caption event club birth_place weight height pb sport birth_date image article_title
david bedford in 1972 5000 m , 10,000 m shaftesbury barnet harriers , london london , england 66 kg lb on 1.83 m ftin on 5000 -- 27:30.80 -lrb- 1973 -rrb- m -- 13:17.21 -lrb- 1972 -rrb- 10,000 m athletics yes 30 december 1949 david bedford 1972.jpg david bedford -lrb- athlete -rrb-

david bedford -lrb- athlete -rrb-

david colin `` dave '' bedford obe -lrb- born 30 december 1949 -rrb- is an english former long-distance runner , whose athletic career spanned the early 1970s .
post retirement he served as race director of the london marathon until 2012 , and is the chairman of the iaaf road running commission -lrb- since 2012 -rrb- , as well as sitting on the iaaf cross country committee as the uk athletics elected representative .
bedford held the 10,000 metres world record , improving it by 7.6 seconds with his time of 27 minutes 30.80 seconds in 1973 .
he also held the british records for 3000 m steeplechase and 5000 metres .
he usually ran in distinctive red socks , which later led to a well publicised dispute about the use of similarly attired runners in advertisements .
