David Robert Clarke (born 1 January 1958) is a British former distance runner who competed over distances from the 1500 metres to the marathon. He represented Great Britain over 5000 metres at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics and the 1981 Summer Universiade.Men 5000m Athletics I World Championship 1983 Helsinki, Finland - Sunday 14.08 - Eamonn Coghlan, Ireland. Todor66. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
Biography Clark, born in London, attended Dulwich Prep London and then St Paul's School, London, where he took up running, as did his brothers Peter and Chris. Professionally, he worked as a labourer and hospital porter before becoming a history and physical education teacher.Dave Clarke (The Great Runner from Hercules Wimbledon) . Highgate Harriers. Retrieved 2020-03-19. made twelve appearances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1977 to 1995. Individually, his best performance came at the 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he placed seventh overall.
Clarke was a three-time silver medallist in the men's team competition (1982, 1987, 1989) and also won a team bronze in 1992.
He ranked in the top twenty in the world over 10,000 metres in the 1982 season.Dave Clarke. Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. He shares the British record in the ekiden marathon relay, alongside Carl Thackery, Jon Solly, Mark Scrutton, and Karl Harrison, with a silver medal-winning time of 1:59:14 hours set at the 1986 IAAF World Challenge Road Relay.United Kingdom National Records. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19.IAAF World Road Relay Championships. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2004-03-27). Retrieved 2020-03-19.
In national competition he won the 5000 m title at the 1981 UK Athletics Championships,UK Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. and was runner-up in that event at the 1983 AAA Championships.AAA Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. He won the English Cross Country Championships three times (1982, 1987, 1988) and won the British Cross Country Championships in 1992. He was also twice runner-up at the British race and a four-time runner-up at the English Championships.British Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. He won the British Universities Cross Country Championships in 1981.British Universities Championships (Other). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. At sub-national level he won the 1984 title in the 3000 metres at the South of England Athletics Championships and the 5000 m inter-county race at the 1985 CAU Championships.South of England Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19.CAU Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-19. On the professional circuit he won races including the Cross di Volpiano, Amatrice-Configno, Foulée Suresnoise, 1989 Stockholm Marathon and the Cross de Nantes.David Robert Clarke. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
He continues to take part in the sport as a masters athlete, mostly in local parkruns, though he completed the 2016 London Marathon in 3:03:54 hours.Dave Clarke. Power of 10. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
International competitions 1977World Cross Country ChampionshipsDüsseldorf, West Germany23rdJunior race24:284thJunior team80 pts1981World Cross Country ChampionshipsMadrid, Spain38thSenior race35:596thTeam312 ptsUniversiadeBucharest, Romania6th5000 m13:54.661982World Cross Country ChampionshipsRome, Italy9thSenior race34:19.42ndTeam114 pts1983World Cross Country ChampionshipsGateshead, United Kingdom7thSenior race37:058thTeam318 ptsWorld ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland11th (semis)5000 m13:58.371985World Cross Country ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal26thSenior race34:238thTeam437 pts1986World Cross Country ChampionshipsColombier, Switzerland16thSenior race36:14.48thTeam360 pts1987World Cross Country ChampionshipsWarsaw, Poland10thSenior race37:102ndTeam146 pts1989World Cross Country ChampionshipsStavanger, Norway15thSenior race40:562ndTeam147 pts1992World Cross Country ChampionshipsBoston, United States20thSenior race37:523rdTeam147 pts1993World Cross Country ChampionshipsAmorebieta-Etxano, Spain111thSenior race35:287thTeam353 ptsNon-scoring performance1994World Cross Country ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary55thSenior race36:248thTeam444 pts1995World Cross Country ChampionshipsDurham, United Kingdom77thSenior race36:179thTeam354 pts1990International Chiba EkidenChiba, Japan6th10K28:205thMarathon relay2:02:05Japan Clinch Marathon. The Straits Times (1990-12-18), p. 33. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
Achievements National titles English Cross Country Championships Long course: 1982, 1987, 1988 British Cross Country Championships Long course: 1992 AAA Road Relay Championship: 1979 (leg 4)
Circuit wins Cross di Volpiano: 1982, 1983 Amatrice-Configno: 1983 Foulée Suresnoise: 1987 Stockholm Marathon: 1989 Cross de Nantes: 1989, 1990
Personal bests 1500 metres – 3:39.27 (1982) Mile run – 3:56.95 (1982) 3000 metres – 7:57.88 (1984) 5000 metres – 13:22.54 (1983) 10,000 metres – 27:55.77 (1982) Marathon – 2:13:34 (1989)
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