Gerard Helme

Gerard Helme (born 28 March 1957, also known as Gerry Helme) is a runner from Britain and Northern Ireland who was a top long-distance runner in the 1980s. He was part of the British team of three (along with Hugh Jones and Mike Gratton) that completed at the 1983 Men’s Marathon World Championship race.

Early career Helme went to Range High School and clocked a fast time in the Liverpool Corporate Cup. Later, he studied at Liverpool College in Lancaster, England. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, as most running was concentrated in club teams, Helme was a part of the Ron Hill Race Team that ran cross country and road races around the United Kingdom.

Professional career In 1981, Helme won of the Freckleton Half Marathon and the Birmingham Marathon. The following year, after ankle surgery, he won several more road races, including the St. Petersburg Marathon in Florida and second place in the Orlando Marathon. At the London Marathon in 1983, as the broadcasters covered the event on live TV, good weather and fast times moved the mass of 18,000 runners through the city streets. Helme, who had decided to run the race two days earlier, dueled with Henrik Jørgensen of Denmark and fellow English runner Mike Gratton. Gratton took the lead in the end, and Helme finished second in 2:10:12, thirty seconds back. In the woman’s race that day, Grete Waitz ran a blistering pace in the woman’s race to tie the world record.

Still in great form, he traveled to the northeast shore of Lake Superior to run a point-to-point race called Grandma's Marathon (named after a restaurant). He started in Two Harbors, Minnesota with 7,000 other runners and out paced them all to cross the finish line in Duluth, Minnesota in 2:12:09 for the win. His coaches had discouraged him from attending the race, as he was scheduled to run the World Championship marathon in August.

Personal life Helme later worked as a runner’s agent.