Ernest Harper was an English athlete who competed for Great Britain in the 1924, 1928 and 1936 Summer Olympics.

The men's marathon event at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Sunday, 5 August 1928. The race started at 15:14 local time. A total number of 57 athletes completed the race, with Willem van der Steen from the Netherlands finishing in last position in 3:29:21. There were 69 competitors from 23 countries. Twelve of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 6. The event was won by Boughera El Ouafi of France, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1900. Manuel Plaza's silver made him the first Olympic medalist from Chile, while Martti Marttelin's bronze put Finland on the podium in the event for the third straight Games.