Celebrated runner Ron Hill dies
English long distance runner Dr Ron Hill MBE, the founder of specialist running outfitter Ronhill, recently died aged 82.
Born September 25, 1938, Dr Hill was an ex-European and Commonwealth marathon champion, who reportedly ran at least one mile every single day for 52 years and 39 days from December 20, 1964, to January 31, 2017, up until the age of 78.
His winning time for the 26.219-mile (42.195 kilometres) distance at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh made him only the second man to break two hours 10 minutes, finishing with a world-record time of two hours nine minutes 28 seconds. Also in 1970, Dr Hill took gold at the Boston Marathon, breaking the course record and becoming the first ever Briton to win the race.
The athlete, who for many years combined his athletic pursuits with a career as a textile scientist (he earned his PhD in textile chemistry from the University of Manchester), remains the twelfth fastest Briton ever to have run a marathon.
Dr Hill completed 115 marathons over the course of his life, recording 21 marathon victories.
Image: Ronhill via Instagram.
