Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks.

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 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.

It seems quite impossible to walk in America.

May is a very early time in the year and the weather is usually bad. You cannot run a fast mile race if there is a strong wind, because it makes your running uneven.

I found longer races boring. I found the mile just perfect.

No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.