Roger Derek Robinson (born 1939) is a New Zealand academic, essayist, editor, runner, sportswriter, and sports commentator.
For many years, from the 1980s onwards, he divided his time between New Zealand and the United States, holding visiting academic positions at New York University and the Newberry Library in Chicago.
[4] His work has been published in Landfall, The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry (1996) and Readings in Pacific Literature (1993).
[13] Contributors included New Zealand writers Fiona Kidman, Joy Cowley and Witi Ihimaera and runner Lorraine Moller.
[15] Geoff Watson in the New Zealand Review of Books praised Robinson's tracing of the development of running as a sport.
[16] In the same year, he received a media reporting excellence award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for an article about his knee replacement surgeries.
[17][18] As a nine-year-old, Robinson saw Emil Zátopek win the 10,000m event at the 1948 Summer Olympics, which inspired him to start running seriously.
[15][12] For forty years he worked as an announcer or commentator for sporting events, including notably the 10,000m race at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, won by Dick Tayler, and the 1981 New York City Marathon.
[1][21] In 1983, Robinson met runner and author Kathrine Switzer while speaking at a running national championship in New Zealand.