- James Peters (athlete)
James ("Jim") Henry Peters (born
October 24 ,1918 inLondon – diedJanuary 9 ,1999 inThorpe Bay ) was a former long-distance runner fromEngland , who set new marathon records four times during the 1950s, including the first authenticated timing of under 2 hours 20 minutes, regarded as the equivalent of the sub-4-minute mile; this feat was achieved in thePolytechnic Marathon of 1953, a point-to-point race from Windsor to Chiswick, west London.Later that same year he set the first sub-2:20 clocking on an out-and-back course, at the
Enschede Marathon , Holland. However, he is most remembered for when he entered theVancouver, British Columbia stadium near the end of the1954 Commonwealth Games marathon with a five-kilometre (three-mile) lead but, severely dehydrated, staggered and collapsed several times and could not finish the final lap.After retiring from competitive athletics, he worked as an
optician inChadwell Heath ,Essex .References
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=6193 Sporting Heroes]
* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pe/jim-peters-1.html sports-reference]
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