Ron Hill is pictured above running at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London.
Ron Hill established an enviable record during the 1960s both on the
track and on the road.
In 1963 he won the 6 miles at the national AAA
championships in 27min 49.8sec equalling
the UK record. The next month
in a Great Britain v USA match at White City he narrowly beat
teammate
Basil Heatley over 6 miles with the first US runner, Buddy Edelen, over
40 seconds behind.
In the following year's AAA 6 miles event, Hill had
a memorable battle with Mike Bullivant which
Bullivant won by only
0.4sec with both runners finishing over 20 seconds under the UK record.
At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo Hill placed 18th in the 10000m in
29min 53.0sec and
19th in the marathon in 2hr 25min 34.4sec.
On 21 July
the next year he set his first World Record when he broke Zatopek's
25,000m record by
over 1 minute in a time of 1hr 15min 22.6sec, setting a
World Record of 1hr 12min 48.2sec for
15 miles on the way. In 1966 he
competed in the marathon at his second European Championships
where he
finished 12th (having failed to finish in 1962). Hill won the AAA 10
miles championship every
year between 1965 and 1969, but probably his
best victory was in 1968 at Leicester, on 6 April, where
he set a new
World Record of 47min 02.2sec.
He further lowered this record later in
the year, again
at Leicester, on 9 November, when he attempted to break
the one hour record of Gaston Roelants (Belgium).
His distance of
20472m covered after the hour was less then 200m behind Roelantsí
record, but his time
at 10 miles of 46min 44.0sec was a new World
Record. The previous month, competing in his second
Olympic Games in
Mexico City, he came 7th in the 10000m in 29min 53.2sec. (Ron Casey)
Ron Hill won the AAA marathon championships in 1969 at Manchester in 2hr
13min 42sec, and then ran third
behind Dick Taylor in the AAA 10,000m
twelve days later. Following this experience, he decided that he
would
no longer attempt to win double titles at the same championships, and
after that he concentrated
his efforts on the marathon in the latter
part of his career. In 1969 at Athens, in his third attempt at the
European Championships marathon, he won his first major international
championship in 2hr 16min 48sec.
In April 1970, he became the first
Briton to win the Boston marathon, in a time of 2hr 10min 30sec,
taking
over 3 minutes off the race record. In July that year at the Edinburgh
Commonwealth Games he
arguably ran his greatest marathon. With only a
small field of 30 competing, Hill whipped the entire field
with silver
medallist and defending titleholder Jim Alder (Scotland) nearly 3
minutes behind. Hill's time of
2hr 09min 28sec was the second fastest
marathon ever run and the fastest in a major championship.
In 1971, he
won his second AAA marathon championship at Manchester in 2hr 12min
39sec. Later that year
at Helsinki, he competed in his fourth (a
record) European Championships marathon as the defending champion.
Unfortunately, he could not replicate his previous success, but still
managed third in 2hr 14min 36sec behind
Karel Lismont (Belgium). There
was no clear favourite for the marathon at the 1972 Munich Olympic
Games
although Hill was considered one of the main contenders. However,
he lost contact with the leaders early
and appeared to be struggling,
eventually battling on to finish sixth in 2hr 16min 31sec. (Ron Casey)
Ron Hill died on Sunday 23rd. May 2021 aged 82.
He ran every day from 20 December 1964 to 31 January 2017 - including after snapping his sternum
in a car accident in 1993.
Was the first person to use synthetic fabrics in sportswear following a career as a textile chemist,
having graduating from the University of Manchester with a PhD in textile chemistry.
This knowledge led him to set up Ron Hill Sports in September 1970. Sales exceeded
£6m in it's halcyon days.