Graham Welsh: we have lost a friend

May 18, 2008

We received the sad news that our friend Graham Welsh passed away last March. At the age of 80, the cancer that had bothered him for some time struck its final blow.

The first time I met Graham was in 1985 at Dolomitenlauf. He was spending eight weeks in Europe with another Australian, Robin Gibb. They participated every week at a Worldloppet race. From Lienz I took them to Marcialonga in my car and helped with phone calls to some of the following races from which they had received no confirmation. In the following years we corresponded and exchanged reports on our races and on our lives. When in 1995 I was preparing my first Kangaroohoppet with my brother Einar, I asked Graham for advice on travelling and accommodation. That year, and every time I came to Kangaroohoppet again, I stayed with Graham and his wife Del. We became friends; it was always a pleasure to look forward to my next meeting with them. They both visited my home in southern France during the European summer 2003.

Graham was photographer-reporter. One of his photographs from the field of athletics became world famous: he captured a magic instant of a duel between the milers Landy and Bannister. Graham himself was a high level athlete as a school boy. He got involved with XC skiing when he married Del, a member of the Wangaratta ski club. With his relatively small and thin body he achieved an astounding agility, balance, skill and stamina. Graham had participated in every Kangaroohoppet since inception and won first place in his age group, until he abstained in 2007 due to stiff legs provoked by the illness. The picture of Del and Graham was taken in the Nordic Bowl, Falls Creek, at Kangaroohoppet 2004.

All those who had the pleasure to know Graham found that he was a generous, modest and quiet person with shrewd insights and observations. The last time I met him was early September 2007. He was building a wall and installing a gate in front of his daughter’s house; he also made a walking tour with me in the Yarra Valley near his home in Heidelberg, 30 km north from Melbourne.

Graham and Del had four children and 14 grandchildren. We extend our condolences to Del and Graham’s family.

Hannes Larsson

This page was last revised on July 11, 2008