Milton Keynes in 1980 staged the last British standalone Olympic marathon trials and AW’s results editor was part of the line-up that day

On the eve of the Britain’s Olympic marathon trial this Friday, it’s worth noting that in recent years the trials have effectively been in the London Marathon.

In 2016 and all the way back to 1984, the route for UK marathoners to the Olympics was via London, or at least the final opportunity to make the team and join the pre-selected.

The last non-London Olympic Marathon trial predates London and was at Milton Keynes in 1980, which was doubling up as the AAA Championships.

It was run on a narrow, twisty three-lap course of mostly cycle lanes around the outskirts of the city and was held on a windy day.

Such was the relative scarcity of marathoners in those days, only around 200 participants took part even though it was the major domestic marathon of the year and no qualifying times were required.

It was not just domestic athletes either as a few overseas competitors were in the field including Japan’s 2:12:47 marathoner Yataka Taketomi.

The major missing British name from the line-up was Bernie Ford, who decided to sit back on his 2:10:51 from Fukuoka in December 1979. But the field was still exceptional and perhaps underlines we had more quality distance runners 40 years ago than we have now and why London Marathon’s latest initiative to bolster Britain’s endurance depth is so necessary.

Incredibly, well over 10% of the entries (26) were sub-2:16 runners and a further 24 were sub-2:20 men, making 50 in total. But a further 20 runners with no marathon form were deemed as potential team members.

The biggest names on paper were the quartet of European and Commonwealth champion Ian Thompson (PB 2:09:12), 1978 AAA champion and 1974 European 10,000m runner-up Tony Simmons (2:12:33), Dave Black, who ran for Britain in the Olympic 5000m in 1976, and European and Commonwealth 5000m champion Ian Stewart who was aiming for his third Olympics. The latter two had not completed a marathon.

Others highly touted pre-race were future Great North Run winner and AAA marathon champion Steve Kenyon (2:13:29), Olympic steeplechaser Andy Holden (2:15:20), 1971 European runner-up Trevor Wright (2:12:32), 1970 Commonwealth medallist Don Faircloth (2:12:19), 1972 Olympic seventh placer Don MacGregor (2:14:15), future London marathon winners Hugh Jones (2:20:28), Mike Gratton (2:19:48) and Allister Hutton, 1977 AAA champion Dave Cannon (2:13:29), 1979 AAA champion Greg Hannon (2:13:06), 1974 European fourth-placer Bernie Plain (2:14:56), former world indoor 3000m record-holder Ricky Wilde (2:14:44), British European championships team member Colin Taylor (2:15:15), Commonwealth Games team member Stan Curran (2:14:45) and 28:00.62 10,000m performer Jim Brown (2:22:22) and 1976 Olympians Jeff Norman (2:12:50) and Keith Angus (2:15:55).

Others to also be considered were Chris Stewart (2:13:12), Jim Dingwall (2:13:58), John McLaughlin (2:15:43), Ian Ray (2:16:04), Paul Eales (2:16:39) Keith Penny (2:16:57), Chris Garforth (2:20:17 in Africa), plus debutantes Mike Longthorn and Malcolm East, who were like all the above deemed potential 2:15 runners though many eyes were on John Graham, who had run a 1:39 20 miles the previous month and who would run a Scottish record 2:09:28 the following year.

Olympians Ron Hill (2:09:28), Jim Alder (2:12:04), Colin Kirkham (2:15:17) and Tim Johnston (2:15:26) were entered but not expected to be major factors this time round.

The sentimental favourite for the race though was Thompson. He had gone into the 1976 trials unbeaten and as the most likely athlete to win gold in Montreal. After disputing the lead for much of the race he faded later on the tough Rotherham course to finish seventh.

Now back to form, he felt he had returned to the sort of training (140 miles a week) that gave him success in the 1973-1974 period when he was the world’s best runner.

He immediately settled into the leading group though an early picture taken of the leading group up front shows three runners who are still heavily involved in the sport – the cross-country organiser Graham Finlayson, Barry 40 organiser Mick McGeoch and Jog Shop owner Sam Lambourne.

Out early was Simmons, who had been fourth in the 10,000m in Montreal, when unsighted at the back of a big pack he ran into one of the many bollards and fell heavily. After an initial 10km in 31:30, the lead group numbered 16 at halfway – Ray, Graham, Stewart, East, Brown, Kenyon, Thompson, Eales, Cannon, Wright, Penny, Black, McLaughlin, Dingwall, Holden and Taketomi.

By 27km as the pace picked up, the group had shrunk to seven – Ray, McLaughlin, Taketomi, Thompson, Black, Brown and Cannon and 3km later at 30km (1:35:10) Thompson, Taketomi and Black had a 10-metre gap on Brown.

In the last few miles first the Japanese and then Black dropped back and a very strong Thompson regained the AAA title he won on his debut in 1973 with a time of 2:14:00.

In his first completed marathon after dropping out of New York, Black followed him home 28 seconds later and then finishing strongly in third was Holden in 2:15:18. The Tipton Harrier had to make around a minute pit-stop at 15 miles when in the leading pack and had moved up from outside the top 10 at 30km.

Taketomi, who would run 2:11 later in the year, was fourth.

In fifth was an inspired Garforth (2:16:01) and, perhaps illustrating the difficulty of course and conditions, he would run 2:13 a few weeks later in June.

McLaughlin, Cannon, Ray, East and Wright would complete the top 10 while Longthorn, Gratton, Curran, Jones, Brown, Steve McHale, Wilde and Taylor would all be within 2:20.

Stewart, who had pretty much retired in 1978, but came back to run a comfortable 1:42:46 20-mile behind Graham and Holden but ahead of Taylor and Wright a few weeks earlier, pulled out at 15 miles with a foot injury. Graham had a cold and also failed to finish alongside Kenyon, Wright and Penny among many.

Altogether 195 finished with the halfway finishing time in 98th running 2:37:18.

Controversially the selectors chose Ford for the Olympics and then in a low spot for British Olympic marathoners, Thompson, Black and Ford all failed to finish in Moscow.

My experience of those trials

As a young marathoner, I had actually forgotten that I took part in the Milton Keynes event though it was not one you will find me in the results. I had run a 2:33 marathon a few months earlier and could have potentially aspired to a top 50 place but even back then I was more of a athletics fan than runner and decided I was more interested in finding out who was going to make Britain’s Olympic team than I was in grinding out another marathon. Consequently I pulled out and joined the likes of Stewart, Simmons, Wright and Kenyon as a DNF.

As I took part (and finished this time) in the 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 London Marathons, I can put a case that I am the only runner who very vaguely took part in the last 10 Olympic trials.

Obviously I did not quite make the cut to run in 2021 (missing by about 15,000 places) but I will be at the finish line in a journalistic capacity on Friday and will watch the runners come in – albeit not in my running vest as per Milton Keynes in 1980.