Ian Thompson (runner)

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Ian Thompson
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born16 October 1949
Birkenhead, England
Height167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
EventMarathon
ClubLuton United Athletic Club
Medal record
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Men's athletics
European Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1974 Rome Marathon
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1974 Christchurch Marathon

Ian Reginald Thompson (born 16 October 1949) is an English former long-distance runner, who gained success in marathon running. His Commonwealth Games marathon record set in 1974 remains unbeaten. He also appeared at the 1980 Summer Olympics. [1]

Contents

Biography

Early career

Born in the town of Birkenhead, Cheshire (now Merseyside), Ian Thompson's family moved to Luton, where he ran for his school, Luton Grammar School. Thompson was regarded as just an ordinary club athlete and ranked 90th in Britain's 5,000 metres list at the time, [2] but suddenly broke through to world class as a marathon runner when asked to make up the numbers for his club,[ citation needed ] Luton United, in the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA) 1973 AAA Championships on 27 October 1973. He won in a time of 2:12:40, at the time, the fastest ever debut at the distance and becoming the British marathon champion, [3] which qualified him for the Commonwealth Games three months later.

Commonwealth and European gold

Thompson travelled to Christchurch for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games with little expectation that he would be able to reproduce the performance that got him there. This was not the case however and he won with a margin of over 2 minutes in a time of 2:09:12, the fastest ever run in a championship race, a British record and only 39 seconds off the then world record of 2:08:34. [nb 1] This is currently (19 September 2020) the eighth fastest time by a British athlete (according to runbritainrankings.com) and still a Commonwealth Games record. [6] In the early autumn of 1974, Thompson competed at the European Championships in Rome, again he proved to be the class act of the field. He stayed with the leading group until the 20 kilometre mark and then steadily opening up a gap on the rest of the field [7] that stood at 98 seconds when he won in a time of 2:13:18.8.

Thompson's achievements were recognised in the 1974 SJA Annual Sports awards, where he was runner up to John Conteh in the Sportsmen of the Year category. [8]

Olympics

In 1976, he suffered cramps and finished only seventh in the trials for the Olympics, for which he was not selected. Although for many years among Britain's best, he never regained his 1974 eminence and contested only one more major championship. He won his second AAA title at the 1980 AAA Championships [9] to gain selection for the Moscow Olympics but dropped out of the race during the Games on 1 August. [1] His best times each year between 1977 and 1982 were in the 2:12 to 2:15 range.

Personal life

His wife Margaret was an early pioneer of marathon running for women in Britain and ran a British best time of 3:07:47 in Korso, Finland, on 26 October 1975 and for a few months they held both the men and women's British marathon records, until Margaret's time was beaten by Christine Readdy (Kilkenny) in Feltham on 4 April 1976. Margaret (nee Tunstall) trained at Bedford College of Physical Education. At the time of his victory at the Commonwealth Games Thompson was studying for a PGCE at Trinity and All Saints College (TASC). [10]

Thompson was famously quoted at his 1974 peak as saying "I prefer to remain in blissful ignorance of the opposition. That way I'm not frightened by anyone's reputation". [11]

Personal Bests

EventTimeDateLocation
Marathon2:09:1231 January 1974Christchurch
25,000 m1:17:36.415 May 1975Oulu
15,000 m44:56.015 May 1975Oulu
10,000 m29:33.01979
5,000 m14:05.419 June 1971Cardiff
1,500 m3:51.01969
One hour19.831 km15 May 1975Oulu

Competitions

EventTimeDateLocationResult
AAA Marathon2:12:4027 October 1973 Harlow 1st
Orion Harriers Fifteen1:24:1424 March 1973 Epping Forest 2nd
Commonwealth Games Marathon 2:09:1231 January 1974 Christchurch 1st
Athens Marathon2:13:50.26 April 1974 Athens 1st
European Championships Marathon 2:13:18.88 September 1974Rome1st
Fukuoka Marathon 2:12:545 December 1976 Fukuoka 2nd
Amsterdam Marathon 2:17:47.421 May 1977 Amsterdam 4th
Polytechnic Marathon 2:14:3211 June 1977 Windsor 1st
New York City Marathon [12] 2:17:46.023 October 1977New York13th
Auckland Marathon [13] 2:03:3113 November 1977 Auckland 3rd
Auckland Marathon2:13:4912 November 1978Auckland1st
New York City Marathon [12] 2:14:1222 October 1978New York2nd
Montreal Marathon2:15:2426 August 1979 Montreal 6th
New York City Marathon [12] 2:13:4321 October 1979New York4th
AAA Marathon2:14:003 May 1980 Milton Keynes 1st
London to Brighton Race 5:15:1528 September 1980London1st
Stockholm Marathon 2:19:2523 August 1980 Stockholm 3rd
Tokyo Marathon 2:14:391 March 1981Tokyo7th
Duchy Marathon2:27:5329 March 1981 Cornwall 1st
Amatrice-Configno 8.4 km24:45.818 August 1981 Amatrice 1st
Birmingham Marathon2:13:5020 September 1981 Birmingham 1st
Romatona Marathon2:12:0914 March 1982 Rome 2nd
Geneva Marathon2:15:2821 March 1982 Geneva 2nd
Paris Marathon 2:14:0716 May 1982Paris1st
Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon 2:32:35November 1983 Istanbul 1st
Paris Marathon2:17:1414 May 1983Paris3rd
Stoke-on-Trent City Marathon2:20:5417 June 1984 Stoke-on-Trent 1st
Manchester Marathon2:16:081 July 1984 Manchester 1st
Guernsey Marathon2:25:2225 August 1986 Saint Peter Port 2nd
Malta Marathon2:29:0615 February 1987 Malta 1st

Notes

  1. ↑ The International Association of Athletics Federations has published a progression of road racing world bests and records that were widely recognised prior to ratification and official acceptance by the IAAF. According to that progression, Derek Clayton's 2:08:34 performance in Antwerp on 30 May 1969 was a world best at the time. [4] Other road racing authorities, including the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, consider Clayton's performance to have occurred on a short course and recognise other athletes – including Thompson – in the progression for world best in the marathon. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  2. ↑ Independent, The (London) – 20 July 2002, Whatever happened to Ian Thompson
  3. ↑ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  4. ↑ "12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. 546, 563, 565, 651, and 653. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Association of Road Racing Statisticians, World Best Progressions- Road. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  6. ↑ 1974 Commonwealth Games Full Marathon Result Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Independent, The (London) – 4 August 2002, Replay 8 September 1974
  8. ↑ sportsjournalists.co.uk Archived 14 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine – SJA Annual Sports awards
  9. ↑ "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  10. ↑ Hegarty, James. "1966-2006: Celebrating 40 Years of Learning" (PDF): 59. Retrieved 15 August 2018.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ marathonrookie.com – Quotes about Running
  12. 1 2 3 measurements on subsequent course were 150 m short, this course probably short as well
  13. ↑ ca 39.73 km
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