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Ron Hill, one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, who smashed the Boston Marathon record and also inspired the “streaking” movement by running every day for more than 52 years, died in his home town of Hyde, Cheshire, England, on May 23. He was 82. Three years ago he announced that he was suffering from dementia.
Hill’s standing in elite running history rests on a superlative sequence of races that began in 1968, when he twice set the world track record for 10 miles (46:44.0). In 1969, he won the European marathon championship on the tough Marathon to Athens course. In April 1970, he broke the Boston Marathon record by 3 minutes, running 2:10:30, becoming the first Briton to win that race. Three months later he won the Commonwealth Games marathon in Edinburgh in another huge European, British, and Games record of 2:09:28.
Hill, who broke Zatopek s marathon world record, no more
By IANS |
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British runner Ron Hill no more. Image Source: IANS News
London, May 24 : Marathon runner Ron Hill, who broke several world records during a career spanning 10 years, from 1962 to 1972, died on Sunday. He was 82.
Hill, who was also the first British distance runner to breach 2 hour and 10 minute-barrier in a marathon, smashed former Olympic champion Emil Zatopek s long-standing world records clocking 1:15:22.6 in 25,000m and 1:12:48.2 in 15 miles. Ron Hill turned the art of marathon running into a science and wrote the playbook for generations to come. He was a one-off. His contribution to the classic distance is immense, said Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president, in his tribute to Hill.
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