Mark Croasdale (born January 1965) is an English athlete who was a British fell running champion and competed in cross-country skiing at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. The early part of Croasdale’s sporting career was centred on skiing. He became a member of the Royal Marines’ ski team and displayed sufficient talent to be invited to train with the national ski team. He was a British champion and represented his country on many occasions in international cross-country skiing competitions. He competed in the 10k classical and 15k freestyle events at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

. Having taken up running as training for his skiing, Croasdale began to obtain good results as a runner. He won the Snowdon Race in 1991 and 1992 and in the latter year finished ninth in the short race at the World Mountain Running Trophy. In 1993, Croasdale won both the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

English Fell Running Championships The first English Fell Running Championships were held in the 1986 season, based on results in various fell races of different lengths over the year. The winners have been as follows. *All Jeska's athletics results were declared null and void w ...

. His race victories in later years included the Three Peaks in 1999. He was also a frequent competitor in the

Man versus Horse Marathon The Man versus Horse Marathon is an annual race over , where runners compete against riders on horseback through a mix of road, trail and mountainous terrain. The race, which is a shorter distance than an official marathon road race, takes place ...

and was the first runner there several times. He was never able to beat the first horse, but came within two minutes of doing so in 2000. Croasdale also raced on the roads, representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the

1994 World Half Marathon Championships The 3rd IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on September 24, 1994, in Oslo, Norway. A total of 214 athletes, 127 men and 87 women, from 48 countries took part. Complete results were published. Medallists Race Results Men's Wome ...

and winning the

Marine Corps Marathon The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is an annual marathon held in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. The mission of the MCM is to promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill, and showcase the organizational skills of the United State ...

in 1999. More recently, Croasdale has been a manager for national mountain running teams. He still holds the course records for the fell races at Ingleborough,

Hutton Roof Crags Hutton Roof Crags is a hill in south-eastern Cumbria in north-west England, located near to the village of Hutton Roof. It has extensive areas of limestone pavement as well as grassland and woodland. The hill forms the Hutton Roof Crags Site ...

, and

Criffel Criffel is a hill in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is high but appears higher because of its great isolation and high prominence. It is a prominent feature in many of the views from ...

.Criffel Hill Race.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croasdale, Mark English male long-distance runners British fell runners British male mountain runners Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics English male cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers of Great Britain 1965 births Living people