Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Men's marathon

Men's marathon at the Commonwealth Games

The men's marathon event at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held on 7 August in Vancouver, Canada with a start and finish at the Empire Stadium. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Jim Peters, then the world record holder in the marathon, entered the stadium in first place, believed to be 17 minutes ahead of the next runner and 10 minutes ahead of the Games record ^[4] but he collapsed seven times (one of the times laying down for over 2 minutes) and he eventually failed to finish, being disqualified after collapsing into the arms of an official. ^[5] . After covering just 200 metres in 11 minutes, he was stretchered away and never raced again. "I was lucky not to have died that day", he later said. ^[6]

The race was won by Scotsman Joe McGhee. ^[7]

Results

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Joe McGhee	Scotland	2:39:36
	Jackie Mekler	South Africa	2:40:57
	Jan Barnard	South Africa	2:51:50
4	Barry Lush	Canada	2:52:48
5	George Hillier	Canada	2:58:44
6	Robert Crossen	Northern Ireland	3:00:13
	Al Lawrence	Australia	DNF
	Bryce Mackay	Australia	DNF
	Rowland Guy	Australia	DNF
	Gérard Côté	Canada	DNF
	George Norman	Canada	DNF
	Keith Dunnet	Canada	DNF
	Les Stokell	Canada	DNF
	Stan Cox	England	DNF
	Jim Peters	England	DNF
	John Kay	Northern Rhodesia	DNF

References

1. "Results". thecgf.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
2. "Results". The Manchester Guardian. 9 August 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
3. "Results". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
4. "Dramatic end to marathon" . Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Peters Ahead, falls 7 times, is disqualified" . Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Keating, Frank (2007-01-07). "'Two steps forward, three to the side. Oh, he's down again'". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2024-02-18.
7. Great Sporting Moments: Athletics. The Independent . Retrieved on 2010-08-30.