I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event which was planned in which races were run, and I simply just won these by a considerable margin

I lived on the top of one hill and the school was at the top of another hill. Nobody ever went to school by car - we didn't have any cars during the war. So that to and from school was itself a training.

I was always a great bundle of energy. As a child, instead of walking, I would run. And so running, which is a pain to a lot of people, was always a pleasure to me because it was so easy.

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.

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves

It's amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile.

If I faltered, there would be no arms to hold me and the world would be a cold and forbidding place.