Jim Alder

James Noel Carroll Alder MBE (born 10 June 1940) is a British former distance runner, from Morpeth.

Jim Alder
Personal information
Born (1940-06-10) 10 June 1940
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
SportLong-distance running
ClubMorpeth Harriers, Northumberland
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1968
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
1969 AthensMarathon
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
1966 KingstonMarathon
1970 EdinburghMarathon
1966 Kingston6 miles

Alder, who was born in Glasgow,[1] was a foster child. His mother died of tuberculosis and his father was killed on the last day of World War II.[2] He moved to Morpeth, north of Newcastle, and became interested in running.[3]

Athletics career

Alder's athletic career saw him compete at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston winning Marathon Gold, (having missed the 1964 Summer Olympics due to a knee injury). He competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, the 1969 European Athletics Championships in Athens and the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.[4]

He set a new world record for 30,000 m of 1 h 34 min 01.8 s in 1964. In that race he also set world records for 20 miles (1 h 40 min 58.0 s) and 2 hours (37,994m). The IAAF did not recognise the latter two marks for world records, but they were accepted as United Kingdom national records.[5]

At the 1968 Olympic Games, in Mexico City, his height was recorded at 5 ft 8 in (172 cm) and his weight was 141 lb (64 kg).[1]

Alder ran his last marathon in the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. In September 1970, in London, he set a new record for 30,000 m of 1 h 31 min 30.4 s which still stands today. [6][7]

He won The Great Northern Half Marathon, Belfast in 1971 promoted by County Antrim Harriers in a time of 1:05:05.(Athletics Weekly 22/5/1971) date=June 2017}}

He was featured in The Sunday Times, on 15 April 2007, which profiled his gold medal winning run in the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.[8] Later that year in October, Alder featured on the BBC One series Inside Sport and was interviewed by Ray Stubbs. In 2012, Alder was selected to carry the Olympic flame through Northumberland, for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jim Alder". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  2. The Archive: Jim Alder, Herald Scotland; retrieved 19 January 2015.
  3. Turnbull, Simon (5 September 2010). Geronimo Jim's a gem, The Independent; retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. Bathgate, Stuart (9 April 2014). Commonwealth Games: Alder won after losing his way. The Scotsman; retrieved 19 January 2015.
  5. Jim Alder profile Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, scottishdistancerunninghistory.co.uk; retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. "Leidsch Dagblad | 7 september 1970 | pagina 10". Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken.
  8. "Unknown Title". The Times & The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
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