I Couldn't Disappoint People. I Did Not Want To Fail And Exhaust Myself, Because I Was The Kind Of Runner Who Trained So Little That I Couldn't Race Again Within Another 10 Days.
I Was Playing Rugby And The Other Games English School Children Do, And There Was An Event Which Was Planned In Which Races Were Run, And I Simply Just Won These By A Considerable Margin
I've Always Been Very Impatient. At Age 10 I Frankly Found Life Boring, And I Can Remember Age 9 Having The Awful Thought, As It Seems Now Looking Back On It, A War! That Should Liven Things Up A Bit!
I Enjoy Singing, And The Instruments Which Truly Move Me Are The Horn, The Trumpet And The Cello.
Our Concept Of A Family Holiday Was Going To A Guest House In The Lake District Or Wales, Where Walking Was Part Of The Holiday.
The Athletic Association Competed Against The University. So There Was An Event. You Cannot Break World Records Unless It Is An Established Event, And You Have Three Timekeepers, And The Whole Thing Is Organized.
My Family Actually Lived In The Same Village For About 400 Years. They Had Great Stability Until The Last Century. People Lived And Intermarried In Small Villages.
Your Spikes, Which Were Really Quite Long Then, Would Catch The Material Of The Track And Your Shoe Would Get Heavier. I Was Simply Filing Them Down And Rubbing Some Graphite On The Spikes, So That I Thought I Would Run More Effectively.
My Introduction To Track Racing Was Through The Background Of Cross Country Running, Which Is Not A Sport Perhaps As Popular In America As It Is In England.
I Raced Supremely Well. I Felt I Was As Well Fitted To Do It As I Had Ever Been, And As Perhaps I Might Ever Be. I Went Climbing Three Weeks Before, Because I Was Feeling Fed Up With Running.
