Without the concentration of the mind and the will, performance would not result.

I was involved in music, acting, and some running, but my firm wish was to become a doctor. That was the formative age when I had decided on the pattern of my career.

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.

My concentration was really on getting to university and becoming a doctor. My parents let me know that school marks were important. Achievement was something which came by hard work.

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.

Beating John Landy was my defining race.

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.