Peter Brian Driver (26 June 1932 – 12 November 1971) was a British

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in

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

events and was a

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 ...

gold medal winner.

Biography

Born in London and a member of

South London Harriers South London Harriers (SLH) is a British athletics club based in Coulsdon, South London, England. The club's headquarters are based at 194 Brighton Road but training and racing primarily takes place at the athletics track at Woodcote High Schoo ...

, he won the national junior title in cross country in 1953. Driver became the British 6 miles champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the

1954 AAA Championships The 1954 AAA Championships was the 1954 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 9 to 10 July 1954 at White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, ...

. Shortly afterwards he represented the England team and was the gold medallist in the six-mile run at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

. His winning time of minutes was a games record and the first time anyone had run the distance in under half an hour at the tournament. He also ran the 3-mile race at that games, placing fifth. Driver made one other major appearance internationally, taking sixth place in 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

1954 European Athletics Championships The 5th European Athletics Championships were held at Stadion Neufeld from 25–29 August 1954 in the Swiss capital Bern. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Medal summary Complete results were publis ...

. Driver became honorary club secretary of Fleet & Crookham AC. A year after his death the club founded the Peter Driver Memorial Road Races, including a six-mile race in recognition of his Commonwealth victory, which is now known as the Fleet

10K run The 10K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 10K road race, 10 km, or simply 10K, it is one of the most common types of road running event, alongside the shorter 5K and longer half ...

.us.html Our History
Fleet 10K. Retrieved on 2016-03-16. Later, the Fleet and Crookham Athletic Club named their ground the 'Peter Driver Sports Ground'.

International competitions

References

External links

All Athletics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driver, Peter 1932 births 1971 deaths English male long-distance runners British male long-distance runners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics