JON BROWN......TWO 4th Place Finishes

except his 61 minute half marathon the past year.

OK I did not know about that one.

They treat him like crap in England as well because they have Paula Radcliffe.

I never had the chance to meet Jon Brown in person but I remember him whizzing by me, lapping me in an indoor 5000 at Iowa State in February 1991.

Jason

mud wrote:

They treat him like crap in England as well because they have Paula Radcliffe.

Word on the street is that he'll be running for Canada in the next little while.

I read that he had plenty of injuries since Sydney and almost quit running...(wasn't Paula Radcliffe the fastest person man or woman in England last year)...and also hasn't the British Federation always succeeded in treating many of their athletes bad at some time or another??? (I remember reading about all the problems that Coe, Ovett or Cram would have in getting selected for some races if they had injuries while the selection went on...I think they always leave a spot or two open besides a trial race...)

I heard about Jon Brown back in the early 90's at a 20k. road race in Holland (Alphen an der Rijn...) he went for a short run the night before the race...but got lost in the little Dutch town and got in a 2 hour run...but he took it with a smile...although I think Brown deserves to win a medal in a big marathon, then I also think it would have been sad if De Lima had placed 4th.

Jon was rejected by the Welsh selectors when he asked to run the Commonwealth games marathon, on grounds that he hadn't done the selection race. Fine, but other athletes were selected who were in the same position... A bit of a mistake if you ask me, considering his championship record.

mud wrote:

They treat him like crap in England as well because they have Paula Radcliffe.

...not entirely true! they'd love a big name male distance star in the UK. The problem with JB (IMO) is that he has little contact with the federation (because he's in canada)and is (from all acounts) not the most outgoing person.

they did go out on a limb this yr and select him for the world cross not having raced in the trials. caused a bit on a stir on this board at the time but the selection was vindicated by his run in the race (top brit).

Roger the sheep wrote:

Jon was rejected by the Welsh selectors when he asked to run the Commonwealth games marathon, on grounds that he hadn't done the selection race. Fine, but other athletes were selected who were in the same position... A bit of a mistake if you ask me, considering his championship record.

4th?

Yes 4th. In the Olympics. Twice.

It's probably not unprecedented, but poor old Eamonn Coghlan got 4th in consecutive Olymoics in two separate events - 1500 in 1976 and 5000 in 1980.

No, of course it's not unprecedented, but Jon Brown has a proven championship record. In this light, the Welsh selectors made a bit of a blunder when not selecting him for the Commonwealth games IMHO.

The number of top class marathoners coming from South Wales over the years is quite amazing for an area not even the size of Switzerland...

Check the rankings:

1.

2:07:13

Steve Jones

Newport

Chicago, USA

20:10:1985

2.

2:10:35

Steve Brace

Bridgend

Houston, USA

21:01:1996

3.

2:12:12

Dennis Fowles

Cardiff

London

13:05:1984

4.

2:12:33

Tony Simmons

Luton Utd.

Sandbach

07:05:1978

5.

2:12:34

Gordon Minty

Thames Valley

Eugene, USA

13:09:1981

6.

2:13:21

Ieuan Ellis

Newport

Beijing, China

19:10:1986

7.

2:13:41

Dale Rixon

Bridgend

Paris, France

10:11:1996

8.

2:13:48

Mike Bishop

Staffs. Moorlands

Paris, France

17:05:1987

9.

2:14:03

Adrian Leek

Cardiff

Pittsburgh, USA

13:05:1987

10.

2:14:56

Bernie Plain

Cardiff

Christchurch, NZ

31:01:1974

11.

2:15:47

Norman Wilson

Thames Valley

London

17:04:1983

12.

2:15:48

Chris Buckley

Westbury

London

21:04:1991

13.

2:15:59

Malcolm Thomas

Thames Valley

Harlow

27:10:1973

14.

2:16:21

Laurie Adams

Hillingdon

Brisbane, Australia

23:07:1983

15.

2:16:53

Mike Rowland

Newport

Manchester (Maxol)

04:06:1972

16.

2:16:56

Alan Joslyn

Newport

Windsor

11:09:1976

17.

2:17:02

Mike Critchley

Cardiff

Harlow

27:10:1973

18.

2:17:11

Roger Hackney

Aldershot, F & D.

Birmingham

23:09:1989

19.

2:17:20

Greg Newhams

Bridgend

London

22:04:1990

20.

2:17:23

Alun Cole

Newport

London

17:04:1983

21.

2:17:27

Ted Turner

Aldershot, F & D

Hong Kong

22:01:1983

22.

2:17:30

Peter Williams

Swansea

St. Paul, USA

08:10:1989

23.

2:17:33

Trevor Hawes

Swansea

London

17:04:1983

24.

2:17:57

Dic Evans

Cardiff

Glasgow

21:09:1986

25.

2:17:58

Mick McGeoch

Les Croups

London

17:04:1983

26.

2:18:03

Malcolm French

Fleet & Crookham

London

21:04:1985

27.

2:18:08

Cyril Leigh

Salford

Manchester (Maxol)

04:06:1972

28.

2:18:19

John Davies

Essex Beagles

London

17:04:1983

29.

2:18:35

Rod Jones

Westbury

London

16:04:2000

30.

2:18:40

John Hooper

Cardiff

London

23:04:1989

31.

2:18:51

Jeremy Hall

Swansea

London

22:04:1990

32.

2:18:56

John Robertshaw

Newport

Sandbach

21:06:1981

33.

2:19:04

Bob Sercombe

Newport

Manchester (Maxol)

03:06:1973

34.

2:19:20

Mick Crowell

Bridgend

Glasgow

11:09:1983

35.

2:19:29

Peter Jones

Cambridge

London

13:05:1984

36.

2:19:40

Eddy Lee

Pegasus

Barcelona, Spain

15:03:1987

37.

2:19:46

Gareth Davies

Bridgend

London

17:04:1994

38.

2:19:53

Simon Axon

Swansea

London

20:04:1986

Noteworthy recent performance by Athletes with Welsh “Connections”

Time

Athlete

Club

Venue

Date

2:15:07

Jamie Lewis

Swansea

London

16:04:2000

2:16:27

Simon Pride

Swansea

London

22:04:2001

Your word is wrong. He still recieves a 40,000 a year elite strip-end from the UK. He loves training in Victoria, but he is not that stupid.

The way he is treated in Britain, I wouldn't blame him for defecting....

Where is this "deserves" stuff come from? One of the beauties of competition especially in objective sports (as opposed to scoring that relies on the judgment of a person for a score) is that you do what you can do and let the chips fall where they may.

No one "deserves" a medal. Are there people I wish had gotten a gold medal (or any other color medal for instance), sure. Hell Ron Clarke and Bill Rodgers come to mind.

The CBC wrote:

Word on the street is that he'll be running for Canada in the next little while.

that's laughable, for Brown to make that change is like going back 10 years in time. If Canada's standard for women marathoners is 2.28, which is faster than the women's record, what is the standard for the men.

The COC ranks high up in the Argument Clinic.

I live in Vancouver where he races a lot. He says he is going to be competing for Canada as soon as that goes through. He had a big fallout with that David Bedford guy in England, but says that has nothing to do with his decision.

Why the hell did Brown want to Wales for anyway when he ran for England in the 94 Commonwealth Games?

Did anybody else think that Brown was going to deck the shit out of de Lima for his silly airplane antics; he looked pissed. Probably due to his consecutive fourths.