The human spirit is indomitable. No one can ever say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. There will never be a time when the human spirit will not be able to better existing records.

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.

Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances.

To move into the lead means making an act requiring fierceness and confidence. But fear must play some part...no relaxation is possible, and all discretion is thrown into the wind.

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.

It is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ.

Beating John Landy was my defining race.