Ian Thompson

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For the Bahamian high jumper, see Ian Thompson (high jumper).
Medal record
Competitor for {{{1}}}
Men's athletics
European Championships
Gold 1974 Rome Marathon
Commonwealth Games
Competitor for England
Gold 1974 Christchurch Marathon

Ian Reginald Thompson (born 16 October 1949) in Birkenhead, Merseyside was an English athlete, who gained success in marathon running.

Contents

[edit] Running career

[edit] Making up the numbers

Regarded as just an ordinary club athlete and ranked 90th in Britain's 5,000 metres list at the time,[1] Thompson suddenly broke through to world class as a marathon runner when asked to make up the numbers for his club, Luton United, in the AAA marathon championship on 27 October 1973. It was his first race beyond 10 miles, but he won in 2:12:40, at the time the fastest ever debut at the distance and qualified him for the Commonwealth Games three months later

[edit] Commonwealth 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 2:08:33. This is currently (27 December 2006) the ninth fastest time by a British Athlete (sixth fastest individual) and still a Commonwealth Games record.

[edit] European Gold

In the early autumn of 1974, Thompson competed at the European Championships, 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[2] 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.[3]

[edit] Olympic Agony

In 1976 he suffered cramp and finished only 7th in the trials for the Olympics, for which he was not selected to the consternation of some. Although for many years among Britain's best, he never regained his 1974 eminence and contested only one more major championship. He won the AAA title in 1980 to gain selection for the Moscow Olympics but dropped out at the Games. His best times each year between 1977 and 1982 were in the 2:12 to 2:15 range.

[edit] 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 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 April 4 1976.

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".[4]


[edit] Personal Bests

Event Best Time Date Location
Marathon 2:09:12 31 January 1974 Christchurch
25,000 m 1:17:36.4 15 May 1975 Oulu
15,000 m 44:56.0 15 May 1975 Oulu
10,000 m 29:33.0 1979
5,000 m 14:05.4 1971
1,500 m 3:51.0 1969
One hour 19.831 km 15 May 1975 Oulu

[edit] Competitions

Event Time Date Location Result
AAA Marathon 2:12:40 27 October 1973 Harlow 1st
Orion Harriers Fifteen 1:24:14 1973 Epping Forest 2nd
Commonwealth Games Marathon 2:09:12 31 January 1974 Christchurch 1st
Athens Marathon 2:13:51 6 April 1974 Athens 1st
European Championships Marathon 2:13:18.8 8 September 1974 Rome 1st
Fukuoka Marathon 2:12:54 5 December 1976 Fukuoka 2nd
Amsterdam Marathon 2:17:47.4 21 May 1977 Amsterdam 4th
Polytechnic Harriers Marathon 2:14:32 11 June 1977 Windsor 1st
New York City Marathon[5] 2:17:46.0 23 October 1977 New York 13th
Auckland Marathon[6] 2:03:31 13 November 1977 Auckland 3rd
Auckland Marathon 2:13:49 12 November 1978 Auckland 1st
New York City Marathon[5] 2:14:12 22 October 1978 New York 2nd
Montreal Marathon 2:15:24 26 August 1979 Montreal 6th
New York City Marathon[5] 2:13:43 21 October 1979 New York 4th
AAA Marathon 2:14:00 3 May 1980 Milton Keynes 1st
London to Brighton Race 5:15:15 1980 London 1st
Stockholm Marathon 2:19:25 1980 Stockholm 3rd
Tokyo Marathon 2:14:39 29 March 1981 Tokyo 7th
Duchy Marathon 2:27:53 29 March 1981 Cornwall 1st
Amatrice-Configno 8.4 km 24:45.8 18 August 1981 Amatrice 1st
Birmingham Marathon 2:13:50 20 September 1981 Birmingham 1st
Cambridge Half Marathon 1982 Cambridge 1st
Geneva Marathon 2:15:28 21 March 1982 Geneva 2nd
Paris Marathon 2:14:07 16 May 1982 Paris 1st
Istanbul Eurasia Marathon 2:32:35 1983 Istanbul 1st
Paris Marathon 14 May 1983 Paris 3rd
Stoke-on-Trent City Marathon 2:20:54 17 June 1984 Stoke-on-Trent 1st
Manchester Marathon 2:16:08 1 July 1984 Manchester 1st
Great Eastern Half Marathon 1:07:45 1986 Bourne 3rd
Malta Marathon 2:29:06 15 February 1987 Malta 1st
Sheffield Half Marathon 1:39:57 25 April 1999 Sheffield 375th
Shakespeare Half Marathon 01:45:06 2001 Stratford-upon-Avon 356th
Newcastle Half Marathon 01:48:24 13 January 2002 Ackworth 396th
Ackworth Half Marathon 2:09:09 23 March 2003 Ackworth 627th
Redcar Half Marathon 1:52:41 14 March 2004 Redcar 526th

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Independent, The (London) - 20 July, 2002, Whatever happened to Ian Thompson
  2. ^ Independent, The (London) - 4 August, 2002, Replay 8 September 1974
  3. ^ sportsjournalists.co.uk - SJA Annual Sports awards
  4. ^ marathonrookie.com - Quotes about Running
  5. ^ a b c measurements on subsequent course were 150 m short, this course probably short as well
  6. ^ ca 39.73 km

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Thompson, Ian Reginald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Marathon runner
DATE OF BIRTH 16 October 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead, Merseyside
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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