Ron Hill, the legendary British runner who founded the Ronhill brand of performance sports clothing and one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, died in his hometown of Hyde, Cheshire, England, on May 23. He was 82 years old. In May 2018, he had announced that he had Alzheimer’s. Hill completed 115 marathons over the course of his life, recording 21 victories. Among his titles, he won a marathon gold medal at the 1969 European Athletics Championships. He competed at the Olympics three times, in 1964, 1968 and 1972. In 1970, he became the first Briton to win the Boston Marathon, and won gold at the Commonwealth Games the same year. In September 1970, five months after winning the Boston Marathon, he founded Ronhill with the purpose to produce clothing that kept him winning. Alongside his athletic prowess, Hill was also a textile scientist with a PhD in textile chemistry from the University of Manchester.

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