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.

Every time I ran the mile I was aware of my own weakness, there was some opponent who could give me a hell of a fight, so I never went into a race with a sense of invincibility. I always had that feeling of fragility and nerves which made me run faster.

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.

Life was very simple. My parents had come from the North of England, which is a fairly rugged, bleak, hard-working part of England, and so there was not the expectation of luxury.

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.

I enjoy singing, and the instruments which truly move me are the horn, the trumpet and the cello.