Yesteryear: Luton trainee teacher’s extraordinary marathon success at Commonwealth Games

Then a 24-year-old trainee teacher living in Luton, Thompson completed the race in two hours, nine minutes, and 12.2 seconds, finishing more than two minutes ahead of New Zealand’s Jack Foster, who took second place.

His breakthrough in the sport came when he was asked to make up the numbers for his local running club, Luton United, in the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA) marathon championship in 1973. He won in 2:12:40, which qualified him for the upcoming games.

This photo, taken in 1975, shows Ian preparing for the Montreal Summer Olympic Games, which were held the following year. It was reported that he ran between 90 to 120 a miles a week through the streets of Luton.

In this picture, Ian is seen training with his wife, Margaret, who was an early pioneer of marathon running for women in Britain. Her best time of 3:07:47 in Korso, Finland, in October 1975 resulted in the talented couple holding both the men and women's British marathon records simultaneously. Her win came just days after new UK rules came into force allowing women to run further than 6000 metres. However, Margaret admitted to ‘crashing’ men’s races before the rule change, simply ducking out before the finish line.

Unfortunately, Ian never made it to the Montreal Games after suffering from cramp during trials. He was selected for the Moscow Olympics in 1980, but ultimately didn’t compete. Nevertheless, his Commonwealth Games marathon record set in 1974 remains unbeaten.