioned NSW Amateur versus Professional athletic event. Run on a grass track the prize money was $800. Dave beat Glenn Ritchie, a well-known Central Coast middle distance specialist, who competed with the pros. A handicap event, Dave and Glenn were backmarkers. Giving a 290 metre start to the front marker, they nabbed him with a lap to go. According to Dave, there was some haggling with the event organiser who appeared reluctant to give over the prize money, that was only resolved after a pointed discussion. The money was held in a trust arrangement and Dave had to apply to the AAAs to access the money.

Soon after, Dave was invited to compete as a member of an Australian team, that included Mike Hillardt and Scammell, in a 4 x 1 mile relay event in Auckland, New Zealand. Held on Wednesday 2 March at Mount Smart Stadium, the trip was a mix of good and bad. Walking to the airport Dave injured his ankle, mis-stepping on a kerbside gutter. Not able to back out of the race, and trying to salvage a reasonable performance for the team, Dave was allocated the final leg, to be run against John Walker. Given Walker was a former world record holder for the mile, and the incumbent world record holder for the 2000 metres, this was a daunting but exciting proposition for Dave. However, the upshot was the New Zealand Team of Tony Rogers, John Bowden, Mike Gilchrist and Walker broke the world record with 15:59.57, Walker running 3:57.07. The Australians were left languishing in their wake. Walker later wrote that it was an ‘unofficial’ world record as the IAAF no longer recognised imperial distances for record purposes apart from the mile (the last documented ‘world best’ was to be the 1985 performance of Irishmen Coghlan, O’Sullivan, O’Mara and Flynn, 15:49.08).

Dave remained hopeful of running well at the Nationals, resorting to training on a stationary bike, and use of a pain killer spray to get him through the next 18 days. Unfortunately, the ankle injury ruined Dave’s hopes of a good performance. He finished seventh (fifth Australian) in 3:46.49. Hillardt won in 3:41.51, with Donnelly running a season’s best of 3:42.97, splitting the two Kiwis, Gilchrist 3:41.72 and Rogers, 3:43.99. At seasons end Dave was the third fastest NSW athlete behind Donnelly’s 3:42.97 and 800 metre specialist Paul Gilbert, 3:43.9. While it had been a satisfying season on some level, Dave and his coach felt there was more to come. Notwithstanding his ill luck, they also knew his 1982 winter preparation had been solid but not ideal.

6.3 City to Surf 7th August 1983

At the end of a good winter build up in 1983, a gradual realisation set in that Forbsey could be a chance for Olympic selection. With a combination of solid endurance training, and regular Newcastle cross country races and fun runs, Dave was in excellent shape. A few days prior to the City to Surf, on 3 August, Forbsey told the Newcastle Herald that he had his sights set on making the Australian Olympic team for Los Angeles, regarding this challenge as ‘testing but not impossible.’ He made no predictions about the City to Surf but clearly, he was up for it.

To others, his 1983 City to Surf performance came out of nowhere. As Forbsey says, this is partly because ‘people underestimated me in racing the longer distances’ and ‘in actual fact I feared no one coming into this race.’ Dave achieved one of his best ever performances to finish a close third behind Lloyd (42:00) and Zeph Ncube (42:19), a Zimbabwean distance runner and holder of a Commonwealth developing country scholarship at the AIS. His time was 42:24. Of this race, Dave states that ‘Andrew had told me he was unfit, that he’d been holidaying and not training much, so I let him go early thinking he would come back to me. That was a tactical mistake. Trying to make up ground towards the end of the race, I ran extremely hard downhill into Bondi but I couldn’t catch Lloydy. I didn’t know where the finish line was. I actually thought it was at the spot where you do a sharp hairpin turn back into the foreshore finishing straight. By that stage I was spent, and Zeph got me in the final stretch. It was a good field, that included Monas but, in my heart, I knew that Lloydy would be the hardest to beat despite his story about not being fit.’ Reportedly experiencing a range of minor injuries prior to the event, and only five days back in Sydney after a 30 days overseas honeymoon in the USA, Lloyd had fooled them all!

To emphasise the highs and lows of distance running, two weeks later racing with a heavy bout of the flu, Dave finished 28th in the Australian 12 kilometres Cross Country Championships held in Brisbane. Running 39:37 he was 90 seconds behind Lloyd, eighth in 37:50.3, and three minutes adrift of the winner, Ncube, 36:15.7. That Ncube made the 1984 Olympic 10000 metres final (11th in 28:31), and was a semi-finalist in the 5000 metres, serves to highlight the strength of Dave’s City to Surf result.

7. Olympic Track Season 1983-84

The 1983-84 Australian track season proved to be a period of combative 1500 metre racing involving a small number of Olympic aspirants. The National Championships and Olympic Selection Trials were to be held at Melbourne’s Olympic Park March 31 – April 1. The Olympic qualifying standard was 3:38 and, apart from Hillardt, now a seasoned international, it was proving difficult for Australian middle distance runners to attain. However, the presence of Steve Ovett during January/February was an added boon to the domestic racing season that resulted in a rewriting of the Australian all-time rankings. As the current Olympic 800 metre champion, 1500 metres world record holder (3:30.77), and a preeminent racer, he was an imposing figure. 

It would be fair to say, that at this time sub-3:40 was the ‘soft’ benchmark of international class. Prior to the 1983-84 season, in an Australian context, apart from Herb Elliott’s magnificent Olympic win in Rome 1960 (3:35.6), Graeme Crouch’s outstanding Australian record at Christchurch 1974 (3:34.22), Ken Hall’s 3:36.6 during Walker’s world record mile performance in 1975, and Hillardt’s consistent sub-four minute miling, there was a lack of depth in the metric mile. Alan Robinson still held the fastest time for a NSW athlete, with a gutsy 3:41.3, at E S Marks Field cinders track, achieved at the Australian Championships of 1968 behind sandgroper Peter Watson, 3:39.9, and American Preston Davis, 3:40.

Other Australians in the sub-3:40 club/all-time rankings were: Steve Foley 3:37.36 (1979)

Pat Scammell 3:38.11 (1982), and Chris Fisher 3:39.5 (1971). Peter Fuller (1976) and Dave Fitzsimmons (1974) had run 3:39.9, Randal Markey achieving 3:39.98 in 1974.

Of the major 1500 metres protagonists, Foley shot onto the scene in 1979 with some strong sub-3:40 performances in Europe. Before the rise of Hillardt he was proffered as the next big thing in Australian 1500 metre running, winning the National Championship in 1979 and 1981. However, his susceptibility to injury meant that his progress stagnated. During this Olympic season Foley was on the comeback trail. Pat Scammell was a high quality 800 metres exponent and had represented Australia in the 1500 metres at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. He ran a string of 3:38 plus performances in the 1983 European season. Dave, Wayne Dyer and Gerard Ryan were on the fringes of sub-3:40 and competitive against each other but yet to prove themselves as higher calibre metric milers. It is notable that all of Dave’s main opposition were Victorians. 

7.1. NSW Champion and Olympic Prospect

The 1983-84 season started well for Dave. Wearing the Australian singlet for the second time, on 24 October 1983 Forbsey competed in the Taiwan Area Games finishing second in the 1500 metres, 3:49, and the 5000 metres 14:21.1, in both instances to the well credentialed American Chuck Aragon. By the new year he was coming into good form with a warmup 3:45.1 in Sydney interclub, and a 3:43.3 in the ‘Pan Am Games’ International meet on 22 January, finishing fifth behind Hillardt who ran 3:35.86. In a courageous race Dave hit the front 500 metres out before being swamped with 200 to go by some of the great milers of our sport – Steve Scott, Ray Flynn and John Walker. Hillardt beat Walker by a stride after racing shoulder to shoulder down the finishing straight. Dave used the opportunity to train with the international contingent in Centennial Park post the event, and soak up some of their knowledge. It provided a fillip to Dave, a confidence booster for the races to come.

Next was a 1500/5000 double win at the NSW Country Championships in 3:48.05/14:07.5. He used these races as an opportunity to showcase his fitness to a Sydney centric NSW AAA, knowing that country athletes were not always given the same opportunities as their Sydney cousins. Importantly, he retained his NSW 1500 metres title in February, hitting 3:43.7 and beating Paul Gilbert, despite suffering a heavy cold. He also managed a personal best equalling 1:51.13 for 800 metres, finishing second in a semi-final of the NSW 800 metres championship.

After winning the 1984 NSW mile championship in 4:10.72 and running another solid 800 in Sydney interclub (1:52.3), Forbsey was primed for some key races against top domestic opposition in his campaign for Olympic selection. The mile was meant to be an attempt to run sub-four and break Albie Thomas’s state record of 3:58.8 but it was not to be. It was a windy wet day, and a decision was made to have a straight final and forego heats. David Lightfoot was the designated pacemaker but he went out too hard in these difficult conditions, and any thought of record breaking dissolved, the race becoming a tactical affair. 

7.2 Melbourne 1500 Invitational 6 March 1984

After some initial difficulty securing an invitation, Dave raced in the 1500 metres at Melbourne’s Olympic Park on 6 March at 9pm – part of a national series of meets billed as Toyota Olympic Countdown Meetings. In a field that included Ovett, Dave was well positioned to strike for home from 200 metres out. But as he recounts ‘I wasn’t good enough on the night. I fell apart.’ With Hillardt opting for the 800 metres, which he won in 1:46.19, Kiwi Peter O’Donoghue beat Ovett, 3:37.08 to 3:37.54 and Scammell finally dipped under the Olympic qualifying standard running 3:37.86. Wayne Dyer finished fourth 3:40.13, Forbsey close behind in 3:40.25. While he had been emotionally affected by the pre-race obfuscation of officialdom, Dave felt there was still room for improvement. He set his sights on the next invitational event to be held at Sydney’s ES Marks Field on 11 March. 

7.3 Sydney 1500 Invitational 11 March 1984

The coach-athlete post mortem of Dave’s Melbourne performance was positive. They felt there was potential for another two seconds improvement if the conditions were right. However, fronting up to the Sydney race, it was a warm blustery Sunday afternoon and he had spent much of his time since Melbourne travelling. He had flown home to Newcastle via Sydney on Friday, before driving from Newcastle back down to Sydney on Saturday, and staying at Lloydy’s place overnight.

In what is regarded as an historic race for Australian 1500 metre running, after taking the lead with just under two laps to go Hillardt set an Australian record of 3:34.2 and beat Ovett who ran an impressive 3:35.36, the fastest time of his Australian visit. It is clear that Ovett was quite relaxed about the race, his ‘preparation’ the day before including some recreational activity in the rough surf of Bondi. Scammell, Foley, and Forbsey trailed behind in 3:38.52, 3:39.41 and 3:39.89 respectively. Dave considers that throughout the race he positioned himself well, was tactically aware of Hillardt and Ovett, but their class shone through in the last 150 as he fell away. To this day, Dave maintains that he was definitely a chance to break 3:38. However, he opines that his season was never a straightforward fly in fly out smooth schedule of racing, where he was able to get adequate pre-race rest. And although the amount of travelling he had done to get to this race, and other races throughout the season, may not have been the deciding factor of his inability to achieve this goal, it didn’t help. 

7.4 Australian Championships Melbourne 31 March 1984

After his performance in Sydney, Dave regrouped at his home base in Newcastle and set his sights on the Australian Championship to be held at Melbourne’s Olympic Park on 31 March. With an 8:10.54 3000 metres hit out at Sydney interclub he was just ticking over in preparation for another race against the big guns.

The 1500 metre championship was a predictable outcome (though Ovett may beg to differ), Hillardt beating Ovett, 3:36.26 to 3:36.6. In cool and blustery conditions, using similar tactics to his Australian record run, Hillardt hit the front with 600 to go, holding off Ovett in the final straight. They were well ahead of the rest of the field. Seemingly, past their season’s best form, Scammell and Foley ran 3:38.99 and 3:42.42, respectively. Dave finished sixth in 3:44.73, behind Canberra based Mick Halmy 3:43.75.

The next day Dave raced the 5000 metres championship, finishing a creditable fourth (second Australian) in a competitive but slow affair behind Ncube, Foley and Kiwi Mike Gilchrist, and one place ahead of Monas. Daves time was 14:00.3. The placegetters ran 13:51.52, 13:53.45 and 13:59.65 respectively. In a Newcastle connection, Dave’s performance replicated the second place of Brian Morgan in the 1979 Australian 5000 metres championship.

7.5 Postscript to 1983-84

At seasons end, Dave ranked fourth in Australia for 1983-84 behind Hillardt’s Australian record of 3:34.2, Scammell’s Olympic qualifying time of 3:37.86 and Foley’s seasons best of 3:39.41. In terms of all time rankings, Hillardt moved to first, Scammell to sixth and Forbsey to eighth. During a summer where Hillardt reigned supreme, his coming of age meant that he was selected for the Olympic Team, as was Scammell. Both made the semi-finals. In a footnote to these events, it has been well documented that Steve Ovett made the Olympic final, but was not at his best, succumbing to a respiratory illness and failing to finish.

Ovett in an interview with Len Johnson writing for Australian Runner, was effusive about his early 1984 season form, saying that ‘Never! Never have I been beaten twice in succession and never have I run these sorts of times at the beginning of the year’ acknowledging that he had come up against some very good domestic competition, runners in top form, while he was still in a build-up phase ‘being very strong but not fast yet.’ I asked Dave what it was like to race against Ovett. True to his racing ethos, Forbsey was self-assured stating ‘Obviously I respected Ovett and Hillardt but I never lined up thinking I couldn’t win.’ And given Ovett’s interview comments, if there was ever a time to have possibly beaten him this would have been it.

While the summer season had been all about Hillardt and Ovett, Dave had achieved a significant breakthrough being the first NSW resident runner to break 3:40. In a quirky related fact, born and raised in Albury, Scammell had actually represented NSW as a junior until 1980, before joining Glenhuntly and thereafter representing Victoria. Though Dave may not have received much kudos for this performance, it had set him up nicely for his planned transition to the 5000 metres.

8. Australian Institute of Sport

Dave reflects on his move to the AIS with regret, as a ‘disastrous experience’. After a solid 1983/84 summer season he took up a full scholarship, a first for a Newcastle athlete as far as Dave is aware. He was looking forward to advancing his distance running career, and while considered to be a 1500 metres specialist, he was expecting to transition to the 5000 metres, as a better fit to his innate endurance abilities. He felt 13:30 was within his grasp.

Dave summarises his situation this way: ‘You make your own choices, but I did not fully appreciate what lay ahead. When deciding to leave Newcastle, I undervalued the benefits of my home training environment where I had my coach at hand, a good standard of local distance racing, well performed training partners for track work and longer runs, a temperate climate, an active local interclub competition, and easy access to grass and synthetic track facilities (though crumbling) at Newcastle University and Newcastle Athletic Field, respectively. I also had access to a sports physio at Lingard Private Hospital who was a distance runner himself.’ In particular Dave missed the small group training with Beisty coached athletes and the one-on-one long runs with local runners that were typical of his Newcastle routine. Dave recalls that during his running career, outside of his Newcastle environment, and apart from forming friendships with Boltz and Lloyd, largely he kept to himself. 

Upon Dave’s arrival, it needs to be recognised the AIS was in its infancy, having commenced operation in January 1981. At the AIS he originally spent some time with Kerry Saxby (later Saxby-Junee), who was to become a highly decorated international race walker (including twice Commonwealth Games Champion, 1990 and 1994, and World Outdoor Championship medallist, second in 1987 and third in 1999). Kerry was a country girl from Ballina NSW. She had lived in Newcastle for a short period while studying, and trained as a distance runner with Beisty squad members, before converting to race walking and ending up at the AIS. This was before Craig Hilliard became her coach. Thereafter, Forbsey was mainly involved with Boltz, Lloyd, and later the ‘very serious’ Victorian Malcolm Norwood and his girlfriend, and the ‘always late’ New South Welshman Colin Dalton.

Depending on individual circumstance, support structures at the AIS may have been rudimentary for some elite athletes. Certainly, that is how Forbsey felt. He describes the assistance as ‘less than ideal, with poor catering of individual needs relating to diet, accommodation, training and racing schedules.’ Opportunities for race invitations were less than he expected. Apart from being welcomed into Deek and Gaylene Clews home at one time, overall, he found it quite a lonely experience. He also bulked up considerably by doing weights, but it was done more out of boredom. It wasn’t a balanced program and he did not receive any coaching guidance from the AIS in this regard.

On the competition front, apart from an initial sojourn to China and Korea in September 1984, invitations to international meets were scarce. He raced primarily in domestic open meets and Canberra interclub events. Although he performed reasonably well in these races some of his performances may not have made it to the rankings lists. However, he took great inspiration from the British Golden period of middle-distance running, and has fond memories of spending two hours speaking to Steve Cram in the stands at the Chinese meet: ‘we were probably the only English-speaking competitors.’ Later he finished fifth in a slow 

1500 metres race (3:46.45) against top class competition in Seoul. He was actually ear marked to pace Said Aouita to a fast 5000 metres that day, where a strong field had been assembled for a shot at the world record, but Aouita was a no show. Dave notes that he really wanted to get to Europe but plans to race in Rieti, a venue known for its fast times, came to nothing. He finished the year with a 4:03.1 mile in December 1984, sixth behind Scammell and Peter Bourke both dipping under 4 minutes.

During 1985 Forbsey continued to tread water with solid but not outstanding performances such as seventh in the Australian 1500 metres and 5000 metres championships, in 3:46.74 and 13:59.57, respectively. In the latter he was fifth Australian behind Lloyd, who won the 5000 and 10000 metres double. Dave also has recollections of just missing a sub-four minute mile in Adelaide during 1985 ‘where the pace making had gone haywire.’ He continued to dip his toes in the road running arena, making the NSW Team for the National 15 kilometres Road Championships in Brisbane, along with Boltz and fellow Novocastrian, David Lightfoot, still a junior.

Out of nesessity, throughout his time at the AIS, Dave maintained contact with Beisty and occasionally sought the advice of Norm Osborne (Hillardt’s coach). Eventually, frustrated and dissatisfied with the lack of a cohesive middle distance training program, Dave left the AIS early in 1986. On his way home he competed in the Australian 5000 metres Track and Field Championship held in Sydney on 6 March. In an abysmal race, won by Norwood in a slow time, Dave was a DNF, a reflection of his psychological state and poor attitude at that time. ‘I was coming home, I’d had enough, and didn’t want to be there.’ 

While at the AIS, Dave was on the sidelines of a tragedy concerning Andrew Lloyd. As recounted in The Daily Telegraph, Andrew’s wife, Lynn, died in 1985, ‘when the car he was driving was struck by a truck which had strayed to the wrong side of the road. Lloyd had six knee operations to make it back to the track.’ Nick de Castella was a passenger and also injured. Andrew’s journey back to race fitness and Australian representation is one of the great comeback stories of Australian athletics. But at the scene of the accident, where Dave and Danny had arrived soon after receiving urgent messages, athletics was far from anybody’s thoughts. Given their close relationship it is perhaps fitting that Andrew was the first NSW distance runner to beat Forbsey’s 3:39.89 when finishing second to Hillardt in the 1987 Australian Championship event in 3:39.27. And to further emphasise his class, Lloydy would run 3:36.6 during 1990, in superb form after his Commonwealth Games 5000 metre win in Auckland.

During 1987 there was some heated debate within Australian distance running circles about the value and effectiveness of the AIS. In an open letter published in the Australian Runner titled ‘Institute on the Wrong Track’ Beisty highlighted related issues. In a respectful dialogue, his main thrust was that distance running coaching at the AIS was too broad in its emphasis with little tailoring of programs to the specific needs and abilities of individual athletes. And that the achievement of elite performance levels may have been best served by providing financial backing and assistance to coaches and aspiring distance runners in their home environments, lending other support and coordinating race invitations as required. Astute observations, reflective of Dave’s experience. 

9. The Ending

Post the AIS, Dave returned to Newcastle and his rightful place as the leading distance runner in Newcastle, at least for distances up to 10,000 metres, Morgan still competing well from 10,000 metres to the marathon. A cursory glance into my old racing diaries shows a consistent pattern of Forbes and Morgan winning locally, tit for tat, with others like Jason Maxwell and Dave Rundle close behind and starting to make their names. However, while Dave remained very competitive against NSW elite distance runners, he had lost the edge that was evident in his early twenties.

Dave states that during this period he was relaxed in his running. It was different to the early to mid 1980s. Race selection was more calculated and planned back then, trying to get the absolute best out of himself. In hindsight Dave acknowledges that in his prime he was often very tense before his big races, verging on anxiety, a fear of failure if you like, that coloured his outlook towards racing. Though he continued to race hard, he states that post AIS ‘the races didn’t mean as much to me because Australian championships and Games representation weren’t at stake.’

Dave continued to race track while gradually extending his competitive range on the road to half marathons. For the next five years he was a consistent winner and placegetter in road races and won many Sydney based events and high-profile fun runs against top shelf competition throughout NSW. While Dave only finished seventh in the 1986 City to Surf, 43:22 (14th in 1987 43:19) there were flashes of much better form such as 45:45 in the 1987 NSW 15 kilometres championship (finishing fourth), a win in the 1988 Canberra Times 10 kilometres fun run leaving Graham Clews in his wake, and a fifth placing in the 1989 Australian Championship 1500 metres in 3:46.74. After the disappointment of his AIS experience, the Canberra Times win gave him a lot of personal satisfaction.

Dave had one last tilt at Australian Games representation, entering the Auckland Commonwealth Games trials held at Sydney in December 1989. He had been running well again and was rounding into good shape. Unfortunately, a late change to qualification requirements for the A and B graded events meant that his performances from the previous season were disallowed and he was excluded from the 1500 metres A race. He won the B race uncontested. In his own mind, this was the last serious competition of his career. 

However, on the 28th October 1990 Dave also competed in the inaugural Paris Ekiden six stage ‘mixed’ Marathon Road Relay representing NSW. The six stages in order were approximately 3.2, 4.5, 7.1, 10.9, 6.9 and 7.7 (short), totalling 40.3 kilometres. Women were designated the first and fifth stages. NSW team members were Annette Dwyer, who finished fifth on the first stage, Michelle Dillon, and Central Coast talent Paul Arthur and an out of form Quentin Morley, who ran the fourth and last stages, respectively. Dave and his old nemesis Glenn Ritchie ran the second and third stages, respectively. This team was the only ‘regional’ entry for this international event and finished eleventh out of 21. While the relay was meant to cover the exact marathon distance, it proved to be a farcical affair, as all teams, except the two leaders for Great Britain and Denmark, ran off course during the final stage, running at least one kilometre short. The winner was Portugal in a time of 1:59:04. The event was only reinstituted in 2013.

In 1992 Dave even ran a marathon, his one and only, winning the ‘Blacktown/Cities’ event by 65 seconds in 2:33:33. Though it was a small field of 200 finishers, today’s marathoners would be horrified by his description of this relatively high-profile race where ‘there was no traffic control, and I had to weave on and off the footpath and roadside.’ He ran the last 10 kilometres on his own, easing down in the later stages as every time he attempted to increase the pace he was hit with leg cramps. ‘A good learning experience.’ 

Although he had continued to run and race for fun in Newcastle, nearly ten years later, at age 40, Dave made a brief ‘competitive’ comeback aiming for the World Masters 1500 metres championships held in Brisbane during July 2001. As part of his preparation for ‘the Worlds’ he ran 4:10.3 at Newcastle, still the Newcastle Veterans Athletic Club M40 record. Finishing eighth in Brisbane in 4:08.31, he has an abiding memory of Michael Donnelly’s ecstatic reaction, in getting one over Dave. Hillardt (age 40) ran 4.06.06 and Donnelly (44) 4:07.74 for sixth and seventh places respectively. The race was won in 3:55.65 by Irishman Ian Rothery with other Australian performances being Greg Lyons in 3:56.99 (age 40, for second) and Stuart Paterson 4:08.62 (age 44, for tenth). Dave considers Donnelly to be the toughest opponent he faced in NSW Open 1500 metre competition.

10. Concluding Comments

Dave is the first to admit he was not your classic middle-distance runner. His 1500 metre performances were limited by a lack of pure speed, as evidenced by a slow 400 metres personal best and an inability to break 1:50 for 800 metres. He had a big heart, and an aggressive approach to racing that compensated for this deficiency to some degree, but it could only take him so far in the middle-distance realm. 

Dave describes his decision to take up a full scholarship at the AIS as ‘the biggest mistake I ever made’, an experience recounted that can be a lesson to all about the value of routine, and sticking with the people you know, and the creature comforts of your home environment, to get the best out of yourself. Although Dave considers that he had a fulfilling distance running career, and particularly enjoyed the post AIS phase, he reflects that his 20 months experience at the AIS delayed a possible transition to the 5000 metres. This was to become one of his two biggest regrets. The other being his failure to achieve a sub-four minute mile, given a 1500 metre performance of 3:40 is equivalent to a 3:57 mile.

Dave’s attitude to running was built on a deep loyalty to the Newcastle distance running community and the lot of NSW Country athletics. He loved competing in regional NSW fun runs throughout his career, and the epic battles that ensued, just as much as the NSW Country Track and Field Championships. In terms of the latter, he always supported this meet in his developing years and later when more successful, winning the 1500 metres open event on multiple occasions. It provided important lead up races to test his fitness and tactical mettle before the State and National Championships. As a matter of fact, forty years on, Forbsey still holds the fastest 1500 metre (1983) and 5000 metre (1984) winning times for this meet! 

As I reflect on Forbsey’s career, I recall that local road race in 1979 when I first met him. One thing that stuck with me were my father’s words at that time. He said to me after seeing him run ‘that kid is something special’. Prophetic words from a man who was to become his coach. And Dave was something special. However, the ‘what ifs’ permeated his career, and through a combination of injury, ill luck, and poor circumstance, he missed the opportunity to be even better. 

But he did get to mix it with some of the best milers ever, in the history of Australian athletics and internationally, world record holders and Olympic gold medallists among them.

And there aren’t many of us who can say that.

Sources:

• Athletics NSW website
• Athletics NSW – Best on Record Performances at the NSW Country Championships, available at:
• https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/nswathletics/files/b0jng7oiiavtvyxd.pdf
• Ausrunning.net
• Australian Athletics Historical Results, available at
• https://athletics.possumbility.com/index.htm
• Australian Institute of Sport Annual Report 1983-84, available at: https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/854776/AIS_Annual_Report_1983-1984.pdf
• [Documentation from/Recollections of] David Forbes during meetings with author on 27 September 2024, 25 October 2024 and 2 December 2024
• Fairfax Publications, The Sun City to Surf, Australia’s Run of the Year, The Official History (Souvenir), 1986 
• NSW Amateur Athletic Association publication, 100 Years of the NSW AAA, The Official Centenary History of the NSW Amateur Athletic Association, 1987
• Palenski, R & Walker, J, John Walker Champion, 1984
• Paris Ekiden Road Relays, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Ekiden
• Rodda, J, & Ovett, S, Ovett An Autobiography, 1984
• Magazine articles and miscellaneous items:
• Beisty, J, Institute on the Wrong Track, Letters Section, Australian Runner, 1987, Vol 4 No 4
• Clarke, R, National Cross Country Championships – Bundoora, September 8, 1980, Australasian Track and Field Athletics, October 1980, Vol 2 No 8
• Johnson, L and O’Halloran, T, The Record Breakers, a segmented interview with Steve Ovett and Mike Hillardt, Australian Runner, Apr-May 1984, Vol 2 No 9
• McCafferty, F, Nelson Bay Pub to Pub (9km), Fun Run Report, Fun Runner, September 1980
• 1979 KB International Games Official Programme
• Sharwood, A, Remembering Andrew Lloyds heroics: This is the Commonwealth Games story you need to get you in the Glasgow 2014 mood, The Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2014
• Thousands step out in a brisk spring fun run, The Canberra Times, 24 October 1988
• The following newspaper clippings held by the author contain background and race accounts. Most are likely the Newcastle Herald or Newcastle Morning Herald. Where possible, the journalists are credited:
• Forbes’ Reward, The Sun Herald, 27 February 1983
• Classy Clubmates, 1983, exact date unknown
• Jory, P, Gritty Forbes tears up track, February 1983
• Piggford, G, Olympic Hopes: Feeling fit and right on schedule, 3 August 1983
• Jory, P, Forbes Steps up Olympic Challenge, 1984
• Hurst, M, Hillardt’s ready for Games final, 23 January 1984
• Piggford, G, Forbes Chases Personal Goal, 1984
• Jory, P, Runner Strikes Purple Patch, 22 May 1985