Andrew James Vernon (born 7 January 1986) is a British

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who specialised in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

, the 10,000metres on track and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

. After the 2018 commonwealth games and started to concentrate on the roads winning Manchester Half Marathon with the aim of doing a full marathon in 2019. Vernon competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in the men's 10,000metres. He has also competed in two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, a World Indoor Championship and six World Cross Country Championships. Vernon is a two-time European Athletics Championship medallist and a

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

gold medallist. He currently competes for Aldershot, Farnham & District AC.

Competition

2004–2009

Vernon's debut at an international athletics competition was at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where he competed in the 8,000-metre junior men's race; finishing 64th in a time of 27minutes and 12seconds. Vernon's next international competition was the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

where he again competed in the junior men's race, this time finishing 48th. At the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships he competed in the 5000metres; finishing 4th in a time of 14minutes and 27seconds. In December 2005 he won his first international medal in the European Junior Cross Country Championships finishing 2nd behind Hungary's Barnabás Bene. He then competed at the 2007 European Cross Country Championships and finished 3rd in the men's under-23 race. At the

2007 European Athletics U23 Championships The 6th European Athletics U23 Championships were held between 12 and 15 July 2007 in the Gyulai István Athletic Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpath ...

Vernon competed in the 5000metres and finished seventh in a time of 13minutes and 59.24seconds. Vernon competed in the 2008 World University Cross Country Championships, finishing sixth. Also in 2008 was the

2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All race ...

where Vernon finished 115th in the 12kilometres senior men's race. His next major competition was the 2008 European Cross Country Championships where he competed in the men's under-23 race. He finished second behind Italian Andrea Lalli. Vernon competed in his fourth World Cross Country Championships in the 2009 edition. He competed in the senior men's race and finished 78th. At the 2009 European Cross Country Championships in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Vernon competed in the men's senior race; finishing 12th.

2010–2016

Great Edinburgh International Cross Country 2017 01

In 2010, Vernon competed in the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and

2010 European Cross Country Championships The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition he ...

finishing 44th in the World Championships and not finishing in the Europeans Championships. He then went on to qualify for and compete in the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, India. He competed in the 10,000metres and finished tenth. In March 2011 Vernon competed in the senior men's race at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and finished 58th. Vernon's next major competition was the

2011 European Cross Country Championships The 2011 European Cross Country Championships was the 18th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Velenje, Slovenia on 11 December. Atelaw Yeshetela of Belgium won the men's title to become the ...

where he finished ninth in the senior men's race. Later in 2011, Vernon participated in the

at the

2011 European Team Championships The third European Team Championships took place on 18 and 19 June 2011. The Competition was divided between four divisions, with results determining promotion and relegation between them. The Super League event was held in Stockholm, at the Stock ...

. Vernon finished third behind Spaniard Jesús España and Serhiy Lebid of Ukraine. Also in 2011 was the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no), also known as the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=, s=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no) and Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Gua ...

where Vernon won a gold medal in the

. In 2012 Vernon did not participate in the World Cross Country Championships. In the European Cross Country Championships he finished 13th in a time of 30minutes and 33seconds. In 2013 Vernon again did not compete in the World Cross Country Champions and his only major competition for the year was the 2013 European Cross Country Championships where he finished third in the senior men's race behind

Alemayehu Bezabeh Alemayehu Bezabeh Desta (Amharic: አለማየሁ በዛበህ ደስታ; born c. 1986) is an athlete who competes in middle- and long-distance running on the track, and also in cross country. Born in Ethiopia, he represents Spain internationa ...

of Spain and Turk

Polat Kemboi Arıkan Polat Kemboi Arıkan (born 12 December 1990 in Cheptiret, Kenya) is a Turkish Long-distance running, long-distance runner of Kenyan origin competing in the 3000 metres, 3000 m and 5000 metres, 5000 m events. (September 2011 – July 2015) The t ...

. In 2014 Vernon didn't compete in either of the major cross country championships. Instead he competed at the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954 European Athletics Championships, 1954. G ...

, the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

and the

2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland. Prepar ...

. At the European Athletics Championships Vernon won two medals. He won a silver medal in the men's 10,000 metres and a bronze medal in the men's 5000 metres. Vernon competed in the

at the Commonwealth Games and finished sixth. Competing at his first World Indoor Championship, Vernon finished 11th in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

. He ran his personal best of 27:42 in the 10,000 metres in May 2015, in Palo Alto, USA. The

2015 European Team Championships The sixth European Athletics Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2015. Super League Place: Central Stadium, Cheboksary, Russia Participating countries * * * * * * * * * * * * * Belarus, Finland and Norway were promoted from 2014 F ...

was Vernon's only major competition in 2015. He competed in the

, finishing third behind Frenchman Morhad Amdouni and Jesús España. In 2016 Vernon competed at his first

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

. Vernon qualified for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the

. In the event he finished 25th out of 34 starters in a time of 28minutes and 19.36seconds. Upon winning the half marathon Great Birmingham Run in October 2016, Vernon said he hopes to add the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

to his repertoire and qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

2017

In March 2017, Vernon won the Reading Half Marathon with a time of 1:03:08.

Controversy

In February 2015 Vernon was involved in an argument with fellow British athlete

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. The argument started when Vernon criticised other athletes in a race Farah was due to compete in. Farah responded by criticising Vernon and the two continued to argue for over an hour. Also, in August 2014, Vernon was involved in a Twitter argument with fellow British athlete Lynsey Sharp.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon, Andy 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Hampshire Sportspeople from Fareham English male long-distance runners British male long-distance runners Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games FISU World University Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners 21st-century English sportsmen