Geoffrey Lionel Iden (8 October 1914 – 12 January 1991) was a British middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who had his biggest successes in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. He competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Biography

Iden was born in

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

, London, and ran for the Victoria Park Harriers. Iden finished second behind Jim Peters in the marathon event at the 1952 AAA Championships. Shortly afterwards he represented the Great Britain team at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where he finished 9th in the 1952 Olympic Games marathon, where he was the first and only Briton to finish and ran a then personal best of 2 hours 30 minutes and 42 seconds. He was the first member of Victoria Park Harriers to take part in an Olympics. Iden finished third again behind Peters at the 1953 AAA Championships and sixth in the European Athletics Championships of 1954. In 1956, Iden finished second behind Bill McMinnis at the 1955 AAA Championships. His club record marathon time of 2 hours 25 minutes and 51 seconds in 1956 stood for more than fifty years, not being surpassed until September 2008. It is still a Masters record for the club as Iden was in his forties at the time. He died in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iden, Geoff 1914 births 1991 deaths People from Stepney Athletes from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets English male marathon runners British male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics 20th-century English sportsmen