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Authors: Stan Eldon
Tags: Police, Biography, Autobiography, Memoirs, long distance, life story, Running, cross country, athletics, international races, constable, half marathon, Disability Sport
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even these sometimes violent duties which were a contrast and break from running long distances over Salisbury Plain every afternoon, which was helping my fitness level improve rapidly.
On one Saturday night we had no trouble in Salisbury, mainly because there was some of the thickest fog I have ever seen. We had to take our usual trip into the city in case of trouble, but it really was a real âpeasouperâ. It was so thick, the only way our driver could guide the truck was by me and others walking in front with torches, from the camp to the city centre. It really was impossible to go faster than walking pace, and even then vehicles were all over the place, going off the road and going in the opposite direction to what they intended. Even the HLI could not find their way into Salisbury that night, so we had a quiet night and donât really know why we bothered to struggle into Salisbury.
Apart from the signals course at Woking, I spent my other time there as a waiter in the Officersâ Mess. Plenty of time to train, and good food, and just like Bulford I had my own room, but it was not as pleasant for running, except that it gave me the chance to travel to some track meetings for my own club and for Guildford and Godalming AC that I joined second claim while at Woking.
While at Woking, I went off to run one evening in a club match at Ealing on a very hard five laps to the mile track. After the race I had to get back to barracks, and I remember getting back to Woking and hardly able to walk. Getting from the bus to barracks was a real struggle, as I had a terrific pain in my left foot. I reported on sick parade next morning and got sent off to the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot for an X-ray. They discovered a march fracture; a splintering of the bones behind the toes. The MO wanted to put it in plaster for six weeks, but I had the unit championships in only a few days plus other races, so I persuaded him just to put a pad under the damaged area and some heavy strapping. He virtually told me that it was up to me, but if I was mad enough to run he would not be responsible for what it might do. I did run two days later and won the three miles almost on one leg. The time was very slow, around seventeen minutes, but I was streets ahead of the field anyway, and won by over a lap. Because I had insisted on not being plastered, I did suffer for much longer than I should, and in fact felt pain for some years.
Like many of the runners of my generation, I think the two years in the forces did help to shape our athletic careers. I am sure the training I was able to do in my two years in uniform, helped me prepare for my successes in the following few years. I suppose it was easy to see why the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries used the military for most of their top athletes in this pre-professional era.
In January 1956, I finished second in the Berkshire Senior and went to the Inter Counties where I came 126 th . Then came a series of good results. I won the Salisbury Plain and District Championship, which I followed up with a win for Salisbury AC, and then the Berkshire Junior Championship. I had seven races in February; it was good job it was leap year with that extra day. I won the Southern Command, and then took second place in the Army Championships behind Basil Heatley. In between, I finished third in the Southern Counties Junior and won another Army race on 29 th February.
March was a quieter month, and there were two major races; the National Junior where I was ninth, and the Inter Services where I was eleventh.
In April 1956, I had run the Maidenhead ten mile for the first time. The race winner was Jack Heywood (Herne Hill Harriers) and an almost permanent student at Reading University. His time was 53:05, and Mike Barrett (Ealing) was second in 53:44, just in front of me in the third spot with 53:51. I won the Army three mile title and other races during that summer.
At the end of
On one Saturday night we had no trouble in Salisbury, mainly because there was some of the thickest fog I have ever seen. We had to take our usual trip into the city in case of trouble, but it really was a real âpeasouperâ. It was so thick, the only way our driver could guide the truck was by me and others walking in front with torches, from the camp to the city centre. It really was impossible to go faster than walking pace, and even then vehicles were all over the place, going off the road and going in the opposite direction to what they intended. Even the HLI could not find their way into Salisbury that night, so we had a quiet night and donât really know why we bothered to struggle into Salisbury.
Apart from the signals course at Woking, I spent my other time there as a waiter in the Officersâ Mess. Plenty of time to train, and good food, and just like Bulford I had my own room, but it was not as pleasant for running, except that it gave me the chance to travel to some track meetings for my own club and for Guildford and Godalming AC that I joined second claim while at Woking.
While at Woking, I went off to run one evening in a club match at Ealing on a very hard five laps to the mile track. After the race I had to get back to barracks, and I remember getting back to Woking and hardly able to walk. Getting from the bus to barracks was a real struggle, as I had a terrific pain in my left foot. I reported on sick parade next morning and got sent off to the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot for an X-ray. They discovered a march fracture; a splintering of the bones behind the toes. The MO wanted to put it in plaster for six weeks, but I had the unit championships in only a few days plus other races, so I persuaded him just to put a pad under the damaged area and some heavy strapping. He virtually told me that it was up to me, but if I was mad enough to run he would not be responsible for what it might do. I did run two days later and won the three miles almost on one leg. The time was very slow, around seventeen minutes, but I was streets ahead of the field anyway, and won by over a lap. Because I had insisted on not being plastered, I did suffer for much longer than I should, and in fact felt pain for some years.
Like many of the runners of my generation, I think the two years in the forces did help to shape our athletic careers. I am sure the training I was able to do in my two years in uniform, helped me prepare for my successes in the following few years. I suppose it was easy to see why the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries used the military for most of their top athletes in this pre-professional era.
In January 1956, I finished second in the Berkshire Senior and went to the Inter Counties where I came 126 th . Then came a series of good results. I won the Salisbury Plain and District Championship, which I followed up with a win for Salisbury AC, and then the Berkshire Junior Championship. I had seven races in February; it was good job it was leap year with that extra day. I won the Southern Command, and then took second place in the Army Championships behind Basil Heatley. In between, I finished third in the Southern Counties Junior and won another Army race on 29 th February.
March was a quieter month, and there were two major races; the National Junior where I was ninth, and the Inter Services where I was eleventh.
In April 1956, I had run the Maidenhead ten mile for the first time. The race winner was Jack Heywood (Herne Hill Harriers) and an almost permanent student at Reading University. His time was 53:05, and Mike Barrett (Ealing) was second in 53:44, just in front of me in the third spot with 53:51. I won the Army three mile title and other races during that summer.
At the end of
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