Butts Stadium and Godiva Harriers

It’s Coventry Godiva's Commonwealth and European Champion for the marathon and 4th in the Olympic marathon, Brian Kilby, in his G.B. vest. Will find out which race.

1964 winning the AAA Championships held in Coventry, finishing on the Binley School track. It was the selection race for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Bas Heatley and Ron Hill had already been selected. It was a cruelly hot day, held far too near the Olympics and must have done Brian no favours in his recovery for the Games.

Great detective work, Colin. Hope all is well.

I remember the race - I was there - followed the race around the Bretford Straight and back.

I’ve added a caption alongside the asset now. So many races in this set of images, hopefully we'll get them all.

Any information most welcome. A good few runners in this sprint.

Taken at the Butts, pre1953; it is before the cinder track was laid. The athletes are running on a grass track, probably one of Godiva Harriers open meetings. The shiney 'wall' on the other side of the track (actually the back straight) is the tarmac cycle track after it had been raining. The winner is a Godiva Harrier, 2nd is a Small Heath runner, 3rd is a Sparkhill Harrier. It is not a sprint, almost certainly the finish of an 880 yards race. The athletes are too spread out and are not in lanes for it to be a sprint. More details will take some finding as we are neck deep in boxes and bags full of 40 years of valuable items or as my wife puts it 'a load of tat waiting to be taken to the tip' - silly girl! We are emptying the loft in preparation for a new roof and my filing system is in total disarray!! Or as my wife puts it 'What’s different??' Silly Girl.

Thank you, Harrier - I'm getting to grips with the extent of this archive, earliest so far is 1939 and there are plenty in 1964. I shall add these details to the file. If you want to look at more (and it'll take some scrolling) please have a look at the Arthur Cooper archive - you'll need an account - and if you fancy helping me organise myself, I'll give you access to the spreadsheet. Best of luck to you on the roof, sounds like you need an office!

Bit of a challenge, but the my first comment was pretty accurate! The first walker in the race at the Butts is Alf Poole in the old Worcester Athletic Club vest. I don't think the official is wearing an eye patch, as it is such a sunny day it is more likely to be a sun visor. At a guess it is B Bashford of Birmingham Walking Club.

Makes me very cold looking at this one, but it looks like his youth has ensured he's a clear winner in the snow in this race!

That looks like the Memorial Park.

Yep! Looks like the old Rugby A.C. vest. Probably the Warwickshire Cross Country Championships, therefore the first Saturday in January. If it is, it will be easy to check, which I will do.

Colin, there's some footage of that marathon with Brian Kilby here, along with some Harriers’ vests on show!

Seems to be a few GH vests in this one.

Colin (Harrier) is going to love you, Ben!