THE RUNNING MAN

See Also: RUNNING

Frank Horwill was born into a highly dysfunctional West London family. After a youthful flirtation with Communism, he devoted his life to the sport of middle-distance running. In 1962 he founded the British Milers Club. This acted as an umbrella body for both his organising activities and for his coaching ones.

Several evenings a week he led training sessions at the track in Battersea Park. He did not insist that the people whom he trained should have talent, what he required of them was that they should be prepared to give their all to the sport. He devised the technique of five-pace training. This involved athletes running at different speeds. He was extremely demanding of anyone who turned up at the track. After a particularly testing Club course, Steve Ovett, an Olympic athlete of the first order, declared that he was almost living proof of life after death.

Horwill never asked for any payment. He supported his activities by working as a street market inspector in the East End. He used to accept backhanders in return for overlooking regulatory infringements. He lived very modestly and the money was channelled into the Club. He was prosecuted for tax evasion. As a result, in 1981 he spent a brief time in prison.

The trainer played a major role in creating the conditions that enabled British middle-distance runners to dominate their sport internationally for a decade from the late 1970s. There was no rapport between him and the athletics establishment. He always worked outside of the official structure.

In 1988 Horwill was diagnosed as having stomach cancer. He was hospitalised. The nurses who looked after him found that they had to deal with a patient who would climb out of bed in order to exercise while he was still attached to a drip. He was to live for another 23 years. In 2010 he went to Buckingham Palace to receive an M.B.E. that finally acknowledged his achievement.

Location: Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ

David Backhouse 2024