Mark Croasdale (born January 1965 [1] ) is an English athlete who was a British fell running champion and competed in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics.
The early part of Croasdale’s sporting career was centred on skiing. He became a member of the Royal Marines’ ski team and displayed sufficient talent to be invited to train with the national ski team. He was a British champion and represented his country on many occasions in international cross-country skiing competitions. [2] He competed in the 10k classical and 15k freestyle events at the 1992 Winter Olympics. [3]
Having taken up running as training for his skiing, Croasdale began to obtain good results as a runner. He won the Snowdon Race in 1991 and 1992 [4] and in the latter year finished ninth in the short race at the World Mountain Running Trophy. [5]
In 1993, Croasdale won both the British and English Fell Running Championships. [6] His race victories in later years included the Three Peaks in 1999. [7] He was also a frequent competitor in the Man versus Horse Marathon and was the first runner there several times. He was never able to beat the first horse, but came within two minutes of doing so in 2000. [8]
Croasdale also raced on the roads, representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 1994 World Half Marathon Championships [9] and winning the Marine Corps Marathon in 1999. [10]
More recently, Croasdale has been a manager for national mountain running teams. [11]
He still holds the course records for the fell races at Ingleborough, [12] Hutton Roof Crags, [13] and Criffel. [14]
Jean-Claude Killy is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in 1967 and 1968.
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima is a Brazilian retired long-distance runner. He was born in Cruzeiro do Oeste, Paraná. While leading the marathon after 35 km (22 mi) at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was attacked on the course by Irish former priest Cornelius "Neil" Horan. Following the incident, Lima fell from first to third place, eventually winning the bronze medal. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his sportsmanship shown in that race.
Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport on the fells of northern Britain, especially those in the Lake District. It has elements of trail running, cross country and mountain running, but is also distinct from those disciplines.
Andrew "Andi" Jones is an English athlete who specialises in road, cross country, and mountain/fell running, and has competed for England and Great Britain. In 2003, he finished fourth in the World Mountain Trophy in Alaska. Closer to home, he competes for Stockport Harriers. Although one of the UK's leading distance runners, Andi chooses to work full-time alongside his running career and was employed as head of Design and Technology at Falinge Park High School, Rochdale. In 2014, Jones emigrated to Qatar.
Rolando Patricio Vera Rodas is a retired long-distance runner from Ecuador, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. He reached the top ten of the 10,000 metres at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics. He enjoyed much championship success at the regional level: he was a two-time South American Champion on the track and won gold medals at the South American Games and Bolivarian Games, as well as reaching the podium at the Ibero-American Championships and the 1987 Pan American Games.
Sarah Louise Rowell is a British former long-distance runner. Born in Hostert, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, she ran 2:39:11 at the age of 20 at the 1983 London Marathon. Later that year she won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 1983 Universiade in Edmonton. At the 1984 London marathon she improved her best to 2:31:28 to qualify for the British team for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In the inaugural women's Olympic marathon, she finished 14th. She broke the British record when running her personal best for the marathon with 2:28:06, when finishing second behind Ingrid Kristiansen at the 1985 London Marathon.
Marie-Véronique Antoinette Colette Jeannine Marot is a French-born British marathon runner. She twice broke the British record for the marathon, with 2:28:04 at the 1985 Chicago Marathon and 2:25:56 when winning the 1989 London Marathon. The latter time stood as the UK record for 13 years. She is also a three-time winner of the Houston Marathon and represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Jacqueline Hansen is a former long-distance runner from the United States who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on two occasions.
Kenny Stuart is a former fell and road runner from Threlkeld in the Lake District.
Ondoro Osoro is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who competed mostly in cross country and road races.
Keith Alan "KB" Brantly is an American former professional long-distance runner who contended in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Brantly finished twenty-eighth of one hundred and eleven runners who completed the race, in a time of 2:18:17. He is recognized for his extensive distance-running career that encompasses nearly three decades at distances that range from one mile to a marathon.
Ian Holmes is an English fell runner who was the national champion several times in the 1990s and 2000s and represented his country at the World Trophy and European Trophy.
Carol Greenwood is an English former runner who won the World Mountain Running Trophy and was twice a national fell running champion.
Colin Kerr Donnelly is a Scottish runner who was the British fell running champion three times and finished second in the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Keith Anderson is a male British former runner who was the national fell running champion and competed in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games.
Mark Kinch is an English former runner who was a national fell running champion and represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy in the mid-1990s.
Ros Evans is a British athlete who competed in fell running, orienteering, ski-orienteering and cross-country skiing. She is also mother to British track cyclist, Neah Evans.
Ricky William Lightfoot is a British runner who has been a world champion in trail running and a medallist in the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge.
Tracey Brindley is a British runner who has been a medallist at the World Mountain Running Trophy and a national fell running champion.
Trudi Thomson is a British former distance runner and ultramarathon runner who competed for Great Britain at the IAU 100 km World Championships in 1993 and 1994, the IAAF 1995 World Cup Marathon, the IAAF 1995 World Championships Marathon and the IAAF 1995 World Championships Half Marathon. She represented Scotland at the 1999 World Mountain Running Trophy.