Question to Ed Whitlock

Orville Atkins wrote:

Ed,

I am enjoying this thread. Thank you for posting.

I would like to hear about the training and racing you did while still living in England including races and who was in those races. Who were the other members of your running club?

Was Cross Country racing different than it is in the US?

My club in England from 1947 to 1952 when I came to Canada was Walton Athletic only formed in 1942. Members during that time with me of some distinction, Alan Turing. Les Lewis, Bill Nankeville, Chris Chataway, Terry Keegan.

Other members with me of the University of London xc and athletic teams,

Terry keegan, Derek Pugh, Arthur Wint, John Parlett, Ken Norris, Bill Pain

Main rivals from those days Gordon Pirie, Frank Sando, Eddie Ellis, Ken Norris, Terry Keegan.

Probably the one of most significance is Alan Turing,I wonder what proportion of the Lets Run crowd have heard of him.

More later according to interest.

Hi Ed,

That's amazing to see some of the names on that list.

I'm interested in all that you wish to share.

Best regards

Ed Whitlock wrote:

Probably the one of most significance is Alan Turing,I wonder what proportion of the Lets Run crowd have heard of him.

More later according to interest.

Wow, I never knew Turing was a runner... Good stuff.

I, too, am very interested. The names you mention comprise some of the elite of those days. I now know who Alan Turing is.

Which of those main rivals did you defeat at least once? Did Walton Athletic Club win any Cross Country Championships while you were there? What # runner were you on the Cross Country Team?

This is really interesting, thanks for posting.

I was #1 and beat all of them!

Did Roger Bannister run cross country? I see Chris Chataway's name mentioned. He was one of Bannisters rabbits for his historic sub-4 mile in '54.

Orville Atkins wrote:

I, too, am very interested. The names you mention comprise some of the elite of those days. I now know who Alan Turing is.

Which of those main rivals did you defeat at least once? Did Walton Athletic Club win any Cross Country Championships while you were there? What # runner were you on the Cross Country Team?

Walton did not win any xc championships while I was with them. I was second individual in the Southern Counties under 18 and Terry Keegan won the Southern under 21. I believe Chris Chataway won the South of the Thames a championship with somewhat strange eligibility rules.

Ed

Montego wrote:

Did Roger Bannister run cross country? I see Chris Chataway's name mentioned. He was one of Bannisters rabbits for his historic sub-4 mile in '54.

Roger Bannister did some limited xc He ran in the annual Oxford Cambridge xc match, winning on at least one occasion. Chris Chataway has a lot more claims to fame than just being Bannister's rabbit He won an epic 5000m race in world record time against Vladimir Kuts in a dual meet on prime time TV in Britain. This was later in the year after Bannister broke the 4 minute barrier, As a result Chris was voted athlete of the year not Bannister. Lots more claims to fame, look him up on Wikipedia.

Hi Ed, will you be running in the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon this year?

Ed I would be particularly interested to hear about Alan Turing, as I am a computational mathematician. I know he ran a 2:4x marathon in the 50s. Not much is said about his running because most of the people who write about him are not at all athletic and don't appear to realize how significant running must have been for him if he was running that kind of time.

Tim12109 wrote:

Hi Ed, will you be running in the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon this year?

That's the current plan. I ran a 10k race last Sunday, 44:32. I am running a half marathon next weekend. Then no more races before the marathon. Expect to be in better shape for the marathon than last year but another year older.

math gguy wrote:

Ed I would be particularly interested to hear about Alan Turing, as I am a computational mathematician. I know he ran a 2:4x marathon in the 50s. Not much is said about his running because most of the people who write about him are not at all athletic and don't appear to realize how significant running must have been for him if he was running that kind of time.

I didn't have much interaction with Alan while with Walton. We did run on the same team in road relays which were quite popular at that time. Running was certainly a major interest of Alan and he pushed himself hard in races. I was not aware of his wartime activities and only knew he was a research scientist.

[/quote]

That's the current plan. I ran a 10k race last Sunday, 44:32. I am running a half marathon next weekend. Then no more races before the marathon. Expect to be in better shape for the marathon than last year but another year older.[/quote]

Great! Best of luck!

Ed, when you are training do you take days off or do you run everyday rain or shine?

WantToTryLSD wrote:

Ed, when you are training do you take days off or do you run everyday rain or shine?

The general routine is a long run every day regardless of weather. I am not a streaker though and take days off now and then for various reasons, day before a race, concern about an ache or pain, family commitments, and today unfortunately because of my upcoming marathon the start of a cold which is going to spoil my final preparations.

Sorry to hear that. Try some Airborne if they have it in Canada, runners down here use it to fight off prerace colds and it seems to really help.

Thanks for answering. Get well soon!

someone has to say it wrote:

Ed:

We can't say this often enough. You are a true inspiration. You'll never know how many people you inspire with your running. Awesome stuff. Keep up the great running.

Absolutely agree. I'm having some knee issues myself, and I'm decades younger than Ed. He's inspiring me to keep going in rehab and get back to running. If Ed can do it, I can do it.

Seriously, your talent and perseverance are an inspiration!