1970 CG Marathon

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As far as I know there have been no books written by athletes about the 5000m or 10000m races in the Games other than Ron Clarke’s autobiography while there have been several by competitors in the marathon.    Ron Hill’s Biography ‘The Long Hard Road,’ Jim Alder’s ‘Marathon and Chips, Bill Adcocks’ ‘The Road To Athens’ and Don Macgregor’s ‘Running My Life’.    It was certainly a fantastic race with a wonderful field of athletes contesting it but the attitudes revealed in the books could not be more different and extracts will be on a separate page which will be linked to this one.   I would urge anyone interested in marathon running generally to get their hands on copies of these books if at all possible, lay photo-copies of the sections on this one race side by side and just see how different the ways up the mountain were.   The official report read:

“The four fastest Marathon runners of all time competed in this race, run in good weather conditions over a fairly level course.   Right from the start, Derek Clayton, Australia, and Jerome Drayton, Canada, set a fast pace, passing five miles in 23:31, with Ron Hill, England, and Paul Ndoo, Kenya, close behind.   Jim Alder, the 1966 winner and Bill Adcocks, second in 1966, were running well, 200 yards farther back.   At ten miles, the leading positions were: Hill (47:45), 2nd Drayton (47:50), 3rd Ndoo (47:55), 4th Jim Alder, 5th Bill Adcocks and 6th Stephen (Tanzania) all at 48:40.   Ron Hill continued to push ahead and at 15 miles his time of 1:12:18 was actually better than his world record for that distance.   Clayton had dropped back, Drayton was still in second place. with Alder and Stephen closing on him.   Of the others, only Adcocks and Faircloth were within striking distance.    Drayton dropped out just before 16 miles and the race began to take shape.  

Hill kept on relentlessly, completing 20 miles in 1:37:02, 1 minute 20 seconds ahead of Alder and Stephen with Faircloth fourth in 1:30:17 and Adcocks fifth in 1:40:16.   Hill maintained his lead and finished with a brisk lap of the Stadium in the record-breaking time of 2:09.8.   Jim Alder came in doggedly two-and-a-half minutes later, and also 15 seconds behind was Don Faircloth.   Jackie Foster of New Zealand passed Stephen to finish fourth, pushing Stephen back into fifth place at the finish.   Nearly all the finishers improved on their best performances, several by large margins.”   

 

Position Name Country Time Position Name Country Time
1. R Hill England 2:09:28 16. S Harnek India 2:23:12
2. J Alder Scotland 2:12:04 17. DH Davies Wales 2:23:29
3. D Faircloth England 2:12:19 18. JL Julian New Zealand 2:24:03
4. JC Foster New Zealand 2:14:44 19. YD Birdar India 2:29:18
5. J Stephen Tanzania 2:15:05 20. D Sinkala Zambia 2:30:02
6. W Adcocks England 2:15:10 21. F Rwabu Uganda 2:34:15
7. AF Murray Scotland 2:15:32 22. K Grant Gibraltar 2:35:55
8. D Macgregor Scotland 2:16:53 23. R Diamini Swaziland 2:49:33
9. M Teer Northern Ireland 2:17:24 24. S Alecio Gibraltar 2:50:39
10. A Boychuk Canada 2:18:45   S Jagbir India DNF
11. M Rowland Wales 2:19:08   A Parody Gibraltar DNF
12. CT Leigh Wales 2:19:53 . J Drayton Canada DNF
13. M Cranny Northern Ireland 2:20:23   D Kalusa Zambia DNF
14. R Moore Canada 2:20:47   DJ Clayton Australia DNF
15. P Ndoo Kenya 2:22:40   H Powell Guyana DNF

 

Five Mile Splits For The Leaders

Even the top men can misjudge the marathon: compare the top eight at five miles with the top eight at twenty miles.

      Five Miles                                      Ten Miles                                    Fifteen Miles                                  Twenty Miles                                 Twenty Five Miles

1,   Drayton, J     23:31                 1.   Hill, R             47:45            1.   Hill, R               1:12:18              1.   Hill, R          1:37:32                           1.   Hill, R             2:03:10

2.   Clayton, DJ   23:31                 2.   Drayton, J      47:50            2.   Drayton, J         1:13:17               2.   Alder, J        1:38:51                           2.   Alder, J          2:05:10

3.   Ndoo, P        23:31                 3.   Ndoo, P        47:55             3.  Alder, J              1:13:27               3.  Stephen, J     1:38:52                          3.   Faircloth, D     2:05:30

4.   Hill, R            23:31                  4.   Alder, J        48:40             4.   Stephen, J         1:13:27               4.   Faircloth, D   1:39:17                         4.   Stephen, J       2:06:35

5.   Harnek, S      23:57                  5.   Adcocks, W 48:40             5.   Adcocks, W     1:13:42               5.   Adcocks, W  1:40:16

6.   Stephen, J      24:07                  6.   Stephen, J    48:40              6.   Faircloth, D       1:13:42               6.   Foster, JC     1:41:21                             No More 25 Mile Splits

7.   Alder, J         24:09                   7.  Faircloth, D   48:45              7.   Clayton, D         1:14:39              7.   Macgregor, D 1:44:02                                  Available.

8.   Adcocks, W  24:09                   8.  Clayton, D     48:49             8.   Moore, R           1:14:39              8.   Murray, AF     1:44:02