RIP Ron Hill

[minnieclaret]

RIP Ron. Fantastic runner and innovator. Passed away at 82. Clayton-le-Moors lad who stayed loyal to Clayton Harriers.

[alf_resco]

Accrington Grammar School old boy.
RIP Ron

[beddie]

Brilliant in his day and a very fit chap. RIP Ron.

[FCBurnley]

RIP Ron. Great guy

[boatshed bill]

I have been on a run with Ron Hill, about 15 years ago, a great bloke

[Claret]

Oh no.
One of the greats. A real inspiration to me and I’m sure many more.

[bobinho]

I still wear his track pants....

Great athlete.

RIP

[Paul Waine]

RIP Ron Hill. Great chemist - as well as a great marathon runner.

My dad was one of his teachers at Accy Grammar. He used to take him for games. My brother used to run with him at Clayton Le Moors Harriers.

[blackburnturfite]

A ex C L M Harrier myself, I can only endorse these past remarks. R I P Ron Hill, condolences to family and friends.

[conyoviejo]

R.I.P. Ron Hill,a great runner and top man.

[Espia]

A dedicated man indeed. Ran with him in races on the road and fell a few times with CLEM Harriers. Not seen him in years though. Don't know how long he took his running into his old age but he was fanatical. Was supposed to have running diaries going back decades and went something like 25 years once without missing a single day without a run. I remember I was working on Ascension Island and he had to touch down at some crazy wee hours of the morning for the aircraft to refuel on his way to the Falklands. He contacted the base to ask if we could set up a race for him, which 3 of us duly did. He was never one to miss the chance of racing in a different land ! RIP Ron.

[Espia]

I stand corrected .... his unbroken run of daily runs was over 52 years ! 1964 to 2017 !

[mikeS]

Did he have a sports shop in Accrington at one time?

[Inchy]

An absolute legend (or hero)

I’ve got some Ron hill jogging bottoms which I still wear on fell runs.

A world class athlete and Accrington’s finest

[boatshed bill]

An absolute legend (or hero)

I’ve got some Ron hill jogging bottoms which I still wear on fell runs.

A world class athlete and Accrington’s finest

I've still got a fair bit of Ron Hill gear, in the hope that I will be able to do a bit of jogging again soon, the kit lasts forever!
Ron told a group of us that he even ran home after having some cartilage removed from his knee.

[alf_resco]

Did he have a sports shop in Accrington at one time?

No.
The only proper sports shop in Accy back in the day was Gibson's on Blackburn Rd, just before the railway arch on the right going towards Church.
There was EJ Riley's on Little Blackburn Rd that was half toy shop (Dinky/Corgi toys/ games) and half sports - snoker stuff obv, plus a few cricket bats and footballs.
David Lloyd opened a sports shop around 1970 next to the bank at the bottom of St James St, which then moved to Broadway opposite what was Woolworths.
But Ron Hill had nowt to do with them.

[Goalposts]

Obituary in guardian today
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... l-obituary

[groove]

No.
The only proper sports shop in Accy back in the day was Gibson's on Blackburn Rd, just before the railway arch on the right going towards Church.
There was EJ Riley's on Little Blackburn Rd that was half toy shop (Dinky/Corgi toys/ games) and half sports - snoker stuff obv, plus a few cricket bats and footballs.
David Lloyd opened a sports shop around 1970 next to the bank at the bottom of St James St, which then moved to Broadway opposite what was Woolworths.
But Ron Hill had nowt to do with them.

The shop on Blackburn Road at bottom of St.James Street was called 'The Sports Centre' from what I remember. I never knew it was Bumble's. The one on Broadway was another Gibson's.

[alf_resco]

Yep, it was Lloyd's.
Obv I got confused about the Broadway one. It was around the time I left Accy, 71 or 72.
Gibson's belonged to Arthur & Mildred Gibson and then their son Mike took it over.
The original shop by the railway arch closed early 70s and they went to Broadway.
Don't know what happened after then.
I played golf a few times against Mike who was a low handicapper at Accrington GC West End.
Haven't seen him for over 40 yrs. Got to be 70ish now.

[alf_resco]

Duplicate post. Apologies.

[Transpennine]

Yep, it was Lloyd's.
Obv I got confused about the Broadway one. It was around the time I left Accy, 71 or 72.
Gibson's belonged to Arthur & Mildred Gibson and then their son Mike took it over.
The original shop by the railway arch closed early 70s and they went to Broadway.
Don't know what happened after then.
I played golf a few times against Mike who was a low handicapper at Accrington GC West End.
Haven't seen him for over 40 yrs. Got to be 70ish now.

I remember Gibsons on Broadway. However, the one under the arch on Blackburn Rd, did that become Premier Sports?

RIP Ron.

[Inchy]

I've still got a fair bit of Ron Hill gear, in the hope that I will be able to do a bit of jogging again soon, the kit lasts forever!
Ron told a group of us that he even ran home after having some cartilage removed from his knee.

I have to admit the joggers I have wee bought from go outdoors only a few years ago, well after Ron sold the brand. However they are very old school and good quality, much more robust than running tights

[AlargeClaret]

What a shame , Ron Hill was a byword for pretty much any distance /cc/fell running gear from the late 70’s( maybe earlier ?) onwards . The blue skins were known as “ Ron Hills” . My grandad ran with him in the mid /late 80’s when RH was still doing his run every day thing . It’s hard to believe but Hill broke an ankle and went running on his crutches while training in the 80’s.

[Paul Waine]

Obituary in guardian today
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... l-obituary

A good orbit in The Times today.

The athlete who ran a mile for 19,032 consecutive days

Ron Hill was a pioneer on the track and then off it, with his popular brand of sportswear, writes Matt Lawton

Monday May 24 2021, 12.01am, The Times

Before Lycra running tights, there were Ron Hill tracksters; and before the dominance of East African athletes and the emergence of the modern-day “super shoes”, there were men such as Hill pushing the limits of human performance, even occasionally running barefoot, over the gruelling distance of the marathon.

At his peak Hill, who died yesterday aged 82, was among the finest distance runners in the world, setting a course record to win the Boston Marathon in 1970 and becoming only the second man in history to cover 26.2 miles in under 2hr 10min.

For many, that time of 2:09.28 to win the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970 should have been recognised as a world record. A year earlier Derek Clayton, an Australian, had run 2:08.33 in Antwerp, but on what was rumoured to be a course short by some 500m.

Hill was a European champion in 1969, and did claim legitimate world bests on the track over 10 miles, 15 miles and 25km. On the road, he set a record for 20 miles, with his 27 marathons inside 2:20 something that no other athlete had achieved at the time.

Born in Accrington, Lancashire, on September 25, 1938, Hill was the favourite for the Olympic marathon in Munich in 1972. However, the terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team led to the event being delayed by 24 hours and disrupted Hill’s meticulous preparation, based on a strict, scientific approach to nutrition, and he finished sixth. It did nothing to dilute his passion for the simple joys of his sport, Hill running at least a mile for a record 19,032 consecutive days between 1964 and 2017. Only heart issues, at the age of 78, stopped him in his tracks. In 2018, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Hill was an innovator. Long before Zola Budd, he was among the first elite runners to race without shoes, finishing seventh in the 1968 Olympic 10,000m final and second in the 1964 World Cross-Country Championships. He also won a marathon barefoot.

“I was going to run the marathon at the 1972 Olympics barefoot, but the Germans laid new stone chippings on parts of the course,” Hill once said.

He also excelled as a sportswear manufacturer, with his own brand of groundbreaking running apparel. As well as the popular tracksters — complete with stirrups — runners gravitated towards the brand for his “Ron Hill freedom shorts”, reflective strips and mesh vests. “I was running to and from work in the dark in winter and wondered what I needed to stay safe,” he said.

There was a special tribute to Hill at the Gateshead Diamond League meeting last night.“It is with immense sadness we today mourn the passing of British running legend Dr Ron Hill MBE,” his company tweeted yesterday. “Our founder, our inspiration, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a runner.”

David Bedford, the former 10,000m world-record holder, said: “He was a great man, a great athlete, and a great influence to so many during the golden age of British distance running, including myself.

“His dedication was extraordinary, but he also stood out for being a great innovator. I doubt there is a British athlete in the last 30 years who hasn’t worn a pair of Ron Hill tracksters at some point. He will be deeply missed.”