David Robert Clarke (born 1 January 1958) is a British former distance runner who competed over distances from the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

to 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 ...

. He represented Great Britain over

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 ...

at the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st World Championships in Athletics (; ) were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium (Helsinki), Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983 ...

and the

1981 Summer Universiade The 1981 Summer Universiade, also known as the XI Summer Universiade, took place in Bucharest, Romania. The events were watched by 200,000 spectators. Sports * * * * * * * * * * Medal table External links Universiada 81-TVR {{FISU ...

Biography

Clark, born in London, attended Dulwich Prep London and then

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

, where he took up running, as did his brothers Peter and Chris. Professionally, he worked as a labourer and hospital porter before becoming a history and physical education teacher.made twelve appearances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1977 to 1995. Individually, his best performance came at the 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he placed seventh overall. Clarke was a three-time silver medallist in the men's team competition (1982, 1987, 1989) and also won a team bronze in 1992. He ranked in the top twenty in the world over

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 ...

in the 1982 season. He shares the British record in the

ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competiti ...

marathon relay, alongside Carl Thackery, Jon Solly, Mark Scrutton, and Karl Harrison, with a silver medal-winning time of 1:59:14 hours set at the 1986 IAAF World Challenge Road Relay. In national competition he won the 5000 m title at the 1981 UK Athletics Championships, and was runner-up in that event at the 1983 AAA Championships. He won the English Cross Country Championships three times (1982, 1987, 1988) and won the British Cross Country Championships in 1992. He was also twice runner-up at the British race and a four-time runner-up at the English Championships. He won the British Universities Cross Country Championships in 1981. At sub-national level he won the 1984 title 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 ...

at the South of England Athletics Championships and the 5000 m inter-county race at the 1985 CAU Championships.CAU Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. On the professional circuit he won races including the Cross di Volpiano, Amatrice-Configno, Foulée Suresnoise, 1989 Stockholm Marathon and the Cross de Nantes.David Robert Clarke

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved 2020-03-19. He continues to take part in the sport as a masters athlete, mostly in local

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

s, though he completed the

2016 London Marathon The 2016 London Marathon was the 36th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 24 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Kenyan Jemima Sumgong. The ...

in 3:03:54 hours.Dave Clarke
Power of 10. Retrieved 2020-03-19.

International competitions

Achievements

National titles

* English Cross Country Championships **Long course: 1982, 1987, 1988 *British Cross Country Championships **Long course: 1992 *AAA Road Relay Championship: 1979 (leg 4)

Circuit wins

*Cross di Volpiano: 1982, 1983 *Amatrice-Configno: 1983 *Foulée Suresnoise: 1987 * Stockholm Marathon: 1989 *Cross de Nantes: 1989, 1990

Personal bests

*1500 metres – 3:39.27 (1982) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

– 3:56.95 (1982) *

– 7:57.88 (1984) *

– 13:22.54 (1983) *

– 27:55.77 (1982) *Marathon – 2:13:34 (1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Dave 1958 births Living people Athletes from London English male middle-distance runners British male middle-distance runners English male marathon runners British male marathon runners English male cross country runners British male cross country runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain People educated at St Paul's School, London