Ian Ray
British marathon runner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ian Ray (born 28 August 1957) is a British former marathon runner who won the 1981 Berlin Marathon.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) | |||||||||||
| Born | 28 August 1957 Salisbury, England | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | long-distance | |||||||||||
| Club | Salisbury AC | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Ray was born in Salisbury, England.[1] In 1979, Ray won the Southern Counties marathon championship in Harlow,[2][3] in a time of 2:16:04.[1] Ray won the 1981 Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:15:41.[4][5][6] The top three in the race were all British, as were five of the top 10 finishers.[6] The race was the first to be held in central West Berlin, and the finish line was in Kurfürstendamm near to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.[4][5] It was also the first Berlin Marathon with a cash prize for the winner. Ray was awarded 1000DM.[4]
Ray was selected to represent England in the marathon event at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, after performing well at the AAA Championships.[7] Ray came eighth in the race,[8][9] in a time of 2:15:11.[8] He was the second Englishman to finish, behind Mike Gratton.[9]
He finished third behind Steve Kenyon in the marathon event at the 1982 AAA Championships[10][11] and also competed at the 1983 London Marathon.[12]