Don Sullivan
The following obituary is reprinted from the Road
Runners Club magazine No. 107, April 1982, by kind permission of the R. R.C. and was also printed in the program for the first Don Sullivan 10 in 1982 of which a copy is below.
Don Sullivan (R. R.C. 46) of Banbury Harriers has died at the age of 85. He did not suffer any illness, but gradually slipped away. 'Sulli' was one of those characters whose life-long devotion to our sport has done much to enrich it.
'Fifty Years of Undistinguished Running', which appeared in the newsletter ten years ago, was his athletic autobiography, in which he said that the Olympic Marathon of 1908 fired his ambition to run a marathon one day. While in France, during the first world war, he competed in the One Mile Flat race in his company sports.
'I trained with some of my hut mates, running in army boots and slacks on roads round the camp before breakfast. I finished third because I was able to judge the pace better than most of my opponents. Next year I won the race on a very rough course, marked out on a meadow'.
He joined Banbury Harriers on returning from France, and ran his first marathon in 1930, when he was 34 years old. This was run from Southampton to Winchester and back on a warm sunny day. He was told 'Start off at a good steady pace, and don't try to race at first, and you will finish'.
Sullivan ran in twelve A.A.A. Marathons, and in twenty Poly Marathons, with a best time just inside 3 hours, between 1931 and 1950.
He was fifth, last to finish in the notorious A.A.A. Marathon of 1935, when the shade temperature was 90 F.
He ran his first Finchley 20 in 1934, and ten years later was presented with a tankard by Finchley Harriers to commemorate finishing in fifty races of not less than 20 miles. Eventually he ran 129 of these, failing to finish in only two ; once when he attempted to race on three consecutive weeks, and once when he found the gate of the White City closed.
Below are archive results for the Don Sullivan 10 mile road race .
Don Sullivan 10 program for 1982.pdf We do not have the results for this year. If you know anyone who does have we would love a copy.
DonSullivan10m-1983inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1985inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1986inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1987inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1990inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1991inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1992inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1993inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1995inclOxonChamps.pdf DonSullivan10m-1995OxfordMailreport.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1996inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1997inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1998inclOxonChamps.pdf
DonSullivan10m-1999inclOxonChamps.pdf
Following the end of the 10 mile race due to reduced numbers a 10k was trialed and the results for that are below.
DonSullivan10k-2000inclOxonChamps.pdf
