Bill McNamara
June 26, 1941 – April 16, 2019
Bill joined the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club in 2000 (known as Tri City Greyhounds back then) and has been a member for the last 20 years. In his first year with the Greyhounds Bill competed in the M55 age group and won a gold medal in the 1500m and a silver medal in the 800m at the BC Masters Championships. That year he also competed in the combined Canadian and North/Central America and Carribean Championships and won a bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase. Earlier this year, now in the M75 age group, Bill competed at the Canadian Masters Indoor Championships in Edmonton, and won a silver medal in the 200m and a bronze medal in the 60m.
Bill competed in many meets during the last 20 years; including local meets, the BC Seniors Games (now called the 55+ BC Games), provincial, national and world masters athletics championships. But because Bill had devoted his life to serve as a firefighter, Bill's favourite track and field meet was at the World Police and Fire Games. Bill mentioned that he had competed in every Games to date and was considering travelling to Chengdu, China for this year's World Police and Fire Games.
In 2015, Bill ran on two relay teams that broke two Canadian Indoor relay records in the M70 4x200m and 4x400m. The following year Bill and his teammates set a new BC record in the M65 4x400m relay.
Bill kept a busy schedule and was involved in many community projects. When Surrey won the bid to host the BC Seniors Games in 2001, Bill volunteered as co-director of the Games, and meet director of track and field. Recently Bill joined a committee that is trying to get Surrey to build a multi-event sports complex which would include an indoor track and field facility.
Bill had a great personality, always friendly, smiling and loved to talk. He was a dedicated athlete and despite knee problems for several years, he remained devoted to his training.
