"Im excited to be returning to Athens and looking forward to competing too. Im there for five days with Sports Tours International. Athens is also the place I ran my 100th marathon back in 1985."
Ron Hill MBE
Ron Hill returns to Athens to relive one of his greatest achievements
Running legend Ron Hill MBE will return to the iconic sporting location of Athens, 47 years after winning gold in his first major international championship.
Ron will be travelling to Greece as part of the Sports Tours International trip to the 2016 Athens Authentic Marathon on 13 November. Not only will Ron be lacing up his running shoes to compete in the Athens 5K, whilst he is there he will be returning the trophy he won in 1969 at the European Championships.
Ron, who lives in Hyde, commented: “The last time I visited Athens I was contacted by the race organisers and asked if I had anything to donate to the Marathon Run Museum so decided to donate my trophy which I’ve kept all these years.”
15,000 runners are set to take part in the historic Greek running event, which dates back over 2,500 years! The race will finish in the legendary stadium where the first Olympic Games of the modern times in 1896 took place.
Ron added: “I’m excited to be returning to Athens and looking forward to competing too. I’m there for five days with Sports Tours International. Athens is also the place I ran my 100th marathon back in 1985.”
The 78 year old has run every day since December 1964 – meaning he’s clocked up almost 52 years of running – a world record streak. For 26.2 of these years he ran twice a day (once on Sunday) without ever missing a run.
During his impressive running career Ron has competed in more than 2500 races (including 64 ParkRuns) in 100 different countries. His training logs began in 1956 and he has recorded over 162,000 miles.
Ron Hill will be taking part in a Q&A for those travelling with Sports Tours International to the Athens Marathon.
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