Ian Thompson

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

Running career

Making up the numbers

Regarded as just an ordinary club athlete and ranked 90th in Britain's 5,000 metres list at the time, [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020720/ai_n12635392 Independent, The (London)] - 20 July, 2002, Whatever happened to Ian Thompson] 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

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 December2006) the ninth fastest time by a British Athlete (sixth fastest individual) and still a Commonwealth Games record.

European Gold

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 [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020804/ai_n12637079 Independent, The (London)] - 4 August, 2002, Replay 8 September 1974] 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. [ [http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/awards_sports.php?content=winners sportsjournalists.co.uk] - SJA Annual Sports awards]

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.

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". [ [http://www.marathonrookie.com/quotes-about-running.html marathonrookie.com] - Quotes about Running]

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

Competitions

{| class="wikitable" width="90%"!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 Marathon
2:14:32
11 June 1977
Windsor
1st
-
New York City Marathonmeasurements on subsequent course were 150 m short, this course probably short as well]
2:17:46.0
23 October 1977
New York
13th
-
Auckland Marathonca 39.73 km]
2:03:31
13 November 1977
Auckland
3rd
-
Auckland Marathon
2:13:49
12 November 1978
Auckland
1st
-
New York City Marathon
2:14:12
22 October 1978
New York
2nd
-
Montreal Marathon
2:15:24
26 August 1979
Montreal
6th
-
New York City Marathon
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
-
Intercontinental 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
-

ee also

* 1974 British Commonwealth Games
* 1974 European Championships in Athletics
* 1980 Summer Olympics
* Marathon world best progression

References

External links

* [http://www.britishathletics.info/default.asp?page=543E4E341E3D74387E2642342E3F743B5E2F7236&athleteid=CE6FC46AC662CE6F BritishAthletics.info] - Biography Page
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6747 Photograph] - 1974 European Championships
* [http://www.alltime-athletics.com/mmaraok.htm Fastest marathon times]
* [http://www.cgathletics.info/default.asp?page=542C7A2A6A394C312A3F743B7E2F703D&games_gender=CE67CE6FCE62CE67&games_year=CE67C66BDE66DA67&games_event=6E67YE6D8642DE37 1974 Commonwealth Games Full Marathon Result]
* [http://www.kdays.com/2008/01/22/top-10-running-quotes/ Top 10 Running Quotes] at www.kdays.comCurrent Club: Devizes Running Club
* [http://www.devizesrunningclub.org.uk]

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=