Véronique Marot
Marie-Véronique Antoinette Colette Jeannine Marot (born 16 September 1955) is a former marathon runner from France who moved to England in 1976. She twice broke the British record for the marathon, with 2:28:04 at the 1985 Chicago Marathon and 2:25:56 when winning the 1989 London Marathon.[1] The latter time stood as the UK record for 13 years. She is also a three-time winner of the Houston Marathon and represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Career[]
Marot was born in Compiègne, France. She moved to England in 1976 to study at York University and became a British citizen in 1983. Early in her running career, Marot competed in several fell races. In 1979 she unofficially completed the Ennerdale Fell Race before women were allowed to take part, to the consternation of the race organiser. The next year, women were allowed to compete over the full course.[2]
Marot first ran under three hours for the marathon, running 2:55:38 at the 1980 Barnsley Marathon. At the inaugural London Marathon in 1981, she finished ninth, improving her best to 2:46:51. She further improved with 2:42:14 for 21st at the 1983 London Marathon and 2:36:24 for 7th at the 1983 New York Marathon. She improved again with 2:33:52 for fourth at the 1984 London Marathon, before finishing second at the 1984 New York Marathon with 2:33:58. She broke the British record for the first time when finishing fifth at the 1985 Chicago Marathon, running 2:28:04. A three-time winner of the Houston Marathon, she first won it in 1986, running 2:31:33. Later that year, she failed to finish at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart. At the 1987 World Championships in Rome, she finished 22nd in 2:45:02. She earned selection for the 1988 Olympic Games but declined it due to injury.
1989 began with Marot winning the Houston Marathon for the second time, with 2:30:16. Then in April, she won the 1989 London Marathon in 2.25.56, regaining the British record from Priscilla Welch, who had run 2:26:51 in 1987. Marot's time stood as the British record for 13 years until it was broken by Paula Radcliffe in 2002. Marot won the Houston Marathon for the third time in 1991, running 2:30:55, before failing to finish at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. In 1992, she finished 16th at the Barcelona Olympics in 2:42:55. She also twice won the Around the Bay Road Race in Ontario (1991 and 1992). In 2003, aged 47, she finished 24th at the London Marathon, running 2:55:01. Marot (as of 2019) ranks fourth on the UK all-time list behind Radcliffe, Mara Yamauchi and Charlotte Purdue.
Personal life[]
Marot has a son and a daughter with her coach, Brian Scobie.[3][4]
Achievements[]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing ![]() | ||||||||
1978 | Barnsley Marathon | Barnsley, United Kingdom | unknown | Marathon | 3:55:48 | |||
1979 | Barnsley Marathon | Barnsley, United Kingdom | 15th | Marathon | 3:42:13 | |||
1980 | Barnlsey Marathon | Barnsley, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:55:38 | |||
1981 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 9th | Marathon | 2:46:51 | |||
Rugby Marathon (AAAs) | Rugby, United Kingdom | 3rd | Marathon | 2:53:39 | ||||
Bolton Marathon | Bolton, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:51:52 | ||||
1982 | Sandbach Marathon | Sandbach, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:54:29 | |||
1983 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 21st | Marathon | 2:42:14 | |||
Bolton Marathon | Bolton, United Kingdom | 2nd | Marathon | 2:49:51 | ||||
New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 7th | Marathon | 2:36:24 | ||||
1984 | Osaka International Ladies Marathon | Osaka, Japan | 8th | Marathon | 2:38:37 | |||
London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 4th | Marathon | 2:33:52 | ||||
New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 2nd | Marathon | 2:33:58 | ||||
1985 | Reading Half Marathon | Reading, United Kingdom | 1st | Half marathon | 1:12:56[5] | |||
Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 3rd | Marathon | 2:31:16 | ||||
World Marathon Cup | Hiroshima, Japan | 8th | Marathon | 2:37:05 | ||||
London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 9th | Marathon | 2:35:12 | ||||
Bolton Marathon | Bolton, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:42:01 | ||||
Chicago Marathon | Chicago, United States | 5th | Marathon | 2:28:04 | ||||
1986 | Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:31:33 | |||
London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | — | Marathon | DNF | ||||
European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | — | Marathon | DNF | ||||
1987 | Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 2nd | Marathon | 2:35:37 | |||
London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | Marathon | 2:30:15 | ||||
World Championships | Rome, Italy | 22nd | Marathon | 2:45:02 | ||||
Tokyo International Women's Marathon | Tokyo, Japan | 4th | Marathon | 2:31:55 | ||||
1988 | Humber Bridge Marathon | United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:38:25 | |||
Columbus Marathon | Columbus, Ohio, United States | 3rd | Marathon | 2:33:36 | ||||
1989 | Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:30:16 | |||
London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:25:56 | ||||
1990 | New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 11th | Marathon | 2:38:40 | |||
1991 | Houston Marathon | Houston, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:30:55 | |||
World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | — | Marathon | DNF | ||||
1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 16th | Marathon | 2:42:55 | |||
2003 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 24th | Marahon | 2:55:01 | |||
2005 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 505th | Marathon | 3:29:39 | |||
2016 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 9700th | Marathon | 5:02:56 |
Note: In 1985 Marot ran the London Marathon just 8 days after running in the World Cup Marathon.
References[]
- ^ Simon Turnbull (17 April 1999). "London Marathon: Marot's long run for home". The Independent. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 148, 155; Gabrielle Collison, British Marathon Running Legends of the 1980s (2012), 257-64.
- ^ "London Marathon: Marot's long run for home". 23 October 2011.
- ^ "Véronique Marot ready for London return". 17 April 2016.
- ^ Stan Eldon. "Reading Half Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
External links[]
- Power of 10 UK Women’s Marathon Rankings
- Independent article by Simon Turnbull
- IAAF biography
- British record progression
- Leeds City Athletics Club
- gbrathletics
- 1955 births
- Living people
- People from Compiègne
- Sportspeople from Oise
- French emigrants to England
- British female long-distance runners
- British female marathon runners
- London Marathon female winners
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Great Britain
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
- British fell runners
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom