Brendan Foster

Brendan Foster

Brendan Foster at the 1972 Olympics
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Big Bren
Born	12 January 1948 (1948-01-12) (age 69) Hebburn, County Durham, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	10 st 10 lb (68 kg)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	1,500 m, 5,000 m, 10,000 m
Club	Gateshead Harriers
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	1,500 m – 3:37.64 (1974) 5,000 m – 13:14.6 (1974) 10,000 m – 27:30.3 (1978)
Medal record Representing the  United Kingdom Olympic Games 1976 Montréal 10,000 metres European Championships 1974 Rome 5,000 m 1971 Helsinki 1,500 m Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton 10,000 m 1974 Christchurch 5,000 m 1970 Edinburgh 1,500 m

Brendan Foster CBE (born 12 January 1948) is a British former long-distance runner who founded the Great North Run. He won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and the gold medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1974 European Championships and the 10,000 metres at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

Educated at St Joseph's Grammar School, the University of Sussex and Carnegie College of Physical Education, Foster returned to St Joseph's Grammar School as a chemistry teacher. His pupils included footballer turned manager Phil Brown, whom he tried to encourage to take up running over football.

Brendan Foster's athletic career saw him compete in three Olympic Games, claiming Britain its only track and field medal (bronze in the 10,000 metres) at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In 1973 he broke the World Record for two miles at Crystal Palace with a time of 8:13.68. In 1974 he won a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in a time of 13:14.6 behind Ben Jipcho before winning the European Championships 5,000m, beating Olympic champion Lasse Virén en route to Gold in 13:17.2, having built up such a commanding lead before the final lap that he ran it in a relatively sedate 62 seconds when the then world record was within his grasp. In the same year he broke the 3,000m World Record on his home track, Gateshead International Stadium with a time of 7:35.1. That year, Foster was awarded the BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award.