on the subject of…..Dave Bedford

Number 1 in the “legends” series.

I’ve talked previously about the different ways you can find inspiration in sport and in particular for me, in running. The heroic stories of the greats of the past in the form of biographies and autobiographies make inspirational reading. But one person who for me as a young lad was almost single handed in firing up my early enthusiasm for long distance running, long before I started doing it, was Dave Bedford. Athletics meetings at Crystal Palace were sometimes televised and it was always a great highlight if there was a long distance race that he was running in. If you’re under a certain age, you may not even be too familiar with the name, but he was an exceptional talent and something of a maverick in the late 60s and early 70s, most particularly in cross country running, and 5000 and 10000 metres on the track. His distinctive appearance alone made him memorable, very much a look of the late sixties and early seventies with long flowing hair and a flamboyant “mexican” moustache.

But by combining his exceptional talent with reckless front-running tactics and the capacity to train regularly at up to 200 miles per week, he created an unforgettable persona. Thanks to “youtube”, it’s still easy to enjoy footage of some of his greatest record breaking performances, a couple of which I mention below, and I strongly recommend that you do. His lack of a devastatingly fast finish meant that he achieved little in the way of medals in the great championships, but his bravery at setting out at near suicidal pace at the start of top quality 5000 and 10000 metre track races rewarded him with European and world record times. Witness his European 10000 metre record set during an international match at Portsmouth in 1971, where after enduring a pedestrian 70 second first lap, he leapt into the lead with a dramatic change of pace and a second lap of 59 seconds, leaving the top class field trailing way behind as he churned out lap after lap alone to achieve a time of 27’ 47” – beating the existing record by some 17 seconds. Or his world record 27’ 30” set at Crystal Palace in 1973. It’s generally reckoned that his career ended early due to injuries which were the result of his ferocious training regime – 3 sessions a day, 7 days a week, often amounting to 200 miles a week. He subsequently was well known for his success as race director of the London Marathon for many years. A real athletics legend. To get a full summary of some of his career highlights, read this great article from Athletics Weekly:

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