Beating John Landy Was My Defining Race.

When I Was About To Break A World Record And Become Well Known, My Mother Used To Say That For Her The Important Thing Was For Me To Become A Doctor - A Career Which Had Not Been Possible In Her Generation And In Her Society. Sport Was Something To Be Set Aside.

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.

It Seems Quite Impossible To Walk In America.

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.

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.