Photo: Jon Buckle for Virgin Money London Marathon
John Disley, co-founder of the London Marathon, has died aged 87.
John passed away in hospital on the morning of 8 February after a short illness. He had remained an active member of the London Marathon family throughout its 35 years, even presenting Paula Radcliffe with her lifetime achievement award, named after John, after her final appearance in last year’s race.
In tandem with the Marathon’s founding race director, Chris Brasher, John helped create from scratch the race that can proudly claim today to be the world’s greatest marathon.
Born in North Wales in 1928, John was a distinguished athlete in his own right, claiming the bronze medal in the steeplechase at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and setting five British records in the steeplechase, and four at two miles. He also set Welsh records at six different distances, broke the record for the traverse of the Welsh 3000ft peaks and in 1955 became the first chief instructor at the CCPR’s flagship mountaineering and outdoor pursuits centre, Plas y Brenin.
Following an eye-opening visit to the 1979 New York Marathon, it was John who set about the daunting task of creating a route for the first ever race, using the Thames as a ‘handrail’.
Having successfully put on the World Orienteering Championships in 1976, the Disley/Brasher duo continued, turing their sights on staging a road race through the capital; 7,000 runners stood on the start line of the first London Marathon on 29 March 1981.
The course John designed has evolved over the years, and become part of the fabric of the nation’s sporting identity. It is a testament to his vision that although London has been transformed in the last 35 years, the course of the London Marathon has predominantly stayed true to John’s original concept.
John put the huge success of the event down to the tens of thousands that follow the elite runners home each year.
“In this race, they all win, and every runner is regarded as important. That applies as much to Joe Jogger as to the elite,” he said. “The London Marathon has become an institution in a country where it usually takes centuries rather than decades to become a tradition….The police and the politicians can’t stop it now and that’s because of these magnificent masses.”
