John Herring

While John Herring was a good distance runner, it was unfortunate for him that Great Britain was blessed with such talented long-distance runners at the same time as he reached his peak. The likes of Bruce Tulloh, Gordon Pirie, Derek Ibbotson, Basil Heatley, Ron Hill, and others all enjoyed more success than Herring and became bigger names, but Herring would later make a name for himself synonymous with the London Marathon.

Herring was educated at Colfe´s Grammar School at Greenwich, London and started running at the age of 14. In 1953 he won the Kent junior mile title in a record 4:30.8. He was 18 at the time and spent his entire career with Blackheath Harriers, until he was forced to quit at the age of 50 due to recurring Achilles tendon problems. Herring attended the London School of Economics and did National Service in the Royal Air Force (RAF). After working for Customs and Excise for a while in the 1960s, he became an assistant director of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre between 1970-87.

In 1982, the year after the formation of the London Marathon, Herring joined the organising committee and played several key roles in the race´s organisation up to the year of his death in 2003. One of his first jobs was to sort out the chaotic start of the inaugural race, which Herring did as he saw the number of runners rise from 7,000 to over 30,000. He was race co-ordinator between 1982-93 and course director 1993-96. Herring also used his organisational talents to raise over £500,000 for the Great Ormond Street Children´s Hospital.

The highlight of Herring´s running career was going to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics but he was suffering from an injury and was eliminated in his 5000 metres heat. He fell well short of his personal best of 13:51.4, which he achieved when coming second to the AAA three miles champion Lech Boguszewicz in a match against Poland at the White City just before the Olympics.

Personal Best: 5000 – 13:51.4 (1964).