On this day in...(compiled for UK Athletics 06/08).

January 13 – Dan Robinson; Britain’s top male marathon runner was born in 1975.

January 15 – South African distance-runner; Elana Meyer set an African half-marathon best in the 1999 Tokyo event, with 1:06.44.

January 23 – Constantina Tomescu; the 2005 World half-marathon Champion, was born in Turburea, Romania, 1970.

January 27 – Marathon-specialist, Mara Yamauchi went to number two on the British all-time list with 2:25.10, when winning the 2008 Osaka marathon.

February 9 – Eritrean distance runner; Zersenay Tadesse – the 2007 World road running Champion - was born Adi Bana, 1982.

February 14 – 2004 Olympic marathon bronze-medallist; Denna Kastor was born in Waltham, USA in 1973.

February 23 – British great; Paula Radcliffe broke the World 10km Record with a time of 30:21 in Puerto Rico, 2003.

February 27 – 1983 World marathon Champion; Rob de Castella was born in Melbourne, Australia, 1957.

March 6 – Hayley Haining; the British marathon-specialist, was born in Dumfries, Scotland, 1972.

March 17 – Kenyan distance prodigy; Samuel Wanjiru, broke the World half-marathon Record with 55:31 in Holland, 2007.

March 21 – Ingrid Kristiansen; the marathon queen during the 1980’s, was born in Trondheim, Norway, 1956.

March 23 – Mo Farah was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, 1983. He moved to the UK in 1993 as a refugee; speaking barely a word of English. The 2006 European Cross-Country Champion is now based in London.

March 24 – Paula Radcliffe won her first senior World Cross Country title in Ostend, Belgium in 2001. The Briton; who captured the global junior title in 1992, retained her senior crown the following year in Dublin. Also, marathon queen of the 90’s; Liz McColgan was born in Scotland, 1964.
March 27 – Number three on the British all-time 10,000m road list; Wendy Sly smashed the British record with 31:29 in New Orleans, 1983.

April 1 – Nick Rose set a British 10,000m road record of 27:34 in New Orleans, USA in 1984.
April 2 – American runner; Denna Kastor, set an American half-marathon Record in Berlin, 2006, with 1:07.34.

April 10 – Dave Moorcroft; the former Chief Executive of UK Athletics and current number one on the British all-time 5000m list, with 13:00.41, was born in 1953.

April 13 - Paula Radcliffe broke new ground by smashing her own marathon World Record with a mind-boggling 2:15.25 in the 2003 London Marathon.

April 14 – Paula Radcliffe made the fastest marathon debut in history, with 2:18.55 to win the 2002 London Marathon. Also on the very same day and at the same event, Khalid Khannouchi; the Moroccan-turned-American runner, set an American marathon Record with a time of 2:05.38.

April 16 – Portuguese runner; Antonio Pinto, established a European Record in the 2000 London marathon, with a time of 2:06.36.

April 18 – Haile Gebrselassie - one of ten children - was born in Asella, Ethiopia in 1973. Arguably the greatest long-distance runner of the twentieth century, the multiple Olympic and World Champion – and World Record breaker – rarely leaves his home in Addis Ababa, except to compete.

April 21 – Australian distance runner; Rob de Castella set an Oceania marathon Record of 2:07.51 in the 1986 Boston marathon.

April 23 – Marathon-specialist, Veronique Marot set a storming 2:25.56 British record in the 1989 London Marathon.

May 1 – World half-marathon Record-Holder; Lornah Kiplagat was born in Kabiemit, Kenya, 1974. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003, after marrying her coach and agent Pieter Langerhorst.

May 4 – Rob Denmark set the British 5km road Record of 13:30 in Dublin, 1996.

May 10 – Priscilla Welch set a British marathon best in the 1987 London marathon, with 2:26.51.

May 6 – Australian marathon Record-Holder; Benita Johnson, was born in Queensland, 1979.
May 24 – Liz McColgan; the 1991 World 10,000m Champion and multiple big city marathon winner, was born in Dundee, Scotland, 1964.

May 25 – 2004 Olympic marathon Champion; Stefano Baldini was born in Castlenovo di Sotto, Italy, 1971.

May 26 – Zola Budd; the former World 5,000m record-holder and two-time World cross-country Champion was born in South Africa, 1966.

June 1 – the ‘Smilin’ Assassin’ Haile Gebrselassie clocked 26:22.75 in Hengelo, 1998, to break the 10,000m World Record.

June 8 – Steve Jones of Newport, set the British half-marathon best of 60:59 in the 1986 Great South Run.

June 13 - Ethiopian distance running legend; Haile Gebrselassie set a new 5,000m World Record of 12:39.36 in Helsinki in 1998.

June 17 – Threee-times World cross-country Champion; Paul Tergat was born in Baringo, Kenya, 1969.

July 3 – 2004 Olympic marathon Champion; Mizuki Noguchi was born in 1978.

July 21 – Twice World marathon Champion; Catherine Ndereba was born in 1972. Berhane Adere; the 2003 World 10,000m Champion and three-time World half-marathon medallist – including gold in 2002 – was also born on this day in Shewa, Ethiopia, 1973.

August 4 – British all-time number one for the marathon; Steve Jones, was born in Wales, 1955.

August 6 – Great Brit; Paula Radcliffe ran away with the European 10,000m track Championship, when storming to a superb (European Record) 30:01.09 in Munich, 2002.

August 13 – Mara Yamauchi was born in Oxford, 1973. The marathon supremo spent the first eight years of her life living in Nairobi, Kenya and after moving back to the UK until 2006, she moved to live in Tokyo, Japan with her husband; Shigetoshi.

August 14 – Paula Radcliffe finally won her first global title, with a 2:20:57 marathon run at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships.

August 22 – Felix Limo; the former London, Chicago and Berlin marathon winner, was born in Kenya, 1980.
August 23 – Irina Mikitenko; the 2008 London marathon winner, was born in Kazakh, 1972.

August 30 – Ethiopian distance running legend; Haile Gebrselassie was appointed onto the IAAF Athlete’s Commission in 2003.

September 7 – Winner of the Boston and Berlin marathons three times each; Uta Pippig was born in Leipzig, 1965.

September 9 – 2000 Olympic marathon representative; Tracey Morris was born in 1967.

September 11 - Samuel Wanjiru; the prodigious young distance runner, broke the World half-marathon Record at aged 18, with 59:16 in the 2005 Rotterdam event.

September 14 – Paula Radcliffe set the British 5km road Record with 14:51 in London’s Hyde Park, 2003.
September 16 – Veronique Marot; the former British marathon record-holder, was born in 1955.

September 20 – Jo Pavey was born in Hointon, Devon, 1973. The 2007 World 5,000m fourth-placer has stuck to her Devonshire routes.

September 21 – Paula Radcliffe; the World marathon record-holder, set the current British half-marathon record in South Shields, 2003.

September 28 – Two-time World half-marathon Champion; Paul Tergat of Kenya broke the World marathon Record in Berlin, 2003 with a time of 2:04.55.

September 30 – Haile Gebrselassie – affectionately known as ‘the Emperor’ smashed the World marathon Record in a scintillating time of 2:04.26 in the 2007 Berlin event.

October 1 – Grete Waitz; the nine-time New York City marathon conqueror, was born in Norway, 1953.

October 7 – Ethiopian distance great; Haile Gebrselassie won the World half-marathon Championships in Bristol in 2001, with a time of 60:03. Paula Radcliffe took the women’s event with 66:06.

October 10 – World half-marathon Champion in 1994; Elana Meyer was born in Albertinia, South Africa in 1966.

October 13 – Paula Radcliffe set her first World Marathon Record with 2:17.18 in the 2002 Chicago Marathon; breaking the previous record by a minute and a half.

October 14 – Kenyan-born Dutch athlete; Lornah Kiplagat claimed the World half-marathon Record in the World Championships in Italy, 2007 with 1:06.25. Promising marathon runner; Ryan Hall was also born on this day in Big Bear Lake, California, 1982.

October 20 – Steve Jones set the British marathon Record of 2:07.13 in Chicago, 1985.

October 22 – Kathy Butler; the Canadian-based Brit, was born in 1973.


October 29 – Triple London marathon winner; Martin Lel was born in Kapsabet, Kenya, 1978.

November 5 – 1984 Olympic 3000m silver-medallist and number three on the British all-time 10,000m road list; Wendy Sly was born in 1959.

November 10 – Samuel Wanjiru; the prodigious young distance runner, was born in Kenya, 1986.

November 22 - Two-time British marathon Champion; Priscilla Welch was born in 1944.

November 28 – Multiple European, World and Olympic medallist; Sonia O’Sullivan was born in Cork, Ireland, 1969.

December 5 – Liz Yelling was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, 1974. The double Olympic marathon representative now lives in Bath.

December 11 – Multiple World and Olympic 10,000m medallist; Gete Wami was born in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, 1974. Also on this day, distance-running legend; Haile Gebrselassie broke the World 10km road Record with 27:02 in Doha, 2002.

December 17 – Paula Radcliffe was born in Northwich, Cheshire, 1973. The World marathon Record-Holder now splits her time between the French Pyrenees, Alberque and her Loughborough homes.

December 22 – Moroccan-turned-American distance runner; Khalid Khannouchi was born in Meknes, Morocco, 1971.

December 30 – Bristol athlete, Nick Rose – the fastest Briton of all-time for 10,000m on the road, with 27:54 – was born in 1951.