Arthur Keily

Keily was born on 18 March 1921 in Derby, England, the eldest surviving child in a family of twelve from County Cork, Ireland. He got his first job at the age of 14 as an apprentice blacksmith with British Rail (then British Railways) and also held a position at Derby's Grand Theatre to help provide for the family. As a youth his first athletic interest was football, where he helped lead local team Osmaston Rangers to six league and cup final victories. His career was interrupted by the Second World War when he enlisted with the Sherwood Foresters and fought in France and, although he soon returned to England after ending up on the sick list, he was placed on the reserves of his former squad and never again saw active play. His father, a sergeant with the British Army, was killed at the Battle of Dunkirk. ==Competitive career==

Keily did not take an interest in competitive running until he was 28, after one of his brothers joined the Derby and County Athletic Club. In 1949 Arthur joined the club as well (as did, eventually, all six of his male siblings), but did not participate in his first marathon until 1953, finishing 12th in an event that spanned from Doncaster to Sheffield. One year later, however, it was in this race that he recorded his first victory, completing the course in 2:30:45, five seconds ahead of the previous year's champion. Between his first victory and his appearance at the 1960 Summer Olympics, he competed in twenty-seven local and international marathons, winning eleven of them and placing within the top three in an additional six. After failing to qualify for the 1956 Summer Olympics, Keily participated in the Košice Marathon twice, finishing 12th in 1956 and 6th in 1957, and then attended the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games as a representative for the England athletics team, completing the marathon in 12th position after falling ill shortly before the race. He blamed his performance on the team's arrival too late to acclimate to Rome's conditions. During this period Keily also participated in twenty-one British national road relays, helping set new records in thirteen of them, but he retired from active competition following his sole Olympic appearance. He had set nine world records during his career: the half marathon, the track marathon, 15, 30, and 45 miles, 45, 50, and 60 km, and the furthest distance run in three hours. (#58), Bakir Benaïssa, Keily (#46), Aurèle Vandendriessche (#36), and Rhadi Ben Abdesselam (#185).|300px|alt=Arthur Keily competing at the 1960 Summer Olympics, near the 10-kilometre mark ==Later life==

Following two decades with British Rail, Keily found a job with Rolls-Royce Limited in 1957 and worked there until 1962, when he joined the promotions department of Derby County F.C. His final position was that of a greyhound racing adviser with the Derby Telegraph. Following his retirement he wrote several books on health and fitness and returned to long-distance running at the master's level. In 1991 he set a world record for his age class in the marathon at 3:24:22 and in 2001 he was the British master's champion in 80+ category of both the 400 m and 3000 m. ==References==