Quick Facts
Biography
Benjamin Basil Heatley (born 25 December 1933) is a retired British runner, who mainly competed in the marathon.
On 13 June 1964 Heatley broke the world record for the marathon at the Polytechnic Marathon in England, running 2:13:55 to surpass Buddy Edelen's world best from the previous year's race by 33 seconds. Four months later, on 21 October 1964, Heatley competed in the marathon at the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. Defending Olympic marathon champion Abebe Bikila won another Olympic gold medal in another world record time. Heatley managed to stay close to Japan's Kokichi Tsuburaya and passed Tsuburaya shortly before the finish line to win the silver medal.
He was a seven time participant at the International Cross Country Championships from 1957 to 1964. He was the runner-up to teammate Frank Sando at his first outing in the senior race and became the world champion in the sport at the 1961 International Cross Country Championships.