Derek Turnbull was a New Zealand farmer who took up the sport of long distance running in his early 40's. As a pioneer in masters athletics he achieved worldwide acclaim by setting numerous Masters Athletics World Records

Masters Athletics World Records

These are the current world records in the various age groups of Masters athletics. Starting at age 35, each age group starts on the athlete's birthday in years that are evenly divisible by 5 and extends until the next such occurrence. For record purposes, older athletes are not included in...

. Several of those records, set in the 1990's, remain the current world record in those age divisions. His story was documented in the book The Fastest Old Man in the World by Vince Boyle, later also made into a film of the same name. He was awarded the Queen's Service Order

Queen's Service Order

The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...

for his service to the community.