Sir Brendan Foster (born 12 January 1948) is a British former

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 in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

, athletics commentator and road race organiser, who founded the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...

, one of the sport's most high profile

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

races. As an athlete, he won the bronze medal in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, and the gold medal in the

5,000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

at the 1974 European Championships and the 10,000 metres at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

. He later provided commentary and analysis on athletics, particularly long-distance events, for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside f ...

after his running career ended.

Early life

Educated at St Joseph's RC Grammar School in Hebburn, the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

and Carnegie College of Physical Education, Foster returned to St Joseph's Grammar School as a chemistry teacher. His pupils included footballer turned manager Phil Brown, whom he tried to encourage to take up running over

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

Athletics career

Brendan Foster's athletic career saw him compete in three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, claiming Britain its only track and field medal (bronze in the 10,000 metres) at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In 1973 he broke the World Record for two miles at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

with a time of 8:13.68. In 1974 he won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in a time of 13:14.6 behind Ben Jipcho before winning the European Championships 5,000m, beating Olympic champion

Lasse Virén Lasse Artturi Virén (born 22 July 1949) is a Finnish former long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. Virén recaptured the image of the " Flying Finns" promoted by runners like Hannes Kolehmainen, ...

en route to Gold in 13:17.2. Having built up a commanding lead before the final lap he ran it in a relatively sedate 62 seconds when the then world record was within his grasp. In the same year he broke the 3,000m World Record on his home track,

Gateshead International Stadium Gateshead International Stadium (GIS) is a multi-purpose, all-seater venue in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally known as the Gateshead Youth Stadium, the venue was built in 1955 at a cost of £30,000. It has since been extensively r ...

with a time of 7:35.1. That year, Foster was awarded the BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award. He established his personal best in the 10,000 m with a time of 27:30.3 run at Crystal Palace on 23 June 1978, while also winning 10,000 m gold at the 1978

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 ex ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

. Foster only placed fourth in the 1978 European Athletics Championships 10,000-metre race, but he ran faster than any 10,000-metre European Champion has run ever since (see various European countries' books about the European Athletics Championships from 1982 to 2006). Foster finished fifth in the 1976 Olympics 5,000-metre final, just 1.4 seconds behind the winner,

Lasse Viren Lasse is a common masculine given name in Nordic countries. It is also often a nickname for people named Lars or Lauri. People Notable people named Lasse include: * Lasse Aasland (1926–2001), Norwegian politician * Lasse Åberg (born 1940), ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. Foster lost all his three Olympic races against Viren – 5,000 and 10,000 m in 1976 and 10,000 m in 1980. In the preliminaries to the 1976 5,000 m race he broke Viren's Olympic record running 13:20.34. That record would hold through the final until it was surpassed in the final of the 1984 Olympics. Foster's final major race was the 1980 Olympics 10,000-metre final, where he finished eleventh, almost 40 seconds behind the winner, Ethiopia's

Miruts Yifter Miruts Yifter (, affectionately known as "Yifter the Shifter", 15 May 1944 – 22 December 2016) was an Ethiopian long-distance runner and winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His date of birth is often given as 15 May 1944, th ...

. In 2010, he was inducted into the

England Athletics Hall of Fame The England Athletics Hall of Fame was launched in 2008 with a panel of experts selecting a list of potential inductees for athletics fans and members of the public to vote on. The Hall of Fame honours those who have made an outstanding contribut ...

Business, media and other activities

Brendan joined the sports company

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International Limited in 1981 as UK managing director. Progressing to European managing director, Vice-President Marketing (Worldwide) and Vice-President of

Europe. In 1988 he set up a company, Nova International with three friends from

. This company was later renamed to View From International, which won a contract to supply the British athletics team. The brand was later sold to

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

in 2002 for an estimated £2m. After retiring from athletics following the Moscow Olympics in 1980, Foster worked for BBC Television, commentating and reporting on the sport at every major event from 1983 to 2017. In 1977, he helped organise the "Gateshead Fun Run", a pioneering running event. In 1981, Foster founded the

, an annual

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. The race became the biggest running event in the UK, and one of the biggest half marathons in the world. By 2014, the race had been run by over 1 million competitors, the first

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

event to pass this milestone. Foster ran in the 2003 event for the first time in many years, after being challenged to do so by radio presenter

Ray Stubbs Raymond J. Stubbs (born 24 May 1956) is an English broadcaster and former footballer. He worked as a presenter for the BBC, ESPN and BT Sport, and now works for Talksport radio. His most recent role is presenting the coverage of the World Senio ...

. Foster has also promoted sport in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and other African countries.

Recognition and honours

Foster was

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

from 2005 to 2009. Foster was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebr ...

for services to athletics, and promoted to Commander of the same Order (CBE) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

for services to sport. In December 2016 Foster was given the Freedom of the City of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, the city's highest honour. In August 2017, in recognition to his major contributions to the advancements of athletics, at a ceremony in London, Foster was awarded the

highest award, the Golden Order of Merit. Foster was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for ‘services to international and national sport and to culture in North East England’.

References

External links

Sporting-Heroes.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Brendan 1948 births Living people People from Hebburn Sportspeople from Tyne and Wear Sportspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne English sports broadcasters English male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners BBC sports presenters and reporters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor People in sports awarded knighthoods Alumni of the University of Sussex People associated with Leeds Beckett University Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)