Over his long career, Ron Hill has held many national and world long distance running records including a world record for 10 miles (16 km) (47:02, Leicester, April 1968; 46:44, Leicester, November 1968). Hill represented Great Britain three times in the Summer Olympic Games between 1964 and 1972, in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres events. At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Hill placed 18th in the 10000 metres, in a time of 29:53.0, and 19th in the marathon, in 2:25:34.4. In the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, he placed seventh in the 10000m. In 1969, Hill won the European Championships Marathon on the Marathon-to-Athens course. In 1970, Hill became the first British runner to win the Boston Marathon, by a wide margin, shattering the course record by three minutes with a time of 2:10:30. In July, at the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he became the first man ever to break the 2:10 barrier, clocking a world record time of 2:09:28. Hill's final marathon was the 100th Boston Marathon, in 1996. He completed 115 marathons, 112 under 2:50, 103 under 2:45 and 29 under 2:20.
Hill was also famous during his career for his trademark string vest. When asked as to why he wore it, he said... “I was looking for a way to get more air passing over the body, which evaporates sweat and cools the body – it didn’t won’t work if the body is covered by a full, cotton vest. It was in 1968 that I had the thought to wear a string vest, as it’s full of holes! I went to my local Army and Navy store in Stockport, bought the vest and it worked. The first time I wore the string vest was in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City."
Ron Hill is also famous of course for his running streak in that he has not missed a day of running since the 20th of December 1964. That makes 17,295 days if you include today, the 26th of April 2012.
In the interview here, Ron Hill talks about his running career, his Marathons and about his famous running streak....
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