May 4 Birthdays

1949

Pekka Johannes Päivärinta, Finland, distance runner. Päivärinta was the first world cross-country champion, taking the title at the first IAAF championship in that sport in Waregem, Belgium in 1973. Päivärinta also represented his country at the Olympics in 1972 (8th in the Steeplechase) and 1976 (13th in the 5,000m). In 1975 he set a world record in the 25,000m of 1:14:16.8.

March 8 Birthdays

1949
Karel Lismont, Belgium, long-distance runner. Lismont is one of a very few athletes in the history of the modern Olympic games to have won two medals in the marathon, a silver in 1972 (Munich) and a bronze in 1976 (Montreal). Lismont competed but did not medal in the 1980 (Moscow) Olympic marathon and the 1984 (Los Angeles) Olympic marathon. He also won a gold medal in the 1971 (Helsinki) European Championships marathon, (2:13:09), a bronze in the 1978 (Prague) European Championships marathon (2:12:07.7), and a bronze in the 1982 (Athens) European Championships marathon (2:16:04).

January 15 Birthdays

1949
Ian Stewart, British distance runner. Stewart was an Olympic bronze medalist at 5000m (Munich 1972), a European champion at 5000m (1969), and a Commonwealth champion at 5000m (1970). He set four European junior records at age 19, including 8:35.4 for two miles. Stewart won the 1975 (Rabat) World Cross-Country championship.

December 30 Birthdays

1949
David Bedford, Great Britain, distance runner. On 13 July 1973 David Bedford set a world record in the men's 10,000m, running 29:30.80. Bedford also held the British records for 5,000m and the 3,000m steeplechase. He represented the UK in the 1972 (Munich) Olympic Games, finishing 12th in the 5,000m (13:43.2) and 6th in the 10,000m.

September 11 Birthdays

1949
Martin "Marty" Liquori, American middle-distance runner. In 1967 Marty Liquori became the third American to run a sub-4:00 mile as a schoolboy (3:59.8). He was ranked as the top miler in the world in 1969 and 1971, the top 5,000m runner in the world in 1977, and held the American record in the 5,000m run (13:15.1).