Christopher William Brasher CBE was a British track and field athlete, sports journalist, and co-founder of the London Marathon. Born on August 21, 1928, in Georgetown, British Guiana, he was an avid mountaineer and student at Rugby School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied geology.
Brasher was an accomplished athlete, winning the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a time of 8 minutes 41.2 seconds. However, he was initially disqualified for allegedly interfering with another runner, Ernst Larsen of Norway, but was later reinstated as a gold medalist.
In addition to his athletic achievements, Brasher was a pioneer of orienteering in Britain, and his article in The Observer in 1957 is credited with introducing the sport to the British public. He also had a distinguished career in print as a sports editor for The Observer newspaper and in broadcasting as a reporter for Tonight.
Brasher founded Chris Brasher's Sporting Emporium in 1971, which later became Sweatshop, and designed the innovative Brasher Boot in 1978. He co-founded the London Marathon in 1981 with John Disley and became the second president of the International Marathon and Distance Racing Association in 1983.
In 1983, Brasher founded Fleetfoot Limited with John Disley and acquired the rights to be Reebok's UK distributor. After the acquisition by Pentland, Brasher remained active in the company as chairman of the board. He was awarded the CBE in 1996 and the Livingstone Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 2002.
Brasher passed away on February 28, 2003, at his home in Chaddleworth, Berkshire, after battling pancreatic cancer for several months.
