Cyril ELLIS

Winner of three successive AAA mile titles (1927-29), Cyril Ellis completed a double in 1929 when he also won the 880y. Second place in the 1932 AAA mile would almost certainly have earned him a selection for a third Olympics, but he could not afford to take the time off work fro the long trip to Los Angeles. His UK record for 1,000 metres in 1927 was followed in 1929 by a world record for 1,000 yards in a specially paced handicap event. Ellis dominated middle distance running in the Midlands for a decade and between 1925 and 1933 he won the 880y eight times and the mile six times at the Midland Championships. In 1940 he settled in Essex where he ran the Youth Centres. He was also a reader on the staff of a Chelmsford newspaper and for many years was the Secretary of the Marconi Social and Athletic Club in Chelmsford.

Personal Bests: 880y – 1:53.3 (1929); 1000y – 2:11.2 (1929); 1000 – 2:27.8 (1927); 1500 – 3:57.6 (1928); Mile – 4:15.0 (1932).