The men's marathon event at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held on 7 August in Vancouver, Canada with a start and finish at the Empire Stadium.
Jim Peters, then the world record holder in the marathon, entered the stadium in first place, believed to be 17 minutes ahead of the next runner and 10 minutes ahead of the Games record but he collapsed seven times (one of the times laying down for over 2 minutes) and he eventually failed to finish, being disqualified after collapsing into the arms of an official. After covering just 200 metres in 11 minutes, he was stretchered away and never raced again. "I was lucky not to have died that day", he later said.
The race was won by Scotsman Joe McGhee.Great Sporting Moments: Athletics. The Independent. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
Results Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Joe McGhee 2:39:36 Jackie Mekler 2:40:57 Jan Barnard 2:51:50 4 Barry Lush 2:52:48 5 George Hillier 2:58:44 6 Bob Crossan 3:00:13 Al Lawrence Bryce Mackay Rowland Guy Gérard Côté George Norman Keith Dunnet Les Stokell Stan Cox Jim Peters John Kay
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