I have always been interested in distance running. Not quite sure why. It is certainly not because of any great ability on my part. On the distance running continuum I would place myself as average – not completely hopeless, but a long, long way from world class. My only ever decent run was somewhat tainted – being disqualified (later re-instated) after winning the state marathon title many years ago. The crime? Wearing the wrong coloured shorts. Let’s just say that my interest and enthusiasm for the sport far outweighed my ability.

It is this interest, and the wish to impart something of the history of the sport that brought me to the point of writing this book. The subjects chose themselves. Of the many record holders over the classic distances of five and ten thousand metres, there have only ever been ten who have held both records. Were it to be a book on the ten greatest distance runners the list would probably not be much different. Each in their own way played a significant part in showing just what was possible, and in so doing raised the bar for those to follow.

I often say that the hardest world record to break or gold medal to win is the 100metres, simply because probably just about everybody at some stage runs a 100m race. If you have some ability it is going to become apparent pretty early. Training will build upon whatever natural ability is present. The distance events are probably not far behind. Requiring little in the way of equipment or facilities, just about anybody can find out fairly easily if they have an aptitude for the sport. That of course is the easy part. The hard part is maximizing what ability they might have.