Yes. I’ve run in three Melbourne Marathons and numerous half-marathons.

My first Melbourne Marathon was in 1984, and the last one was in 1999.

That’s incredible that you had 15 years before your first Melbourne Marathon and your last one. What was the reason for the long break?

Firstly, let’s just say my second Melbourne Marathon was in 1990.

The reasons for the long break were work commitments and training mishaps.

I was not much good as a marathon runner. I only took part in them for recreation purposes. They were like a long, slow jog for me.

I lived in Bairnsdale when I took part in my first marathon in 1984. I was working for the ANZ bank at the time.

I had a lot of transfers to various locations across the state when I worked at the ANZ bank including Mortlake, Casterton, Echuca, Ballarat, Sale, Traralgon and Warrnambool, so I found it difficult to train.

I think you would realise one of the main parts about running the 42km of a marathon or the 21km of a half marathon is training – you’ve got to have the miles in your legs before you can run those sort of distances.

David, what’s your best time for a marathon?

My best time was 3 hours and 40 minutes. I must admit I was very happy with that achievement.

It’s a long way from the times set by the elite marathon runners, but I’m very happy with my performance.

I’ve found it really interesting to monitor the fitness levels of sports people in various sports. I found running in marathons and half-marathons to be addictive. You just want to beat your personal best time and that happened all the time – and I believe it happens with so many other people in their chosen sports.

Is there anyone in particular that you admired as a marathon runner?

Yes. I used  to think Robert de Castella was amazing.

He put in some truly remarkable performances during his career and Ron Clarke was another runner who I admired. 

Steve Moneghetti came after de Castella and he was also very good. I also considered the Kenyan long-distance runner Kip Keino an outstanding athlete.

Away from your love for long distance running, what other sports have you played?

I played the normal school sports when I was at school and in my early years, but I did play a lot of tennis.

We were raised on a farm near Yambuk before moving into Port Fairy when dad got a job at Glaxo. I left home when I was 17. My other sporting love is golf and I follow Geelong in the footy.

I’m a member at Port Fairy and Warrnambool.

I consider myself a recreation hack, but I do love the challenges that a game of golf brings.

David, what is your golf handicap?

It’s 21 now and appears to be going out.

I did have a handicap of 18 at one stage.

We’re really lucky to have such great golf courses as Warrnambool and Port Fairy on our doorstep. Both courses are world class.

Golfers are spoilt when they have to decide which course they would like to play at.

In your opinion, what’s the toughest hole at Port Fairy?

I have to say the 14th hole. It’s a par four. It’s a very long hole. It’s never an easy hole, no matter what time of the year that you play there.

I rate the 10th hole at Warrnambool as the toughest hole there. Once again, it’s a long hole and is very demanding.

David, you mentioned that your worked for the ANZ bank. I take it you would have started your banking career as a teller. Which bank did you start your career at?

I was at Port Fairy as a teller. I’ve still got fond memories of working at the old branch on the corner of Sackville and Cox streets. It would have been about 1970. We used to leave the bank and head straight over the street to the post office and send money through registered post to the Reserve Bank.

Was it big amounts of money that used to be send?

Yes. It could have been $30,000 cash.

There were big amounts of money being transferred, especially over the Christmas holiday period.

There would be two tellers take the cash across to the post office.

We used to carry a gun. It was standard practice for all the banks back in that era to have firearms.

The tellers would be put through firearm practice by the local police.

The practice of taking money from the banks to the post office changed back in the 1980s after there were lots of bank hold-ups.

David, you took over as the chief executive officer of the South West Credit Union in 2006. How long had you been working at the business before you took over as chief executive officer?

I started at South West Credit Union in July 2002, working in policy development, before taking over as the chief executive officer in 2006. The business has had strong growth over the years due to community support, a competent board and highly skilled employees.

One of the major assets that the South West Credit Union has over the banks is we can make decisions for customers within the four walls of the business in Lava Street. Many people don’t understand that we are guaranteed by the government after we got our banking licence in 1998.

We’ve got a credit risk manager, chief financial officer, a finance manager all at our office, plus other talented employees.

There are 25 people on the payroll and the assets in the business now total $120 million.