92 year old Jim Matthews was buried on Wednesday and an era went with him. Jim ran regularly for North Down AC in the 80’s and 90’s and helped mentor a generation. In his 70’s he ran marathons and cycled round Ireland and later, he would walk for ever. Not only a fitness fan, he was well known in artistic circles and designed the original club logo – the one with a runner holding a torch.
In World War 2, he was a navigator in Bomber Command and was shot down on a bombing mission. Incredibly, his pilot was an attendee at the funeral. He was tortured by the SS and spent 3 years in a POW camp and also survived a death march. Not that any of that came from Jim, he was the original quiet man and a gentleman to the end.