Richard David Nerurkar MBE (born 6 January 1964) is a former

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 from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, competing in the

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.

Personal life

Nerurkar was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, to an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n father and English mother, he moved to

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, where he attended Bradford Grammar School. He has a brother and sister. He was a language teacher at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

between 1989 and 1991. His son Lukas Nerurkar is a professional cyclist.

Career

Nerurkar won the English national cross-country championship three times and twice finished in the top 20 in the World Cross-Country Championships. On the track, he finished fifth in the 10,000 metres in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, and 17th in the 10,000m final of the 1992 Olympics. He held the British record for 10 miles of 46:02, set in October 1993 (and which wasn't broken until March 2023 by Emile Cairess). That year he moved up in distance 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 won his debut marathon in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in a time of 2:10:57 and went on to win his second marathon, the World Cup Marathon in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, in October 1993. His other marathons included a fifth place in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and a personal best time of 2:08:36 in the 1997

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

where he also finished in fifth place. His time was the third fastest of all time by a British athlete and is the fourth fastest as of 2016.

Post-retirement

Nerurkar is general manager of the Great Ethiopian Run event hosted yearly in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, an event he started in 2001 with Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie. He is the author of the book ''Marathon Running: From Beginning to Elite'' (). He was awarded the MBE in 2002. He plays bass and sings backing vocals in an Isley brothers tribute band, with his fans referring to him as ‘Big Rich’.

Achievements

Personal bests

References

British Olympic Committee

Power of 10 profile

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nerurkar, Richard 1964 births Living people Athletes from Bradford Athletes from Wolverhampton English male marathon runners British male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain People educated at Bradford Grammar School English people of Indian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent Members of the Order of the British Empire British expatriates in Ethiopia