Ron Hill

For the rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s for Wales, and Salford, see Ronald Hill.

Ronald "Ron" Hill, MBE, BSc, PhD (born 25 September 1938), is a noted runner and founder of Ron Hill and Hilly Clothing Company. Hill was born in Accrington, Lancashire, England. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, but never laid claim to the marathon world record. He has run two Olympic Marathons (Tokyo 1964 and Munich 1972), and has a personal marathon record of 2:09:28. In 1970, Hill won the 74th Boston Marathon in a course record 2:10:30. He also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in 1969 and the Commonwealth Games in 1970.

Running career

Hill held numerous national and world long distance running records. He held world records for 10 miles (16 km) (47:02, Leicester, April 1968; 46:44, Leicester, November 1968); 15 miles (24 km) (72:48.2, Bolton, July 1965); and 25 kilometres (16 mi) (75:22.6, Bolton, July 1965).

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.

In 1963, Hill won the 6-mile (9.7 km) event at the British Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) championships in a time of 27:49.8, equalling the UK record. In the following year's AAA six mile (10 km) race, Hill was outsprinted by Mike Bullivant, who won by less than half a second; both runners, however, finished more than twenty seconds under the UK record. 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 1964, Hill set his first world record, clocking 1:15:22.6 for 25 kilometres (16 mi), eclipsing Emil Zátopek's previous mark by more than 1 minute; he also set another world record of 1:12:48.2 for 15 miles (24 km) along the way in that race.

Hill was the first winner of the Freckleton Half Marathon (The UK's oldest) in 1964 and still holds the course record of 1 hour 4 minutes.

In 1966, Hill competed in the European Championships Marathon, finishing twelfth.

On 6 April 1968, in the British AAA 10-mile (16 km) championship at Leicester, Hill set a new world record of 47:02.2; he won the AAA 10-mile (16 km) every year between 1965 and 1969. Later in 1968, he again lowered the world 10-mile (16 km) world record, to 46:44.0. 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.

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.

1970

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 was timed in 29:24 for the first 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) at Edinburgh, the equivalent of a 2:04 marathon pace, described as "suicidal".[1] He arrived at the Fukuoka International Marathon as a clear favourite, but placed only ninth.[2]

Hill was ranked as the top marathoner of the year for 1970 by Track & Field News, on the strength of his two important wins – the Boston and British Commonwealth Games marathons. The next year, Hill was honoured with the Order of the British Empire for "services to athletics".

Streak

Hill has built a streak, in which he has not missed a day of running since December 1964, starting when he was becoming established as a world-class runner. Hill continues his streak, though he now defines a 'run' somewhat loosely; he has established baseline criteria of only one mile run, at any pace. Nevertheless, Hill's streak is a benchmark that other such streaks are usually compared against. In his streak, Hill includes workouts after a car crash in 1993 when he broke his sternum, and after bunion surgery, after which he used a crutch for one mile (1.6 km) in 27 minutes the next day.

Hill achieved his goal of racing in 100 countries before his 70th birthday with races in Panama and the Faroe Islands.

Achievements

• All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing United Kingdom
1970	Boston Marathon	Boston, United States	1st	2:10:30
1973	Enschede Marathon	Enschede, Netherlands	1st	2:18:06
1975	Enschede Marathon	Enschede, Netherlands	1st	2:15:59

Company

After graduating from university with a PhD in textile chemistry Ron Hill was convinced of the benefits of synthetic materials for runners. In 1970 he started a company, Ron Hill Sports, which pioneered various products including wrap-over shorts, mesh vests, waterproof running jackets and reflective strips, as Hill says "because I was running to and from work in the dark in winter and wondered what I needed to stay safe." Company sales at one point exceeded £6 million, but Hill sold out due to financial difficulties in the early 1990s.

He has since started Hilly Clothing specialising in "technical socks" and other apparel.

Miscellaneous

Hill was president of the Road Runners Club from 1987 – 1988.

Publication

• The Long Hard Road: An Autobiography. 1981. Ron Hill Sports. ISBN 0950788201

See also

• Bill Smith (fell runner)

External links

• Website of Ronhill Outdoor & Sports Company Ltd
• Website of Hilly Clothing
• IAAF.org – 'A history of the Fukuoka International Marathon Championships: 1970', K. Ken Nakamura, International Association of Athletics Federations
• RunnersWorld.com – 'Always up for a Run', Joanna Sayago, Runner's World
• Athletes of the marathon – Ron Hill – time-to-run.com
• Marathon Man: After 15,696 daily jogs, Ron Hill can give Alf Tupper a run for his money – Article by Simon Turnbull, The Independent, 16 December 2007
• This Ron will run and run – Article by Jon Henderson, The Observer, 21 September 2008

Sporting positions
Preceded by Derek Graham	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 1971	Succeeded by Victor Manual Mora