Send a Runner

Captain Claude Smeal of Hurstville (1918-1993) served in the Korean War in the 3^rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.  He was a member of St George District Athletic Club and a keen distance runner. He won the NSW marathon title in 1951.  Before he went to Korea, Smeal was in the extraordinary habit of running every day from his home in Hurstville to Victoria Barracks and home again at night.  At least 20 kilometres each way!

He hoped to compete in the official Australian Olympic trials in 1952 but this was impossible because he was serving in the front line.  The 3^rd Battalion was in the forefront of Australia’s forces and had distinguished itself at the Battles of Kapyong and Maryang San the previous year.

Despite the Battalion’s proximity to enemy action, Smeal continued training.  In June 1952 he was timed running the marathon distance ‘over rough ground’ in 2 hr 44min.  The press got hold of this and began campaigning for the selectors to reconsider him for selection for the Helsinki Olympics. The Army was all in favour, seeing it as a morale-boost for the troops if he was allowed to compete.  The lobbying was successful.

Captain Smeal was pulled out of active service and sent by military plane to Helsinki, via Tokyo and London.  It was far from ideal preparation.  A little over three weeks later, he ran the race in the respectable time of 2 hours 52 minutes 23 seconds, finishing 45^th against the world’s best.  The Olympic title went to the great Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia, in 2 hours 23 minutes 3 seconds, who also won the 5k and 10k at the same Olympics.

Claude Smeal was born at Waverley in 1918.  He enlisted for service in WWII on 20 February 1939, and served initially as a Sapper in the Citizens’ Military Force. He then enlisted in the AIF and served in New Guinea as a Signaller.  In July 1942 he married Margaret Anderson at St Patrick’s Church, Kogarah.  He remained in the military after the war and served in Korea from 19 October 1951 to 3 July 1952.  After the Korean War, in another notable demonstration of physical fitness, he qualified as a parachutist (aged 44) and served at the Parachute Training School, retiring from the army in 1973 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Captain Smeal’s Olympic blazer is on display in the Australian War Memorial.

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