Geoffrey Boothby Saunders (25 January 1929 – 30 October 2019) was an English

cross country runner Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

. He represented England four times at the

International Cross Country Championships The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international champ ...

from 1949 to 1952 and was the winner of the race in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, leading England to the team gold. He shared in the minor team medals in his other three outings.Geoff Saunders (1929.01.25)
AthChamps (archived). Retrieved on 2016-04-28.

Biography

Saunders grew up around the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, having moved the due to wartime evacuation. He took up cross country running there and attended

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

. He ran for Derby & County Athletic Club before moving to

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

at the age of seventeen, as his father began working as a doctor there, and joined Bolton Harriers. He joined the army, rising to lieutenant, and he won army running titles on the track and in cross country. He retired from the sport in 1953 at the age of 24 as his job at a chemists required him to work weekends. At the International Cross Country Championships he was England's top finisher in fifth in 1949, leading the English men (including Frank Aaron and Len Eyre) to second in the team rankings behind France. He dropped to 14th the following year, with Aaron replacing him as England's leader. The bronze medal-winning team also included

Alec Olney Alec Olney (4 January 1922 – 25 April 2017) was a British long-distance runner who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. He was born in Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends fr ...

and Eyre. Aaron and Olney were in the International champion team of 1951, as was Walter Hesketh – a regional rival of Saunders'. On his last outing in 1952 he ended the race in 13th. The English team were second to the French – Hesketh led the team in fourth and the emerging

Frank Sando Frank Dennis Sando (14 March 1931 – 13 October 2012) was a British long-distance runner. A two-time winner at the International Cross Country Championships (1955, 1957), Sando represented Great Britain in two consecutive Summer Olympic Game ...

(himself later an individual champion) was in ninth. The remaining member of the team that year were

Frederick Norris Frederick Norris (4 September 1921 – 13 December 2006) was a British long-distance runner. Athletics career Born in Tyldesley, Norris competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Fred Norris was born in Tyldesl ...

and Jim Peters. Saunders died on 30 October 2019, at the age of 90.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Geoff 1929 births 2019 deaths English male long-distance runners British male long-distance runners International Cross Country Championships winners