Geoffrey Lionel “Geoff” 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 endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who had his biggest successes in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair div ...

. 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, and sixth in the European Athletics Championships of 1954. Iden ran for the Victoria Park Harriers athletics club and 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 was the first member of Victoria Park Harriers to take part in an Olympics. He was born in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district 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 appl ...

, London and died in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

References

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