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The world of Midlands athletics has lost another great servant in the form of Dave Sunderland who passed away over the weekend. Dave had close connections with the League as he coached a large number from different clubs over years.

He co founded Cannock Athletic Club (now Cannock & Stafford A.C.) in 1970 and helped establish it as a strong club in that part of Staffordshire. He was also County Schools Secretary and Team Manager for Staffordshire Schools.

He went on to become a Midland Staff Coach. As part of his role in the Midlands he also undertook a role within coach education. He became National Junior Coach and then followed that up with a National Senior Coach position which he held for around 15 years. Through his care and coaching he helped over 40 internationals get the best out of their abilities.

He was always open to new ideas and looked across other endurance sports such as cycling, swimming, cross country skiing and rowing for appropriate methods. He was also an author and his "High Performance Middle Distance Running" published in 2005 embodied all his training and coaching philosophies. He was a great speaker at coaching courses and symposia. Later in his career he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer for the IAAF which took him to over 20 countries where he continued to pass on his knowledge.

During his career he was National coach for Middle DIstance Running. In his coaching capacity he attended many Olympic & Commonwealth Games as well as numerous World & European Championships. But it was not just those at the highest level of our sport that he helped he also had the ability to enthuse raw beginners.

Our thoughts go to his family and friends.

AW Tributes