Life on the Run

by Stan Eldon

  Two days later, I was winning the Berkshire Cross-Country in 43:38 for the eight mile course.

  We were then in 1960, Olympic Year, the aspiration of any athlete was to take part, and my performances the previous year set me up to be there, or so I thought.

  The next race was the Inter Counties at Brighton, and this was the race I always liked to use to test how my training was going, as it was always just when I was getting into full winter training. I had a very satisfactory run in fifth place with 36:31 for the seven mile course, which was pretty tough with some steep hills.

  After one more club race win, I was off on that trip to San Sebastian again where I fared no better than the previous year, finishing twentieth on this occasion, but two minutes slower. The San Sebastian races were great events, and there was always a crowd of around 25,000 watching the races, mainly from the hills around the course. Gerry North was the winner this year, and the England team won the team race.

  Just one week later I was in Hannut, Belgium, for another major cross-country where I did a little better, coming third in 36:15 for 11,000 metres, behind the winner Hedwig Leenaert (Belgium) in 35:51, and Allonsius, also Belgium, in 36:09. There were some good men behind me, including Vandwattyne (Belgium) fifth, Michel Bernard (France) who was eighth, and the great Gaston Roelants (Belgium) fifteenth. The England team, which included Brian Hill-Cottingham running his first international in sixth place, were well beaten in the team race by the home team. Looking back to the press cuttings of the race, I see that the English squad were far from happy about the race. I was quoted as saying “We didn’t even know the race had begun until we saw the Belgians move off. It was a farce of a start”. Another member of the team Mike Maynard, who finished seventeenth said “And when we did get going, we had to push spectators out of the way. It was awful”.

  The Southern Counties race followed within a few days and the travelling had taken its toll, and I could only finish third on the tough Parliament Hill course, behind the winner John Merriman and second placed Bruce Tulloh.

  Over the following four weeks, I won four club and police races quite easily and I was beginning to get back to form. On 12th March it was the National Cross-Country at West Bromwich, and I had eased back on my 100 mile a week training, and it paid off with third place in 45:45 for the usual nine miles. The event winner was Basil Heatley in 45:15, from John Merriman, 45:42. Gerry North was just behind me with John Anderson fifth, Fred Norris sixth, Gordon Pirie seventh and Bruce Tulloh eighth.

  I was selected for the England team again, and the international was to be held at Glasgow just two weeks later. In between I had the usual ritual of running and winning the Police AA race again, and fortunately it was nine days before the Glasgow race and not two days as in previous years. The race was won by A. Rhadi (Morocco) in 43:33, Gaston Roelants was second, John Merriman (Wales) third, Basil Heatley fourth, Fred Norris sixth, the very consistent Frank Sando eighth and Harry Minshall ninth. I finished tenth in Glasgow and scored for England for the third successive year, and we won the team race again. It wasn’t bad but I had slid from first to fifth to tenth over the three years.

  One more cross-country race between the police and REME, which I won, and then it was back on the road and one of my regular favourite events the Uxbridge Road Relay, with another fastest time of 26:38, but just outside the record set the previous year.

  I again won the Maidenhead 10 on Easter Monday, in 51:33, just seventeen seconds slower than my 1959 winning time, and forty-one seconds slower than my best time set when I came second in 1958. They were all good times, and bearing in mind the course at Maidenhead was 770 yards over distance, and that extra bit would have taken over two minutes, it was still the equivalent of around 49:30 for ten miles.

  My first track race was ten days later, when I again ran in the annual AAA v Oxford University match. I only finished fourth in 8:52.8, but two days later I did win the Southern Counties six mile in 28:44.4.

  A friendly invitation two mile race followed at Alton, where my opponents were Martin Hyman and Bruce Tulloh amongst others, and I took second place behind Tulloh in 8:56.

  Races at Hornchurch and Portsmouth followed, before I had a very special invitation to run a 5,000 metres crowd warmer at Hampden Park, Glasgow, before the European Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht. Things did not start well, as I had to fit it in with my police duties and was due to fly up from Heathrow on the morning of the race. I arrived at Heathrow too late for my flight, and although they were used to me arriving late and were always very helpful at getting me on the plane at the last moment, they could not help on this occasion as the plane was in the air. I explained my plight and I was lucky. The big wigs of the FA had a charter flight going to the match and Sir Stanley Rous, who was one of them, was approached and I got my seat.

  There were only six of us invited to run in this crowd warmer, and these were Derek Ibbotson, Basil Heatley, Graham Everett (British mile champion in 1958), Alistair Wood the holder of the Scottish records at four, five and six miles, Andrew Brown the holder of the other Scottish distance record the three mile, and myself. The crowd was already very large when we were sent on our way, and the atmosphere was electric. I finished third in 14:26.6, and then the big match started. We had very good seats to watch the game, and although not a great football fan, it was a great match with many goals and the game flowed one end to the other. Afterwards we joined the dinner for the teams, and next morning it was back to reality and the beat. I did get my flight home; they made sure by depositing me at the airport in plenty of time.

  I was well known at Heathrow and always got VIP treatment. I seldom went through the conventional customs routine, as I was nearly always met by a member of Special Branch who was a friend of the family, and he used to meet me from the plane and take me straight to wherever I needed to go. I remember on one occasion when I was taken through the VIP lounge as usual, I was amazed to see so many photographers and press men. I didn’t think my recent exploits justified such attention, but my attention was then drawn to a man in white; it was Pundit Nehru, Prime Minister of India.

  A home match at Windsor followed, and then a rare treat, a whole week without a race but some good solid training with eleven sessions which included some very good ones. On the Tuesday I ran a three-quarter mile in 3:18, followed by two laps slow, and then 880 yards in 2:01, one lap slow and then 440 yards in sixty-four seconds; finishing with 4 × 220 yards in 30, 28, 30 and 25 seconds. That was the first of two sessions that day.

  The first Saturday in June was the usual bank holiday meeting at the White City, and running for Berkshire on the Saturday I only managed fourth in the three miles with 13:54.2. Within two hours I was at Harrow, taking part in a two mile race at the Kodak Sports (there were good prizes at this meet) and I was second in 9:15 on the grass track. This was followed by a light run on the Sunday, and back to the White City on Monday for an invitation 3,000 metres, where I was badly left behind and came ninth in 8:15.8. A few days later I was running a 1,500 metres at Hayes where I came fifth in 4:5.

  My health problem was playing me up, and my running was very erratic at this time. Some good training sessions but not very successful races. Apart from minor races I had not won a race since the Southern 6, in April.

  My luck was to change; at least for one race. I was selected to run 10,000 metres for England against Italy at the White City, and I did win in a reasonable if unspectacular time of 29:30.

  A 5,000 metres running for the South against the North and Midlands followed, and I could only manage second in a very poor time of 14:33. At the end of June I ran the Southern Counties three miles, but no win as I had in previous years, and I ran my fourth place in 13:36.8.

  On the 1st July 1960 I flew to Moscow for a meeting I will never forget. It was only a very small group that flew from Heathrow with me. There was an elderly team manager, Arthur Rowe the
shot-put king, and two others. The first sign of trouble was when we arrived at Moscow Airport. We were kept waiting for a long time and the officials there picked on the biggest of us, Arthur, and having examined his passport, they claimed it was not genuine, or forged, or something. It was of course complete nonsense, but it was a way of mucking us about. What was the problem and why were they doing this?

  During the last week in June, the ‘big three’, Eisenhower, Khrushchev and Macmillan, had been having talks in Paris, and at the end of the week the U-2 pilot Gary Powers was shot down spying over the Soviet Union. The talks were broken off, the cold war was on with a vengeance and there was great anti-American and British feeling in Moscow.

  Eventually we did get released and taken to our hotel off Red Square. The atmosphere was very tense and we were told to stay in the hotel. It was not like our triumphant trip to the city twelve months earlier. On Saturday evening we were conveyed to the Lenin Stadium, and I did not think any of us were in the right frame of mind to perform at our best. I ran in the 5,000 metres, came sixth in 14:22.8, and on the Sunday evening the meeting continued, and I ran 10,000 metres and came tenth in 29:42.8.

  That was not the end of the story; after the Sunday evening meet we went back to our hotel and were told that we would probably not be allowed home; in effect, I suppose we were under house arrest. Back in the hotel I was elected to try and sort the problem as our old retired schoolmaster manager found the whole situation beyond his understanding. The first thing I did was to telephone the British Embassy. They told me they were also confined and could not get to us, and their advice was that there would be a BEA plane taking off from the airport very early, I think about 7 a.m. on Monday morning. They advised me to get everyone up early and to make our way to the airport, and they said they were pretty sure no one would actively try and prevent us leaving.

  Next morning we were up very early; not difficult as I doubt whether any of us slept that well in the circumstances. There was no one about in the hotel as we quietly packed and made our way down the stairs and out into Red Square. I hailed a taxi and showed our air tickets, and he agreed to take us to the airport. When we arrived there we handed over all the rubles we had, which just about covered the fare, and made our way into the departure area, or so we thought; the only problem was there were different terminals like Heathrow and any other major airport, and we had deposited ourselves at the one for internal flights to Siberia. We had no more money and we had virtually no words of Russian between us. Somehow we got on an airport bus and although we should have paid, we somehow got a free ride, and got to the appropriate part of the airport. There was no announcement or display of our flight, but we did find two BEA stewardesses and they explained that the plane was waiting and it would take-off fairly shortly. Next problem, big Arthur, who like the rest of us had gone without his breakfast, insisted he had to get something to eat. He gave me his passport and joined a queue for some food. With that we were told to board the aircraft and we all did with the exception of Arthur. The captain told us we had to take-off quickly and there was no time for delay. Just as they were wheeling the aircraft steps away there was a commotion at the airport buildings, and Arthur could be seen pushing a couple of armed guards away and sprinting towards us. It was up the steps, and I think he had to jump from them into the plane as they were moving away. We were off, and all that trouble had got him just a couple of pretty awful hard boiled eggs. It was our “Retreat from Moscow”.

  It was at this meeting in Moscow that I came across something new in the athletic world. A new world record was set by a woman in the 800 metres, and she was literally taken onto the track and off it by men in white coats. As far as we could make out, hypnotism had been used on her to enable her to run beyond the pain barrier.

  I do not think there was much artificial help for athletes in the 1960s; little was known about supplements and I know that there were only two substances that I ever used. One was glucose tablets, and the other was Redoxin vitamin C tablets that a researcher into the common cold advised me to take to avoid picking up colds after races. It is sad that some forty years later, the use of drugs has become almost commonplace, and athletes are always looking for that extra bit of help to reach the top, without perhaps training that little extra which might give them the edge.

  More mud at Inter Counties Cross-Country with Tulloh in pursuit

  The white police gloves come in handy, chasing Basil Heatley at Brighton

  In full flow with Mimoun chasing during the big race at Cardiff

  The sprint finish gives me victory over the great Mimoun

  The Royal Borough’s appreciation of my early athletic career

  A few of the headlines and cartoons that followed every race - win or lose

  Generous support from Daily Mirror’s Peter Wilson

  A selection of the many cartoons that were based on the ‘running policeman’ or ‘galloping cop’

  The introduction of the first road running shoes to the UK, Kitami and Onitsuka meet Eldon close to the start of the Windsor to Chiswick Marathon

  Eldon and son leave Reading Evening Post on Variety Club Charity Run to London in 1972

  Halfway with a ‘backing group’

  Welcomed at the finish by the late Eric Morley (Miss World) and Jimmy Hill

  Brian Bacon, Reading AC, helping another disabled youngster to enjoy the Reading Half Marathon

  Peter Hull, the man that inspired thousands

  Waiting for the start of one of the smaller entries to the Reading Half Marathon

  The epic dead heat finish of Reading Half Marathon in 1990

  The ‘Chief Jogger’ with Kathy Tayler at one of the early jogging events held in Prospect Park, Reading

  A Stan Eldon Sports Fashion Show - daughter Caroline modelling

  Another job for Stan, compere at the Fashion Show with goalkeeper Phil Parkes and athlete Donna Murray (Hartley)

  Actor Robert Powell, a great supporter of SportsAid at one of the fund raising dinners at the Royal Lancaster

  The agony and ecstasy of the London Marathon in 1985

  Only 13K to go on my 176 mile run to France in 1992

  Chapter Ten: Olympic Disappointment

  Back home I did get back into winning ways within three days, when I won a three mile race in 13:48, running for Berkshire against the Army and the Universities Athletic Union. On the Saturday at the end of an eventful week, I retained both my Police National titles, winning the one mile in 4:14.3 and the three mile in 13:56.4.

  I was signed up by the Reading Standard to write a column every two weeks in the build-up to the Olympics, and my first article was published on May 13th 1960.

  The week after the Police Champs, it was the AAA Championships at the White City that were to be the main selection races for the Olympic team. In hindsight I was silly and ran both the six miles on the Friday evening, where I came fourth in 28:19.8, and the three miles on the Saturday afternoon, coming fifth in 13:39.4.

  When the Olympic team was announced I was not in it, and I was on duty when I found out. I was not happy and telephoned Jack Crump at AAA’s headquarters from a telephone box on my beat. He was very sympathetic and explained that it had been a hard decision, which had been discussed at some length by the Board, but that at the end of the day they thought that my problem with hot weather and my more recent health problem would prevent me from performing at anything close to my potential. He was quick to make me an offer, which did not make up for the disappointment of missing the Olympics, but was still acceptable. He promised me that I would be given the opportunity to go on any overseas trips that would come up after the Olympics.

  I was told that I could still make the team if I performed well at a meeting in Glasgow at the beginning of August; and so, only a couple of days after my second child and first son was born, Jonat
han Stanley, I was off on my travels again. The meeting was the Glasgow Rangers annual meeting at Hampden Park on 6th August. It was very hot and not ideal weather for me to prove myself to the selectors, but I was determined to grab my place by winning the three mile race. I had a good race and on the last lap I made sure by outsprinting my two nearest rivals, Alistair Wood the Scottish record holder at the distance, and Martin Hyman who was going to the Olympics in the 10,000 metres. My winning time was 13:39.6, not a fantastic time but I had won a tough race in my least favourite conditions, and thought as I crossed the line that I had my ticket for Rome. It was not to be, and when the final few places were filled I was not selected, and Gordon Pirie got both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres slots.

  I flew home to see my one-week-old son, and within forty-eight hours I was running at North Shields in a two mile race, which I won in 8:49, the second fastest time of the season by a UK athlete, and beating John Anderson who was a selected runner for the Olympic 1,500 metres, so I was in reasonable form.

  Other races in August included second place in an invitation 5,000 metres with 14:9.8, which was not very good but by then my Olympic dream had been smashed. I also got second in the annual London Fire Brigade meet at the White City, with 8:52.2.