Jerome Drayton

Jerome Drayton
Personal information
Nationality Canadian
Born (1945-01-10) January 10, 1945
Kolbermoor, Bavaria, Germany
Residence Toronto, Ontario
Sport
Sport Running
Event(s) Marathon
Club Toronto Olympic Club

Jerome Drayton (born January 10, 1945 in Kolbermoor, Bavaria, Germany) is a former long-distance runner who competed internationally for Canada. He was born as Peter Buniak in Germany, and came to Canada in the mid-1950s when his mother moved there after divorcing his father.[1] He reportedly based his new name on two famous sprinters he admired: Canadian former world record holder Harry Jerome and American Paul Drayton, former world record holder in the 4 × 100 m as part of the American relay team.[2] A prominent runner in the 1970s, when he was for a time ranked as the top marathoner in the world, he won the Fukuoka Marathon in 1969, 1975, and 1976, as well as the Boston Marathon in 1977. He is the Canadian record holder in the marathon, with his best time of 2:10:08, set in 1975 at the Fukuoka Marathon; he has held the Canadian record since 1969, after breaking the then record of 2:18:55 set by Robert Moore a month earlier.[3]

History

Drayton was born as Peter Buniak on January 10, 1945, in Munich, Germany, to parents of Russian-Ukrainian background. Having been born as the Second World War was coming to an end and extreme poverty was widespread, Drayton and his parents had traveled to Germany from Poland aboard a cattle train. Drayton’s parents eventually divorced and his mother, who had custody of him, moved to Canada and then brought Drayton over to Toronto in November, 1956, when he was 11 years old. When he took up running in high school, Drayton’s single-mindedness quickly became evident and it wasn’t long before he won top-calibre events. After winning the Ontario high school championships for Mimico High School, he was recruited to the Toronto Olympic Club, where he began working with national distance running coach Paul Poce.[1]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Canada
1969 Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 1st Marathon 2:11:13
1975 Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 1st Marathon 2:10:09
1976 Olympic Games Montréal, Canada 6th Marathon 2:13:30
Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 1st Marathon 2:12:35
1977 Boston Marathon Boston, United States 1st Marathon 2:14:46
1978 Commonwealth Games Edmonton, Canada 2nd Marathon 2:16:14
1979 National Capital Marathon Ottawa, Canada 1st Marathon 2:18:05

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Paul Gains (October 17, 2013). "Ahead of Time". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  2. Jerome Drayton and the Oldest Canadian Record
  3. Canadian Marathon Record Progression

External links


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