Running Hard E-Book

Steve Chilton

• Herausgeber: Sandstone Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 496

Beschreibung

For one brilliant season in 1983 the sport of fell running was dominated by the two huge talents of John Wild and Kenny Stuart. Wild was an incomer to the sport from road running and track. Stuart was born to the fells, but an outcast because of his move from amateur to professional and back again. Together they destroyed the record book, only determining who was top by a few seconds in the last race of the season. Running Hard is the story of that season, and an inside, intimate look at the two men by the author of It's a Hill, Get Over It and The Round.

Leseprobe

By the same author

It’s a Hill, Get Over It

The Round

First published in Great Britain by Sandstone Press Ltd

Dochcarty Road

Dingwall

Ross-shire

IV15 9UG

Scotland

www.sandstonepress.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.

©Steve Chilton 2017

© all images as ascribed

The moral right of Steve Chilton to be recognised as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act, 1988.

Commissioning Editor: Robert Davidson

Editor: Roger Smith

Index: Roger Smith

The publisher acknowledges subsidy from Creative Scotland towards publication of this volume.

ISBN: 978-1-910985-56-4

ISBNe: 978-1-910985-57-1

Jacket design Raspberry Creative Type, Edinburgh

eBook compilation by Iolaire Typography Ltd, Newtonmore

To Moira, my running mate

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Glossary/Acronyms

Preface

Part One: Families

Chapter 1 Gotta keep it loose

Chapter 2 A good constitution for a small fella

Chapter 3 Laidback about training

Part Two: Track and pro

Chapter 4 Consistency is everything

Chapter 5 One serious regret

Chapter 6 Run lighter, run faster

Chapter 7 Good at climbing, descending,& training

Part Three: On the fells

Chapter 8 Having the guts to commit

Chapter 9 An idol and an inspiration

Chapter 10 Young, lean and hungry

Chapter 11 He came to beat me that day

Part Four: Head to head

Chapter 12 Too frightened to go on

Chapter 13 Nothing to do with fitness

Chapter 14 Drinks had been taken

Chapter 15 One of us had to come second

Part Five: Changes

Chapter 16 Following white flags in a snowstorm

Chapter 17 Ripe for a fast time

Chapter 18 Never an easy run with him

Chapter 19 Like winning the FA Cup

Part Six: Moving on

Chapter 20 He’ll run a good bit faster

Chapter 21 Treat winners well on the continent

Chapter 22 Finished as firm friends

Illustrations

1 – John Wild winning the Derby Youths cross country championships in 1967

2 – Kenny and Duncan Stuart at the 1971 Threlkeld Sports

3 – John Wild steeplechasing at the 1973 RAF Command championships

4 – Winning the 1974 Inter-Counties cross country championships in Derby

5 – The 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton, Canada

6 – Kenny Stuart leading at the 1980 Grasmere Guides Race

7 – After the 1980 Benson Knott fell race (l to r: Graham Moffat, Fred Reeves, Kenny Stuart)

8 – Winning for England the 1980 Elgoibar International cross country, Spain

9 – Winning the 1980 Inter-counties championships at Derby

10 – The trophies for winning the 1982 Three Peaks race

11 – With Billy Bland after the 1982 Wasdale fell race

12 – Foot problems after the 1982 Turnslack fell race

13 – Kenny Stuart leading at the 1983 Blisco Dash

14 – Two weeks of John Wild’s training diary (May 1983)

15 – Kenny Stuart leading John Wild at the 1983 Fairfield fell race

16 – Ascending Snowdon towards the end of the 1983 Welsh 1000s fell race

17 – Hugh Symonds at the 1983 Welsh 1000s

18 – Sharing a drink with Jon Broxap after the 1983 Kinniside fell race

19 – Leading out the field at the 1983 Burnsall Classic fell race

20 – Jack Maitland at the 1983 Ben Nevis race

21 – Kenny Stuart following Mike Bishop in heavy snow at the 1984 Blackstone Edge fell race

22 – Pauline Stuart on her way to winning the 1984 Ben Nevis race

23 – International Mountain Race at San Giovanni, Italy, in 1984 (l to r: Kenny, Jon Broxap, John, Sean Livesey)

24 – Kenny Stuart in second place on a tough ascent in the 1985 Ennerdale race

25 – A page from Kenny Stuart’s training diary (July 1985)

26 – Kenny Stuart winning the 1986 Glasgow Marathon

27 – John Wild working on a 16 Sqn Tornado at Nellis AFB near Las Vegas in 1987

28 – Anne Wild winning the 1989 RAF Germany cross country championships

29 – Rosie Stuart on top of the podium at the 2005 Black Forest Games

30 – Emma Stuart, selected for the 2005 World Mountain Running championships in Wellington, New Zealand

31 – John Wild training his son Jack for the 2015 Stafford half marathon

32 – Kenny Stuart signs an autograph at Joss Naylor’s 80th birthday celebration in 2016

Photo credits

1 – Derby Evening Telegraph

2 – Pauline Stuart

3 – MOD

4 – Derby Evening Telegraph

5 – John Wild

6 – Westmorland Gazette

7 – Copyright unknown

8 – John Wild

9 – Derby Evening Telegraph

10 – Neil Shuttleworth

11 – Neil Shuttleworth

12 – John Wild

13 – Steve Bateson

14 – Steve Chilton

15 – Neil Shuttleworth

16 – Neil Shuttleworth

17 – Simon Parker

18 – Cumbrian Newspapers Ltd

19 – Dave Hall

20 – Eileen Woodhead

21 – Steve Bateson

22 – Dave Woodhead

23 – Danny Hughes

24 – Pete Hartley

25 – Steve Chilton

26 – Copyright unknown

27 – John Wild

28 – John Wild

29 – Pauline Stuart

30 – Fred Wilson

31 – Anne Wild

32 – Ian Charters

Acknowledgements

There are always many people to acknowledge when a book comes together, some in a huge way and others for very minor, but critical, aspects. First, I must thank Moira Chilton, for everything really. She has been my rock through over three decades of life together, through all the good times and more recently my less good health.

Throughout the writing of the manuscript John Wild and Kenny Stuart have been exemplary to work with, and they, and their families, have been a joy to cooperate with. On being asked, they have provided, and checked, countless facts, anecdotes and photographs.

The fell running community came up trumps, as always, pointing me to important contacts and leads via its extensive formal and informal networks. Similarly, the B&B community of the Northern Lakes provided me with several excellent research trip stopovers.

As always, conducting the interviews in the research phase of the project has been an incredibly enjoyable experience. Huge thanks for their generosity of time and spirit to: Jack Maitland, Hugh Symonds, Dave Hall, Mark McGlincy, Alan Warner, Malcolm Patterson, Joss Naylor, and Billy Bland.

Many people helped with photo searching and provision, especially Dave Woodhead, Steve Bateson, Neil Shuttleworth, Ian Charters and Denise Park. The photos included are credited with copyright details, where known. A good proportion of the images were John and Kenny’s photographic prints, and Richard Fellows and Alun Johns both kindly loaned their scanning knowledge (and equipment) to convert them to digital files.

Dave Spedding went out of his way to arrange a loan of early Keswick AC Pacemaker magazines. Ed Price and Jamie March provided a sounding board for title ideas, when I was thrashing around indecisively.

Friends are a vital support on the roller-coaster ride that is the writing process. Mike Cambray has long been an absolutely top friend, and has always been happy to provide me with accommodation and share his boundless enthusiasm for my writing projects. Big thanks to Hannah Sheridan for straightening out my thoughts on nutrition in the manuscript, and for trying to introduce me to the world of smoothies and beetroot, only one of which went well.

The first time anyone saw this manuscript was when I showed it to a critical friend. Will Morris was that friend and I emphasised that he must be critical, and he was, and we are still friends. His thorough and detailed feedback have resulted in significant changes in structure in the re-write. I am sure these have improved things, but any errors or omissions remain my responsibility, as author.

Finally, I would especially like to thank Robert Davidson and all at Sandstone Press for editorial advice, and for being so good to work with.

Glossary/acronyms

AAA – Amateur Athletic Association

ATC – Air Training Corps

BGR – Bob Graham Round, a 62 mile long distance challenge in the Lake District

BOFRA – British Open Fell Runners Association

carbo-loading – A carbohydrate-loading diet is a strategy to increase the amount of fuel stored in your muscles to improve your athletic performance. Carbohydrate loading generally involves greatly increasing the amount of carbohydrates you eat several days before a high-intensity endurance athletic event. You also typically scale back your activity level during carbohydrate loading.

‘chase – Steeplechase

DNF – Did not finish

DOMS – Delayed onset muscle soreness

ECG – Electrocardiogram

fartlek – Means ‘speed play’ in Swedish, is a training method that blends continuous training with interval training. The variable intensity and continuous nature of the exercise places stress on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. It differs from traditional interval training in that it is unstructured; intensity and/or speed varies, as the athlete wishes.

ECCU – English Cross Country Union

FRA – Fell Runners Association

IAAF – International Association of Athletics Federations

Inter-Counties – The Inter-Counties is one of the major annual cross country races, featuring the leading runners from each county

‘Long’ – FRA race category, over 20 kms

‘Medium’ – FRA race category, over 10 kms but less than 20 kms

Mooning – To display one’s bottom in public

Mountain Trial – The Lake District Mountain Trial, a long, testing event requiring stamina and good navigation

PB – Personal best (time) for an event

PYG track – The PYG Track is one of the routes up Snowdon. It is possible that it was named after the pass it leads through, Bwlch y Moch (translated Pigs’ Pass) as the path is sometimes spelled ‘Pig Track’. Or, maybe because it was used to carry ‘pyg’ (black tar) to the copper mines on Snowdon. Another possible explanation is that the path was named after the nearby Pen y Gwryd Hotel, popular amongst the early mountain walkers.

RAF – Royal Air Force

reccie – Reconnoitre, usually of a race or route

‘Short’ – FRA race category, less than 10 kms

SUV – Sport utility vehicle

TB – Tuberculosis

Walshes – The Walsh shoe brand. Popular with fell runners

YHA – Youth Hostel Association

Preface

After fifteen races, a hundred or so miles and a huge amount of effort, the 1983 Fell Running championship was decided at the final fell race of the series, Thieveley Pike. It was a thrilling finale to the finest championship ever, with two men going into the last race with a chance of winning. John Wild, the international steeplechaser, needed maximum points whilst Kenny Stuart, the former professional fell racer, just needed to prevent John Wild from winning.

Stuart may have hoped to have it all sewn up before Thieveley, but he was nervous after Wild had won the last two races, and he had to wait for the last race. Kenny Stuart was worried, as he had always had the impression that John Wild was better than him on a course like Thieveley Pike, and he slipped into reassuring himself that even finishing second overall was good enough in this his first championship season. Kenny Stuart knew, ‘It was down to that race. People said I had it in the bag before that, but I hadn’t. I had to win that to get it. To be honest I would have settled for second place. I kept thinking to myself, “I have done quite well” and John is a damn good athlete.’

There was huge interest in the race, which was held on a fine but overcast day, with just some mist on the summit. Compared to some years it was very dry underfoot, and this and the battle for victory between Stuart and Wild would produce some stunning times.

It was an amazing race to climax an absolutely enthralling season, throughout which the two greatest fell runners of that year had battled to try to secure the title. The championship at that time was much tougher than it is now. After fifteen races the title was decided by just twenty seconds at the final race.

I had been wondering about writing something around the amazing events of the 1983 season’s fell running championships for some time when a serendipitous event galvanised me into action. In a moment of idleness, having voluntarily gone down to a three-day working week, I had signed up to a Facebook group (I am, or was, a runner) and saw a posting from a ‘John Wild’. A reasonably common combination of names, you might think, but the context of the posting led me to believe it might be the noted fell runner of that name. I decided to drop him a private message, pitching my manuscript idea to him in a couple of succinct sentences, with the hope that he might like to cooperate by agreeing to be interviewed. I received a swift response which included the sentiment that John would be ‘glad to help and revisit that wonderful time’.

I had already floated the idea to Kenny Stuart when he attended the paperback launch of‘It’s a hill, get over it’,and received what came across as a cautious show of interest from him. I decided to strike while the iron was hot, and phoned Kenny to tell him about contacting John, and asking him to confirm his own cooperation. With those two verbal agreements in the bag I wrote a fuller synopsis and pitched it to my publisher, and all that is herein follows in some way or other from that initial judicious contact via social media.

In my many conversations with Kenny Stuart and John Wild in preparing this book I got a real sense of the mutual respect between these two very different athletes. At various times they both returned to that theme, alluding to each other’s strengths, and to how they had pushed each other to the limit in the 1983 fell running championship season that is the core of this book.

As well as having long discussions with the two main protagonists, I was also fortunate to be able to interview many of the main players in the sport from this era. Many of the events are illuminated by the interviews and analysis from these contemporaries.

Looking at Kenny and John’s performances over the years, there is a strange symmetry to their peak years as athletes. John Wild came from the Midlands, and competed on the track (reaching the steeplechase final at the 1978 Commonwealth Games) before coming on to the fells seriously for the first time in the 1980 season. He won the British championships for two straight years in 1981 and 1982, before having the almighty tussle with Kenny that is at the core of this book in the 1983 season. Kenny Stuart is from Cumbria and started running as a professional before he was reinstated as an amateur in 1982, before the big year of 1983, and then won the championships convincingly in 1984 and 1985, before taking up marathon running (with an impressive best time of 2 hours 11 minutes). However, their routes to those fell championship triumphs could not have been more diverse, as we shall see. Wild and Stuart’s running careers also began to diverge after 1983, but they remained firm friends.

The book is in six parts, which cover: Wild and Stuart’s families; their early lives; their racing careers before 1983; the monumental fell championship season of 1983; their later running; and subsequent lives.

Interestingly, Steve Ovett and Seb Coe, the two great middle distance track rivals, were at their peak at the same time as Wild and Stuart. Ovett and Coe only raced each other on the track six times in their whole careers, between 1978 and 1989. Four of these were Olympic Games 800/1500m finals in 1980 and 1984. Wild and Stuart raced each other eleven times in that season of 1983 alone.

The Coe and Ovett story is played out in Pat Butcher’s excellent bookThe Perfect Distance, which contrasts their two different backgrounds, which did tend to get somewhat over-emphasised in the media at the time. There are some similarities with the backstory to Wild and Stuart’s lives. In other sports there have been some classic two-person rivalries that dominated their respective sports at the time. In triathlon Dave Scott and Mark Allen’s story is told inIron War(by Matt Fitzgerald), and in cycling there are two that stand out: Boardman v Obree (described in Edward Pickering’sThe Race Against Time); and Hinault v LeMond (which is told inSlaying the Badgerby Richard Moore). Reading this latter book was in a way responsible for the idea for this volume.

PART ONE

Families

CHAPTER 1

Gotta keep it loose

We sat overlooking the pub car park, playing a game of ‘is that him?’Eventually a modest Renault Clio pulled in and a casually dressed man got out. He was of medium height, dressed in a rugby shirt but giving the impression of someone who cared for his appearance. We deduced it was our man and I went to meet him at the door of the pub, introduced myself and got the (soft) drinks in.

I had arranged to meet John Wild for the first time in a style that now seems normal for my book interviews – over coffee in some random location, not really knowing what the interviewee looked like. This time it was a large pub just off junction 14 on the M6. We were breaking a family journey to the Lakes to meet John and have a bite to eat. After introducing him to my wife Moira, we sat down and I explained what I wanted to talk about initially. I had a set of prepared questions which were hardly needed, as after a few prompts John started a flow of anecdotes about all aspects of his running life.

Behind his animated, yet relaxed, exterior beats the heart of a man who I later found out had represented his country at the four athletic disciplines of track, road, cross country and fell running, possibly a unique achievement. I realised I was going to like John Wild, particularly when he said, ‘I am astounded that you are writing a book about all this. It is brilliant to archive stuff.’

At the time of our meeting Wild had a bandaged hand. He explained that he had recently had a new finger joint. ‘It hasn’t gone brilliantly. I can’t straighten it,’ he laughed. John’s finger is arthritic, but it isn’t painful any more. Over the years he has had to have several operations. On my asking further about it he replied that he probably had, ‘a high pain threshold, although I have been doubting that recently.’

I showed my command of technology by failing to get either of my portable audio recorders to work. So I tried to scribble, in longhand, some of the most important responses as John reeled them off. Unbeknown to me Moira had quietly turned on the audio recorder on her mobile phone, so we had a recording to download and transcribe after all. What a star! John provided a foundation for further discussion by providing interesting stories and background information about his running and his time in the RAF.

I got myself a bit more organised and called John again sometime afterwards, with a request to talk specifically about his early days and his family. He agreed, this time meeting me in another pub just off the A5 as I headed to Snowdonia for my son’s stag do. More soft drinks, and on this occasion we covered his early life.

John Wild was born on 13 February 1953, and was brought up in a farming family. His parents, Reginald John and Kathleen (nee Yeomans), were both from Findern, in South Derbyshire (near Repton). Wild comes from farming stock, as his father (who was born in 1914) was also a farmer’s son, with his mother having been born in 1920. Kathleen had been married before Reginald, but her husband had died, leaving her to bring up their young daughter. In what John Wild describes as the ‘heartless old days’ she had been married to a another farmer’s son, and when he died the family just cast her off, and she had to move back to her own parents with her baby girl. She would do cleaning jobs, having to take the baby around with her, because there was no welfare state then. She got nothing from her deceased husband’s parents. When John’s father met her, John’s grandfather objected and they feuded. By the time John was born his father had already left the family farm at Findern, after a big bust up with John’s grandfather. ‘When my dad and mum got together my grandfather objected most strongly to taking on someone else’s family. My grandfather refused to pay dad a living wage to look after his new family and so dad left and became a farm labourer elsewhere.’ John’s mother was never really accepted by her family, and John’s father rarely spoke to his own father after that.

In a strange turn of events John’s dad’s last surviving sibling passed away in August 2016. She had inherited everything that might have come to John’s dad. John noted that, ‘she didn’t leave a will. I have been informed that I am now executor/administrator of her estate as next of kin. So, I may get some of what was not gifted to dad over fifty years ago.’

From the earlier relationship John has a step-sister Diane, who is nine years older than him. He also has a biological sister, Margaret, who is four years older than him. He was the baby of the family. He reckons that he was ‘very much wanted, but alsonotwanted’. His father wouldn’t have chosen to have any more children, but his mother persuaded him on the chance of getting a boy, and it worked out that way.

Diane was born in 1944 and then after his other sister was born in 1949, the family moved to Shardlow, near Derby, where again John’s father was a farm labourer. ‘We lived in a two-up two-down farm cottage at the end of Wilne Lane, and we were there when I was born in February 1953. We moved to a brand new council house about two miles away about a year later, and by then my father had left farming. When my grandfather got too old to farm it was all sold off and is now a housing estate. He moved to a house in Aston on Trent with my dad’s sister and husband and lived there until he died in about 1963-64.’

John took a nostalgic bike ride in September 2014, on which he visited all the places he grew up in, including Findern. He also visited their old cottage in Shardlow and stopped at the village pub. ‘Spookily, I met an old chap and got talking and it turned out that he got my dad his first job outside farming - as a dumper truck driver at a nearby gravel quarry. So you see, I never really had the opportunity to carry on the family farm and it was all history by the time I was old enough to understand.’ He did meet his grandfather from time to time, but he was anything but friendly, and all John remembers is a grumpy old man. Back in the early 1980s John went to Findern with his mum and his wife Anne and went for a drink in the village pub. ‘Mum recognised an old chap at the bar as someone who’d worked on the farm, so I introduced myself. It turned out that he started work on the farm straight from school and his first job was to look after the Shire horses.’

This somewhat dysfunctional family upbringing didn’t really have any deep impact on John, who seems inured to it all now, and has a very balanced family of his own. He says now, ‘I can’t say that it affected me at all, although I was conscious of it affecting dad at times. I was old enough to know that when granddad died, dad received nothing at all in his will and everything went to his sister.’ By that time John’s father was a fitter at Castle Donnington power station. The family often struggled, but his father was always in work and they were always well looked after.

John says he had a happy childhood with some marvellous memories, including holidays taken in a caravan in North Wales. John reckons he had, ‘some great mates, and we were of that lucky generation that had the freedom to roam the countryside. I was an adult before I realised how good the local farmer had been to us. He must have known we were wandering his fields and woods but just left us alone.’ However, they caused no damage. They climbed trees, made dens and played football and cricket in the farmer’s cow fields. In the winter they would skate on his ponds. ‘My best memory is when I had my first bike for Christmas when I was ten. It was second-hand but a total surprise, as it was unexpected. I cycled miles on that little bike.’ Their family holidays were always taken at Rhyl in a small caravan (John has bundles of pictures of the family on the beach). Initially they went by coach from Derby, but then his father got their first car. ‘He was so proud of that little car and we were about the first on the estate to get one. It was a Morris 1000, registration number TRU 296, which we namedTruie,’ he recalls.

John went to the village primary school in Shardlow. He remembers the transition to senior school. It was the Ernest Roper Secondary School, a brand new comprehensive. ‘We were the first year without the 11-plus (that either sent you to Grammar school or Secondary Modern), but a new exam streamed you for the new Comprehensive. I was in the top stream and went to a new school that had been built at Long Eaton a few miles away.’ At school he didn’t really start running until he was twelve years old. ‘It was all about showing off. The furthest you could run was 880 yards. So myself and a couple of others decided to see who could run fastest. I did quite a good time and was put into the district sports and that was the start.’ After three years you could elect to go to the grammar school to do ‘O’ levels, which he did.

Running certainly wasn’t John’s main sport for many years to come though. ‘My mum’s youngest brother, uncle Paul, got me into fishing at an early age. I used to go regularly with him and on my own quite a lot. I even went fishing on Christmas Day one year.’ He carried on with that until he joined the RAF. He was also mad keen on football and used to play most nights after school. ‘A new playing field was created from the farmer’s field in about 1965, and it was right behind our house. I also got into rugby when I went to the Grammar School in 1967 and carried on playing both up until about 1971 when running came to the fore.’

It was as a result of the influence of what he describes as a ‘brilliant’ physics teacher at Long Eaton Grammar School named Ken Bellerby that John got into his first athletics club. John joined Allestree Woodlands, on the fringes of Allestree Park in Derbyshire, which was the venue of the Inter-Counties Cross Country championships in 1974 and 1980, the two years of John’s only Inter-Counties victories. In John’s view it was a good and friendly club. On club nights they would often go on a long run. But, there was no pressure to do more. ‘I do remember when I was younger I used to go out for a five mile run and my mum used to time me on the kitchen clock.’

That the Inter-Counties victories were on his home patch were special to John. ‘Especially as my coach Don Woodruff was watching, and in 1980 he was quite poorly. In 1974 Ray Crabb was second in the Juniors and I won the Seniors, and we were training together at RAF Wyton.’ He explains the location certainly had a positive effect on his performances, and therefore his victories. ‘The venue was local and it was hilly, which suited me. In 1980 Nick Lees raced away at the start and it was only on the last hill I caught him. He was a great front-runner.’

John recalls that at school his best subject was English, although he was deemed to be ‘a bit thick’ at school. I find this hard to believe. As I have got to know him he seems a very confident and knowledgeable person. As a youngster his athletics prospered. ‘We had access to club athletics and cross country all over the Midlands and also of course, the county championships, which were held at Markeaton Park. I won at all age groups over the years at boys, youths, juniors and seniors.’

However, he only competed at the English Schools track championships once, and in the early days he mainly did long jump and 880 yards. For a runner who became so good over longer distances later on it is remarkable that he also only ever ran at the English Schools cross country championships once. In the 1969 English Schools at Leicester John came 12th in the Intermediate Boys, nine places ahead of Julian Goater. He did the steeplechase the one time he got to the English Schools track championships. ‘It was at Motspur Park and the race was over 1000m, so I would be a junior. John Wheway won the 2000m senior steeplechase, I remember.’

I asked John what memories he had of turning up for the first time at the Allestree club. ‘I had no proper kit, just plimsolls and shorts. One of the Keily brothers had a kit business and I remember buying some Tiger shoes and a track suit at a race and then going out in them again when I got home. I was like a fish out of water I guess.’

At one point I asked John about his early ambitions, both for his life and his running. He considered for a moment before replying, ‘I can’t really remember if anything specifically grabbed me, even the usual train driver thought escaped me. My RAF ambitions began when I was about twelve.’

Originally John said he didn’t know where that spark came from, as there was no military interest in his family. In later conversations he suggested that maybe, ‘the initial idea came from boyhood comics like theVictorandHotspurthat used to run stories of war time aircraft activities, and I was fascinated by the concept of radar.’

John continued, ‘I can’t say I had any specific ambitions to be a running champion, but I did realise that I was quite good early on and was prepared to train. I think those advising me had a better idea of my potential than me and they encouraged me to get better.’

Expanding on his theme of others recognising his potential and encouraging him, he recalled that through Ken Bellerby he had got to meet someone he describes as one of the most interesting people he has ever met, Don Woodruff. ‘He was ahead of his time and he coached and advised me in later years. Ken Bellerby knew him and said he had this young lad who is a decent runner. We ran things like the Lutterworth road relays, county cross countries and so on. Woodruff was a good man, but sadly he died in 1988.’

Don Woodruff used to drive four miles from his house to pick John Wild and another lad up, take them to the club training night and bring them home. ‘My parents encouraged me and came to early races. My dad died in 1972, so he missed most of the big occasions, but I do remember when I had done the ATC National championships at Uxbridge and he met me from the station. I had won the half mile. He said “how did it go”, I said “not that well” and then showed him the winner’s cup and medal! I also remember I won the ATC National cross country championships twice, once at RAF Halton of all places and once on the Epsom Downs racecourse.’

I was interested in why John thought Don was ahead of his time. ‘He was talking about e-additives before others caught on. He later worked in a school for difficult kids. He was telling the organisation to reduce the e-numbers and give them a better diet, and importantly more exercise. There was one young guy who was in for arson. Don used to take him running. After a few weeks he said to Don, “I get the same buzz from running as I do from setting fires”. So, a result there’, John explained.

Later on, Don’s coaching became quite challenging. ‘When I was in my late 20s he would suggest a double session, like doing two hill sessions on the same day. I would do a hill session at lunchtime, and the same hill session in the evening, and I would do better on the second one.’

There were early indications of John’s individuality, independence and also rebellious nature, as the circumstances of his going for an RAF career show, as does his behaviour after being accepted. He joined the Air Training Corps (ATC) to get closer to the RAF. ‘My dad used to get theDaily Mirrorand there was an advert for the ATC. I wrote off, didn’t tell anyone, and got in. I just didn’t feel the need to discuss it with my parents. When I joined they were right behind me though. My local ATC was in Alvaston, about five miles away, and I was in that for two years. It wasn’t an easy place to get to, with quite a remote bus service. I remember cycling, or going on the bus or my dad might take me. My parents used to come to our open days, and watch me in parades in Derby, everything.’

Through the ATC John visited many RAF stations and also had flying and gliding experiences. It really reinforced his ambition to join the RAF. He attended the RAF Youth Selection Centre at RAF Stafford just before his 16thbirthday.‘At the RAF selection I always fancied being in radar, because that was a fancy word then. They said “from the test you have taken you are more suited to navigational work”. So I went to Cosford on a two-year apprenticeship in Navigational Instruments.’ John recalls that he, ‘also had access to good competition through the Air Training Corps and won National titles on both track and cross country (in 1967-69).’

He applied for the RAF in February 1969 when he was just sixteen, and still at school. He had a three-day selection interview at RAF Stafford to do an apprenticeship, for which you didn’t need any qualifications. ‘When I came back to school in February after being accepted for the RAF I just didn’t care about school any more. I didn’t revise and didn’t turn up for two exams and got fined. It was quite right and a stupid thing to do,’ he now says. He remained a member of Allestree Woodlands until it disbanded in the early seventies. ‘I was still competing for them in various events such as county championships and even one year, Nos Galan, in 1971 I think.’

He joined the RAF in September 1969, and although he flunked his exams at school he did try hard to get some qualifications later, and to prove himself. ‘I got to HNC level (Higher National Certificate) in the end and quite a high mark at Maths, later on when I wanted to be an engineering officer. I wasn’t focussed at school. The RAF proved I was quite academic. The apprenticeship was classroom based and was quite hard.’

John’s wife Anne came from the Isle of Wight, as did her mother. Anne’s father was a marine from Blackburn. He met Anne’s mother when he was doing cliff-top abseiling, on the Ventnor cliffs on the Isle of Wight, training for the war. He was a Marine Commando, involved in the D-day landings, crossing with the Americans to Omaha Beach.

John met Anne through athletic misfortune, at the Farnham Park rehabilitation centre. ‘I got injured in the last cross country race of the 1974 season. I had ruptured my Achilles tendon. I spent several months attempting to get it healed, to no avail. It was that situation where you recover, start running, and bang it goes again. I was coached at the time by Alan Warner, an RAF Engineering Officer who was also coaching Roger Clark, an international runner. Warner was the RAF Cross Country Team Manager when I started in 1971 and throughout my running career. Roger Clark won the Midlands championships in 1968 or 1969, and was third in the 1973 English National at Parliament Hill that Rod Dixon and Dave Bedford turned up for unexpectedly.’

Alan Warner is now a lively seventy-six-year-old (at the time of writing) who still runs every other day, and loved talking through his connection with John Wild when we met over a long coffee. Born in Wolverhampton, he joined the RAF as an Apprentice at sixteen and had a full career as an Engineer Officer, working with aircraft, on three or four different RAF bases. In his later life he was Chairman of British Road Running, and on the IAAF Cross Country and Road Running Committee. He also worked with Dave Cannon (who coached Kenny Stuart for a while) on Road Running team management in his later career.

Warner’s own athletics soon reached county schools level, then on to English Schools, but he didn’t get to any track finals. When he joined the RAF he ran for them, until he developed a very bad Achilles tendon injury while he was stationed in Singapore. ‘That terminated my career as an active runner,’ he explained. ‘However, since I loved athletics I then started down the admin route. One thing led to another, and I got in to coaching. I had been an 800/1500m runner, fairly successfully, winning a few titles, but I was finished at 22 years old. The highlight was possibly being ranked 10th at the 880 yards, with running something like 1-56.8. I also ran cross country for the RAF.’

John Wild says that Alan Warner knew orthopaedic surgeon Dr John Williams, who was doing innovative tendon operations. Instead of putting you in plaster for a month and letting it heal he would operate. He would strip the tendon of its sheath, sew everything back together and put you in Elastoplast. But, the essential part of his treatment was rehabilitation and starting the patient on exercises straight afterwards. He was also Director of the Farnham Park rehabilitation centre. ‘He wouldn’t operate unless I agreed to be a residential patient. I got special paid leave from the RAF for me to attend and I was away from duties for seven weeks, one of which was spent in hospital. I went there for six weeks in 1974. From that day I never had any trouble with my tendon. The day after the operation Dr Williams came round to see me and said, “are you all right John?”. I said I was a bit sore. He twisted my foot and said “you gotta keep it loose”. By the time I came out of there I was doing full blown circuit training, and I was really fit.’

Alan Warner recalls that, ‘we went down a path to get John’s injury sorted out, which was a challenge for me personally. The Farnham visit was set up through Royal Air Force channels.’ I felt it was pertinent to ask Warner, with hindsight of course, whether he felt John had ever over-trained, resulting in injuries. ‘The only injury I know well is the Achilles tendon one, and that got sorted,’ he replied. ‘It is a common injury, it finished my career, so I think it happened and we got it sorted out. Dr Williams did the surgery and was there the next day to initiate the physio.’

Wild went back to Dr Williams and the rehab centre a further three times, the last time in January 1976 which was when he met his future wife, Anne. John had a really good winter season in 1975-76, but then went back to the rehabilitation centre again as he had a bone spur on his ankle. The surgeon eventually diagnosed what it was and John had another operation. ‘Anne was there at the rehab centre training to be a remedial gymnast, working in the later stage in people’s rehab routine. Someone else would teach patients how to tie knots in string with their feet. She would do the more advanced stuff, from light exercises to supervising full blown circuit training. She was only 17, which I didn’t know at the time. She was training before going to University down in Cardiff. We started going out in early 1976.’

The Wilds have two children, Kate (23) and Jack (21). Kate is with the Home Office Offender Management Service, and Jack is in the band of the Irish Guards. Jack was born in Staffordshire, but for the first pregnancy Anne went to stay with her mum in Derby as John was going through Officer training, so Kate was born there. Reflecting again on his family background, John recalled, ‘My grandparents had a farm, which is now a housing estate. I rarely saw my grandfather Jack, as he was a nasty piece of work by all accounts. He died when I was 10 or 11. I never met my granny, I believe she had died before I was born. What I do remember about my grandad is that he always ate his pudding before the main meal. My dad said in the old days when you were responsible for feeding the farm labourers you fed them suet pudding before the meat and veg, so they wouldn’t eat so much of that.’

Thinking back over his early running, John says he can’t remember exactly why he started doing steeplechase, possibly because he was not fast enough at the mile. ‘As a youngster, we did no barrier practice, and I don’t think the hurdles came out apart from sports day. However, I still hold the school mile record – it doesn’t exist anymore.’ Then he joined up and didn’t do any ‘A’ levels. ‘I got into the RAF side of things quite quickly. I was just doing my own thing fitness wise.’

There used to be a cross country race for apprentices every September called the Hyde Mass. Wild competed three times, and won it each time. ‘I remember before they had finish funnels they just stopped you at the end, and in this race it was backed up 50 yards before the line. I don’t know why it was called Hyde Mass, probably ‘Mass’ part from the fact that over 1000 apprentices were forced to run in it! After I won Hyde Mass two years on the trot there was a plot to stop me, but I got wind of it. The senior apprentices were going to kidnap me to stop me winning!’

The first posting he got was to RAF Marham in Norfolk, near Kings Lynn. It was not considered a good posting – there were no women, and it was out in the middle of nowhere. But it was redeemed for John because there were people to train with, including Brian Jeffs. ‘One time we put an RAF Marham team in to do the Land’s End to John O’Groats Relay, which we did in 84 hours. I didn’t really want to do it but was pressured by the station commander.’

‘We did it in two teams of four as a rolling relay. Each team would do four hours, roughly ten miles each in two mile legs, ie 5 x 2 miles. We had a RAF bus in stretcher mode which we would sleep in for four hours when off shift. So, four hours sleep and get out and do it all again. You had to eat in the four hours off too. There was some managing of the team required. This was where what you might call “nice bullying” came in. I am glad I did it in the end.’

Subsequently John wasn’t happy at RAF Marham, asked for a change and got a posting to RAF Wyton, where he found that Ray Crabb and Brian Jeffs were also stationed. ‘I got a job which was not working shifts, and involved fixing electronic boxes. Now I could train in the morning and at lunchtime.’

Reflecting on this period, Alan Warner commented that, ‘John Wild and Ray Crabb got together at Wyton, and I happened to believe philosophically that if you got two athletes together and they are both good and moving forward then you have a good thing. I coached the Rimmer twins (Gordon and Steve) and that was just the same.’ He also feels that these connections were part of the process of getting a strong RAF team together across its many bases.

As we shall see, the RAF won the Inter-Services championships many years in a row. I asked John if he had an explanation for this continuous run of success. He thinks they just attracted a steady stream of great runners, but weren’t actively recruiting on that basis. Mentioning two international athletes, who were also in RAF teams with him, John commented, ‘I don’t think that Julian Goater joined the RAF because of the athletics! Steve Jones wasn’t even a runner when he joined, he used to smoke and drink a bit. He was aliney, working on the aircraft. I’d say it was just an outstanding era, like the Ovett/Coe era on the track.’

At this point John did admit to being a high mileage trainer in his heyday. But he says that he rarely performed to the level he should have in the National cross country championships. For the months of November, December and January he was fine, but he seemed to get jaded, which he claims wasn’t anything to do with the extra distance of that race.

‘I used to keep a training diary. I did 100 miles a week for over two years continuously once, and got up to 120 miles some weeks.’ John Wild’s 100 miles a week was certainly more mileage than Kenny Stuart normally put in. Kenny was aware that this changed when John came to the fells, as Kenny thought that, ‘when John was on the fells it might have been more like 60 miles a week. But it was very technical – incredible stuff, reps twice a week and a long run once a week. Bread and butter training. He was very coordinated.’

John Wild’s training load, and where it got him, will be explored in more detail later.

CHAPTER 2

A good constitution for a small fella

I have come to know Kenny Stuart fairly well over recent years, as I have interviewed him on several occasions in conducting my historical research into the sport of fell running. Once he had agreed to cooperate on telling his life story, he graciously invited me back to his cosy family home to hear about his early life. It is a modest house situated in the shadow of Blencathra, which is a mere stroll from the standard changeover point at the end of leg one of a clockwise Bob Graham Round.

Kenny Stuart started his story by saying that he came to fell running by a natural progression, ‘from hours spent playing around my village in the late 1960s – games of an athletic nature involving a lot of running at various intensities. “Hounds and Hares” was a favourite, with its chases on the hillsides, as were many games of football and, in my case, hours spent tramping the hills in winter following the local foxhounds and beagles.’ As we shall see, he progressed from this to be one of the finest and toughest competitors on the fells, and later also became an accomplished marathoner on the roads. Stuart was born in fell country, and moved from fell to road, meeting and competing in some epic encounters with John Wild, as Wild moved from his Midland roots through track and cross country on to the fells.

Kenny Stuart was born on 25 February 1957, in Penrith hospital, to parents who lived in Threlkeld at the time. Looking at his family background and roots there is not an exceptional amount of athletic prowess there, except maybe from his grandfather.

Going back a generation, Kenny’s grandfather Ernest worked in Threlkeld quarry, breaking stones with a hammer. He was born and bred in Threlkeld, and his wife Eva was a local too. In those days you didn’t marry far away. In the early days Eva didn’t work while her husband was in the mines. But then when things got better in the 1950s, and women started going out to work, she went to work at Keswick Pencil Mill. Kenny chuckles, ‘I haven’t a clue what work it was, it was on the production line but she loved it. She liked meeting people. She didn’t mind the factory environment.’

Kenny describes his grandfather’s Ernest’s background. ‘He was a different breed, and did a bit of fell running. He also played full-back for Penrith football club when they were in one of the Northern Counties leagues, which were a very high standard in those days. He was a fairly talented footballer. He was also well known for being strong, and for his athletic prowess. He was known as Little Gi, because he was a small fella, but very thickset. So he wasn’t a big giant he was a little giant. So, it was ‘Laal Gi’ really, in the Cumbrian dialect.

Little Gi didn’t go to the sports as you couldn’t travel easily in those days, there were no cars. He worked in the quarries, doing tough manual work. At one point he worked in Greenside Lead Mine. ‘He worked at Threlkeld Quarry, and I think he did a spell at Brundholme Mine, and he worked at the lead mines in Threlkeld here, and at Gategill. Woodend Mine it was. He always had a good constitution for a small fella.’

Little Gi used to tell a story of when he first left school and he had to go to the site and start the bellows off to get the air in to the mines. He said it was dark and full of rats and he hated it. Kenny explains, ‘He was only like 14 years old. And he used to wait at the entrance until he could hear the miners’ clogs coming and he ran back in and started to pump when he knew they were nearly there. It was a rough old time. The pit ponies were stabled down here in the village, at Stable Cottages just below the school, and he used to take them backwards and forwards. They used to pull tubs with all the metal in them on railway lines. They were deep mines too, right into the heart of Blencathra.’

Without doubt those genes gave Kenny a natural advantage in his chosen sport, and the ‘good constitution for a small fella’ description can equally apply to him. Kenny acknowledges that Ernest used to come to watch him in his fell running days, until he died at 82 years old. ‘He had a bit of a stroke and he never really recovered from it. In those days (1986/7) there wasn’t the same aftercare and old people’s homes where you were kept alive. I think basically he knew it was time to go and he just went, and that was it.’

Kenny’s father Fred was born in Threlkeld, and his mother Sheila was from West Cumbria. Fred Stuart was classed as a labourer on Kenny’s birth certificate. He worked in various manual jobs,includingfollowing his own father into working in a quarry, and fora brief period at Flusco, which was an open limestone quarry just near Penrith - where the Flusco tip is now. ‘He also worked on the railway, on the P F and K line here as a ganger. P F and K is Penrith, Keswick and something else! The line went on to Workington.’

Then Fred worked at the Blencathra Sanatorium, which was a TB hospital at the time, for a couple of years. It opened in 1904, away from the town of Keswick, initially catering for 20 patients. It is now a centre promoting environmental understanding and is run by the Field Studies Council, in partnership with the Lake District National Park Authority. Kenny’s fatherworked there as an orderly for a brief spell. When it was an outdoor centre Kenny’s wife Pauline came there with her first husband. He was the warden there, so they ran it when it was a youth hostel. ‘The Centre is very environmentally friendly now apparently, and has won a lot of awards. They have a biomass heating system and they have a hydroelectric plant up the road.’

Fred played for Threlkeld football club, but stopped playing when he was in his mid-twenties. Sheila looked after the family. Kenny’s father spent the last 26 years of his life working at Hope Park in Keswick as a gardener.‘My father died in 2011, and I worked with him for 14 of his years at Hope Park. I was down there 16 years. I enjoyed that job. It was easy going and suited my training regime!’

Kenny has three brothers, all younger than he is. Duncan is two and a half years younger than him, Gary is eight years younger and Colin is ten years younger. Duncan has been a builder all his life and now runs a successful holiday let in St John’s in the Vale (just south of Threlkeld). Gary has had various ailments and has not been able to do a lot of work really. I asked Kenny to say more, but he explained, ‘I don’t really know a lot about it to be honest. He has some sort of arthritic problem. But we are not that close, so Idon’t exactly know the details.’His brother Colin is also a builder.

Kenny went to the primary school in Threlkeld village and then on to Lairthwaite Secondary School in Keswick, which is now part of Keswick School. All his brothers went there too. Kenny recalls, ‘School memories were a little similar to what James Rebanks talks about in his bookThe Shepherd’s Life. You went and you tried to cause as much disruption as you could. We would be rebelling like kids do. The headmaster insisted that we didn’t speak in Lakeland dialect. So we went out of way to talk in as broad a dialect as we could just to be annoying to the teachers. We just went to put time in.’

His two brothers, Gary and Colin, twice ran in the Ambleside junior guides race, but were really not that interested. His other brother, Duncan, reached district standard at cross country at school. He had limited success on the Guides circuit, not winning any of the races he entered, although obtaining a good number of second place finishes. Joining the amateur ranks in 1981, Duncan had a reasonable amount of success, including a twelfth place in the Half Nevis fell race, and he also dabbled in road racing. Duncan’s 1 hour 12 minute half marathon time in the Great Cumbria Run was perhaps a precursor to Kenny’s later marathon exploits. Kenny is obviously quite tight with his brotherDuncan, seeming keen that I know about his latest efforts. ‘He is into mountain biking now, and he has had quite an illustrious career at the local and Vets level. He was no mean runner either. He did 54 minutes for 10 miles on the Derwentwater race, which is quite a good time. He is also a very talented builder. He is doing work on our house now! He has holiday cottages and log cabins in St Johns in the Vale too.’ The Helvellyn fell race used to go from Duncan’s property back in the day, being organised by him.

When Kenny was at junior school they decided to revive Threlkeld children’s sports day, which was held on the recreation field. There was a cross country race for under-12s, which was up a hill. It was the first race Kenny had ever run, and he won it. He can still see the course from his present house in Threlkeld. Later, at secondary school, he competed at cross country running. He was entered into the district championships, and came second. This took him on to his first County championships and he thinks he was about tenth, so was considered for the county team.

Kenny considers that to have been the highlight of his early career. But he didn’t go to the Inter-Counties, as he explained, ‘There must have been seven runners and two reserves, so I just missed it. I had to wait until I was into my late twenties until I got to the Inter-Counties, when I was moving from the fells to the roads.’ It seems that despite multiple appearances each, Kenny Stuart and John Wild never actually ran in the same Inter-Counties championships race.

Kenny explained how his running progressed after they noticed at school that he was good at running. ‘I was running for the county still as I approached 16. You then had to decide if you wanted to run as a professional in the local show races or forgo that to run as an amateur. At that stage I got a letter when I was on the verge of turning 16 in February, saying that if I wished to retain my amateur status I would have to stop running in the summer show fell races. There was nothing amateur really for teenagers then. The races at shows were the big thing – Grasmere, Ambleside and also going up to Scotland. When I look back I think it is ridiculous to think that you could have these people in blazers going round checking up on people. It happened at the Ambleside Sports, the main man from the Northern Athletics Association used to sit around in his blazer with his AAAs badge checking up on the 12-, 13-, and 14-year-olds to see what they were running.’

‘Because I was into fell running and there wasn’t much road running and things up here I decided to go into the Guides race scene.’ He had no real idea of the implications of this decision at the time. ‘Obviously I wasn’t running that well then. I was quite happy to, say, finish 6th in a field of 20. It was the local shows and it was part of my life, and that was it.’