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Chris Brasher

In marathon season it is time to remember Chris Brasher, co-founder of London’s version of the race. It is also 30 years since the inaugural holding of what has now become a British institution, attracting the finest in the world along with grandparents, blokes in silly costumes, and insurance workers from Norwich raising money for Samaritans. Brasher’s vision went beyond just staging that great spectacle in the capital: he wanted to prove Britain could host major athletic events, and so may have laid a foundation stone for the 2012 Olympics. His own athletic credentials were equally impressive: the pacesetter for the first two laps of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile; and a gold medallist in the 1956 Olympic Games. A real hero, like all those facing the prospect of running 26 miles 385 yards through London’s streets.

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Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification. - John Donne
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On this day:
Battle of Berwick - 1296, Fire Claims 19 Glasgow Firefighters - 1960
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