Geoffrey ("Geoff") Smith (born 24 October 1953) is a British long-distance runner who won the Boston Marathon in both 1984 and 1985. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. He represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics twice, in the 10,000 m in 1980 and in the marathon in 1984. Smith's best time in the marathon was 2:09:08, when he finished second to

Rod Dixon Rodney Phillip Dixon (born 13 July 1950) is a former New Zealand middle- to long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and in 1983 won the New York City Marathon. Biography Dixon was b ...

in the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

in 1983, his first attempt at the marathon distance. Smith only lost by nine seconds. He won the 1984 Boston Marathon by over four minutes. He was the last person to win the Boston Marathon before the race organizers began giving out prize money to the winners. He ran a sub-

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

in 1982, recording 3:55 minutes in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. In 1982 he won the world class Bermuda 10K on a very hilly course in a record time of 28:14, although many world class runners have attempted this race over the years since, none have been any closer than 54 seconds behind this record. Smith worked as a firefighter for ten years in the United Kingdom, joining the profession straight out of high school. He later went back to study, enrolling at Providence College in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

at the age of 26 in 1980. He remained in the United States and began working as a middle school teacher and lives in

Mattapoisett, Massachusetts Mattapoisett is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,508 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the village of Mattapoisett Center, please see the article Mattapoisett Center, Ma ...

as of 2004.Cool Running :: 20 Years Later: An Interview with Two-Time Boston Marathon Winner Geoff Smith
/ref> He ceased running the Boston Marathon after 1990 and stopped running completely in the early 1990s, having suffered hip problems since birth. He has had both hips replaced and has started running again in June 2013. He coaches local runners South of Boston.

Marathons

International competitions

References

External links

1980 Year Ranking
1953 births Living people People from Mattapoisett, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Plymouth County, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Liverpool English male marathon runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Boston Marathon male winners Providence College alumni {{UK-athletics-bio-stub

Marathons

International competitions

See also

References

External links