Ian Thompson

Ian Reginald Thompson (born 16 October 1949) is an English former long-distance runner, who gained success in marathon running. His Commonwealth Games marathon record set in 1974 remains unbeaten. He also appeared at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Early career Born in the town of Birkenhead, Cheshire (now Merseyside), Ian Thompson's family moved to Luton, where he ran for his school, Luton Grammar School. Thompson was regarded as just an ordinary club athlete and ranked 90th in Britain's 5,000 metres list at the time, but suddenly broke through to world class as a marathon runner when asked to make up the numbers for his club, Luton United, in the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA) 1973 AAA Championships on 27 October 1973. He won in a time of 2:12:40, at the time, the fastest ever debut at the distance and becoming the British marathon champion, which qualified him for the Commonwealth Games three months later.

Commonwealth and European gold Thompson travelled to Christchurch for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games with little expectation that he would be able to reproduce the performance that got him there. This was not the case however and he won with a margin of over 2 minutes in a time of 2:09:12, the fastest ever run in a championship race, a British record and only 39 seconds off the then world record of 2:08:34. This is currently (19 September 2020) the eighth fastest time by a British athlete (according to runbritainrankings.com) and still a Commonwealth Games record. In the early autumn of 1974, Thompson competed at the European Championships in Rome, again he proved to be the class act of the field. He stayed with the leading group until the 20 kilometre mark and then steadily opening up a gap on the rest of the field that stood at 98 seconds when he won in a time of 2:13:18.8.

Thompson's achievements were recognised in the 1974 SJA Annual Sports awards, where he was runner up to John Conteh in the Sportsmen of the Year category.

Olympics In 1976, he suffered cramps and finished only seventh in the trials for the Olympics, for which he was not selected. Although for many years among Britain's best, he never regained his 1974 eminence and contested only one more major championship. He won his second AAA title at the 1980 AAA Championships to gain selection for the Moscow Olympics but dropped out of the race during the Games on 1 August.

Thompson was famously quoted at his 1974 peak as saying "I prefer to remain in blissful ignorance of the opposition. That way I'm not frightened by anyone's reputation".

Personal bests

Competitions Source:Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS)