William Arthur Adcocks (born 11 November 1941) 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 exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who competed in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

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 (sport), 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 o ...

. 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 (Wales), 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 d ...

, 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

marathon, finishing 5 seconds behind Scotland's Jim Alder. In 1968, he competed in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, finishing in fifth. He also medalled for a second and final time at the AAA Marathon Championships in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; , 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 counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was ...

, 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 i ...

, 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 (, , ) or Philippides () is the central figure in the story that inspired the marathon race. Pheidippides is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of the victory of the Battle of Marathon, and, according to He ...

. 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 in 2004 and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006). Biogr ...

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 2010-03-08 ...

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 is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. 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 English male marathon runners British male marathon runners Olympic male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England 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 Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes from Coventry Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics