William Arthur Adcocks (born 11 November 1941, in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

) is a British former long-distance runner who competed in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Biography

He was introduced to athletics at his primary and secondary schools – at secondary school he competed in both cross-country and track and field. He started at school at the age of 12. He works as an information officer for

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

. He wrote a book about his marathon performance in Greece in a book titled "The Road to Athens". () He was invited to start the Athens Classic Marathon in 2002.

Athletics career

He joined the Coventry Godiva Harriers at the age of fourteen. In 1964, he ran his first marathon, in

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

, finishing second in a time of 2:19:29. In 1965, he won the Amateur Athletic Association of England title in the marathon, held in Port Talbot, beating nearest rival Brian Kilby by over 40 seconds. In 1966, he represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won silver medal in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

marathon, finishing 5 seconds behind Scotland's

Jim Alder James Noel Carroll Alder MBE (born 10 June 1940) is a British former distance runner, from Morpeth. Alder, who was born in Glasgow, was a foster child. His mother died of tuberculosis and his father was killed on the last day of World War II. ...

. In 1968, he competed in the marathon at the Olympics, finishing in fifth. He also medalled for a second and final time at the AAA Marathon Championships in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

, losing out on the title by 15 seconds. Later that year he ran his personal best for the marathon distance while winning at the

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

, running 2:10:48, a time which was just a minute outside the world record (which had been set on the same course a year previously) at the time, and was a new European record. He is the only Briton to have won the Fukuoka Marathon. In 1969, he ran in the Athens Classic Marathon, which is run over the same course as the original marathon run by

Pheidippides Pheidippides ( grc-gre, Φειδιππίδης, , ; "Son of Pheídippos") or Philippides (Φιλιππίδης) is the central figure in the story that inspired a modern sporting event, the marathon race. Pheidippides is said to have run from ...

. He set a course record, clocking 2:11:07, which was not broken until 2004, when

Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini (born 25 May 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a retired Italian runner who specialized in the marathon. He was the Olympic champion in Athens and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006). Biography Baldin ...

broke the record. He also raced in the CAU (Counties Athletics Union) 20 Miles Championships, winning the title. In 1970, he won the Midland Counties 10,000 metres title. He also won the

Lake Biwa Marathon The was a marathon race held in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. It was one of the prominent marathons in Japan. It was a male only competition and had IAAF Gold Label status.Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07)Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown IAAF. Retrieved on 2010- ...

that year, setting a new course record in 2:13:46. He represented

in the marathon, at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In 1972, he won the CAU 20 Miles Championships again, running 1:39:01, setting a British record. He currently holds the 20 miles British National, British Domestic and British All-Comers record for times set during a race over that distance, although faster intermediate marks have been set in races over longer distances. Adcocks ran 10 marathons under 2:20. In 17 total marathons, he won 5 times and placed second 5 times.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adcocks, Bill 1941 births Living people Sportspeople from Coventry English male marathon runners British male marathon runners Olympic male marathon runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Japan Championships in Athletics winners