Bill Adcocks

Bill Adcocks (born 11 November 1941 in Coventry) is a British former long-distance runner who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics.^[1]

Biography

He was introduced to athletics at his primary and secondary schools – at secondary school he competed in both cross-country and track and field.^[2] He started at school at the age of 12.^[3]

He works as an information officer for UK Athletics.^[4]

He wrote a book about his marathon performance in Greece in a book titled "The Road to Athens". (ISBN 0954789601)^[5] He was invited to start the Athens Classic Marathon in 2002.^[6]

Athletics career

He joined the Coventry Godiva Harriers at the age of fourteen.^[2]

In 1964, he ran his first marathon, in Port Talbot, finishing second in a time of 2:19:29.^[2]

In 1965, he won the Amateur Athletic Association of England title in the marathon, held in Port Talbot, beating nearest rival Brian Kilby by over 40 seconds.^[7]

In 1966, he won silver in the Commonwealth Games marathon, finishing 5 seconds behind Scotland's Jim Alder.^[8]

In 1968, he competed in the marathon at the Olympics, finishing in fifth.^[9] He also medalled for a second and final time at the AAA Marathon Championships in Cwmbran, losing out on the title by 15 seconds.^[7] Later that year he ran his personal best for the marathon distance while winning at the Fukuoka Marathon, running 2:10:48, a time which was just a minute outside the world record (which had been set on the same course a year previously) at the time, and was a new European record.^[10][11] To date he is still the only Briton to have won the Fukuoka Marathon.^[12]

In 1969, he ran in the Athens Classic Marathon, which is run over the same course as the original marathon run by Pheidippides.^[13] He set a course record, clocking 2:11:07, which was not broken until 2004, when Stefano Baldini broke the record.^[11][14][15] He also raced in the CAU (Counties Athletics Union) 20 Miles Championships, winning the title.^[16]

In 1970, he won the Midland Counties 10,000 metres title.^[17] He also won the Lake Biwa Marathon that year, setting a new course record in 2:13:46.^[18][19]

In 1972, he won the CAU 20 Miles Championships again, running 1:39:01, setting a British record.^[16] He currently holds the 20 miles British National, British Domestic and British All-Comers record for times set during a race over that distance, although faster intermediate marks have been set in races over longer distances.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Adcocks ran 10 marathons under 2:20. In 17 total marathons, he won 5 times and placed second 5 times.

References

• Bill Adcocks profile at Power of 10