The Former Champion

Voted the Country's best athlete when he was twenty three
But he is not the man now he once used to be
As the old saying goes he is over the hill
And as is said of time it does not stand still

He does not have children or never had a wife
Running has been his great passion in life
The years of hard running on his arthritic legs show
His fastest pace nowadays to say the least slow

Many years of running on hard surfaces on him has left it's mark
On the gravel pathway in the public park
He shuffles on slowly on tired arthritic feet
At marathon running never more to compete

Though memories of his greatness today living on
In his late seventies his best years long gone
The country's best long distance runner when in his life's prime
Though this is going back many Seasons in time

A humble enough man he never does brag
Of when great marathon runners behind him did lag
He is not the first or he will not be the last
To live with his memories of his glorious past.