Christopher William Brasher CBE was a renowned British track and field athlete, sports journalist, and co-founder of the London Marathon. Born on August 21, 1928, in Georgetown, British Guiana, Brasher was an accomplished mountaineer and held the position of president of the Cambridge University Mountaineering Club. In 1948, he led an expedition to Baffin Island with W A Deer.
Brasher's athletic career was marked by his participation in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where he finished first in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 8 minutes 41.2 seconds. However, he was initially disqualified for allegedly interfering with another runner, Ernst Larsen of Norway, before being reinstated as a gold medalist the following day.
A pioneer of orienteering in Britain, Brasher can claim the sport's first public mention in an article in The Observer in 1957. He also had distinguished careers in print, as a sports editor for The Observer newspaper, and in broadcasting, as a reporter for Tonight.
In 1971, Brasher founded Chris Brasher's Sporting Emporium, which later became Sweatshop. He designed the innovative Brasher Boot, a walking shoe with the comfort of a running shoe, in 1978. The product was well-received in its time, but its quality declined, and it was eventually discontinued.
In 1981, Brasher co-founded the London Marathon with John Disley, and in 1983, he became the second president of the International Marathon and Distance Racing Association, a position he held until 1987. He also founded Fleetfoot Limited with John Disley in 1983, which distributed The Brasher Boot and other sporting goods to retailers.
Fleetfoot acquired the rights to be Reebok's UK distributor and subsequently marketed as Reebok UK before becoming a subsidiary of the Pentland Group in 1988. After the acquisition, Brasher remained active in the company as chairman of the board. Reebok UK was sold to Reebok International in 1990.
Brasher was awarded the CBE in 1996 and the Livingstone Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 2002. He passed away on February 28, 2003, at his home in Chaddleworth, Berkshire, after battling pancreatic cancer for several months.
