Basil Heatley

Basil Heatley

Personal information
Born	(1933-12-25)25 December 1933 Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England
Died	3 August 2019(2019-08-03) (aged 85)
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Sport	Long-distance running
Club	Coventry Godiva Harriers
Medal record Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Marathon

Benjamin Basil Heatley (25 December 1933 – 3 August 2019) was a British runner, who mainly competed in the marathon.

On 13 June 1964, Heatley broke the world record for the marathon at the Polytechnic Marathon in England, running 2:13:55 to surpass Buddy Edelen's world best from the previous year's race by 33 seconds. Four months later, on 21 October 1964, Heatley competed in the marathon at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, winning the silver medal. Defending Olympic marathon champion Abebe Bikila won his second Olympic gold medal in another world record time; Heatley managed to stay close to Japan's Kokichi Tsuburaya, passing him shortly before the finish line to take second place.

Heatley was a seven-time participant at the International Cross Country Championships from 1957 to 1964. He was the runner-up to teammate Frank Sando at his first outing in the senior race, and became the world champion in the sport at the 1961 International Cross Country Championships.

Biography

Early life and start of running career

As a 14-year-old boy, Heatley read about the 1948 Summer Olympics that were taking place in London, and he was inspired by Czechoslovakian long-distance runner Emil Zátopek.

He joined Coventry Godiva Harriers at the end of 1950 and was to become a life member of the club. In 1951, he won the Midland Cross Country Youth title and finished third in the English National Youth Cross Country Championship. The following year, he won another bronze medal in the National Juniors cross country race. During the 1953/54 season, he took part in cross country races at the Junior level in the Birmingham League, winning their first division race at least eight times. He then won the Midland Cross Country Junior title in both 1954 and 1955, and the Midland Cross Country Senior title five times (1957–1960 and 1964).

Heatley first started marathon running in 1956 and won the Midlands Championships the same year, completing the distance in 2:36:55. He successfully defended his title at the 1957 Midlands Championships, improving on his previous time with 2:23:01. He then decided to take a break from the marathon for a period of six years and did not return to marathon running until 1963.

In March 1957, he came second in the 9-mile cross-country run at the 1957 International Cross Country Championships (forerunner of the World Cross) in Belgium. He came in 9th in 1958, and took 4th place in both 1959 and 1960. He finally triumphed at the 1961 International Cross in Nantes, France, winning with an impressive margin of 23 seconds.

On 15 April 1961, in the AAA Championships at Hurlingham Park in London, he broke his hero Zátopek's world record for the 10 mile run, with a time of 47 minutes and 47 seconds. A versatile runner over various distances, he was also a regular performer in the 6-mile run and the 10,000 metres.

Marathon world record

He returned to marathon running in 1963, and finished second in the AAA marathon in Coventry in a time of 2:19:56.

On 13 June 1964, he set a new marathon world record in the Polytechnic Marathon between Windsor and Chiswick; his record time of 2:13:55 broke Buddy Edelen's previous record by 33 seconds. This outstanding performance earned Heatley selection into the Great Britain team for the Tokyo Olympics.

1964 Olympics

Heatley won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, but this marked the end of his international career.

Retirement and later life

Heatley retired from international competition after the 1964 Games and then became a British athletics team manager. He was secretary of the Midland Cross Country Association for a number of years during the 1970s. He continued to compete in the Third Division of the Birmingham League for several years after his international retirement and remained closely involved with the sport into later life.

In 2014, Heatley and his wife Gill visited Tokyo on the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Games and met with relatives of both Tsuburaya and Bikila.

In 2015, at the age of 82, Heatley was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham. He was presented with his award by former long-distance world record holder David Moorcroft.

External links

• Basil Heatley at Olympics.com