The Art and Philosophy of the Road Runner

By William Morton

Lets use this book as a preliminary agent of change. Perhaps experts with better facilities will write their accounts of their own experiences. Whose revelations may shock the world of sports psychology. It seems that we as humans are capable of much more than we think. And that is important for us to examine the nature of these achievements. If running is seen as a healthy past time then modern society must incorporate it for the benefit of everyone. If it helps in dieting, and saves some of you expensive trips to the dietary farms of this world then so much the better. Society can only gain from the ferment of literary debate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496980854

William Morton

William Morton was born in 1958 in a town called Clitheroe, near Manchester, England and after grammar school went to Warwick University where he successfully studied for a degree in Environmental Sciences (1980). Because he took so many exams at University he decided to take it easy after leaving university, travelling through Europe by Interail and eventually working on a Kibbutz in Israel. Returning to England, he did work as a fruit picker, and returns clerk ending up in London. Here he learned about the great British benefits system which dominates so much of life in Britain both in the eighties, nineties and today. He met many types of travelers from all over the world all, it seems, bent on claiming benefits. He did, whilst working in Soho, London as a road sweeper,(1987 ) decide to use his education and apply for secure long term employment, but was unsuccessful. He returned to the North of England where he was eventually diagnosed with the mental malady schizophrenia. He was sectioned to a hospital for 6 weeks (1989) and defying all the doctors diagnostics found work afterwards as a temporary telesales clerk! The doctors had told him he that he was mentally ill for working as a road sweeper when he had a degree, even though the job was only temporary ( and paid well ).To prove the doctors wrong he wrote a book about the thoughts he had during one day in his life in 1994. It was rejected by many publishers and once again (1997) he was sectioned. He has been on benefits ever since.

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Published by AuthorHouse 09/03/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8084-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8085-4 (e)

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INTRODUCTION

This book is a book on total survival. Not survival in the sense of a soldier in a battle field but one about my right to be free in a country that I have always been lead to be one where there is freedom, not only of expression, but of the right to travel, work and do what freedom is essentially all about. You the reader may have your own ideas on what freedom is and represents. Me I have always known.

Further it is an expression of what life has become for me and is. I have had two other books published to date but this book reflects where I was first allowed to begin my literary journey, after quite a disturbing journey that life really can be on this planet. I have many dreams, ambitions and ideas, many of which have been thwarted, but one day I would love to write a science fiction novel or two. Or get into comedy or television.

The idea for this book first started on the 27th of December 1991, when I competed in the annual Ribble Valley 10 Kilometer road race. I was still nursing an injury from the Ribble Valley October 1991 Triathlon. Then I was in employment as a tele-sales clerk, with a company based in Preston, Lancashire, known as Fine Arts developments. I had performed reasonably well in the triathlon, my first, although I was hoping to do many more, considering my lack of proper and adequate training and decent bicycle.

But let me state the quite debilitating fact of a section three order applied on the 17th November 1989, involuntarily without any warning whatsoever. Much on this is written about in my two books. However, the sheer ordeal of this had left me totally drained. I had put on weight immediately after that and sadly have to be true and say that suicicidal thoughts was never far from my mind, though I state with all the conviction of a non qualified quack, that, these are due to that draconian action, and not due to an illness of the mind. Once you are sucked into the psychiatry system, there is little real hope for any individual. Besides, my dreams had been constantly crushed by the mechanics of the system that is the structure of all societies as early as 1984, when denied work in computers. Initially after my ordeal in 1989, I thought that I would never experience the world of work ever again. But I successfully denied all the odds and did.

Being laid off on the 18th of December 1991, you could well imagine the thoughts going through my head, as one’s independence was crushed yet again. Anxiety is a recognized medical condition. So after Xmas 1991, I entered the Ribble Valley 10K road race, one that is acknowledged by many, as one of the best circuits in the country. I had done a lot of road running in the early 1980’s and saw participation in this event as one way of lessening the shock of unemployment and moreover, of surviving.

However when I finished the 10K event on the 27th of December, two days after Xmas I was far from happy. The overall time of 44 minutes was a disappointment, a placing well down the field of over 600 entrants. And when I compared it to a 36 minutes and 5 seconds achieved in the Glossop 10K(a small town on the outskirts of Manchester) in 1984 I knew that as someone with a good training in biology, who had read a lot on philosophy and psychology that reasons would be needed. Surely I was not that old or written off already at age 33. It may well have been overweight caused by the feast on Xmas day and many beers the night before.

Although the difference of 8 minutes does not sound a lot, when you examine the underlying reasons for the difference in 10K times over the 7 year period, a lot can be said. I set off from the back of the pack on a cold winter’s day quickly working my way through the pack. I’ve always felt reasonably athletic, managing to play football for my University 2nd XI. But when I reached the two mile mark my lungs simply clogged up and I knew then that my chances of sub 40 minute time, were none existent. From then on I could only manage a slow pace to the finish watching most of the competitors pass me, and of both sexes. Male macho pride went to the wall, as women after women went past me. Of course, there are some women who do excellent times. The time of 44 minutes was not an outright failure, but for me, considering my age it spelled warning signs. I knew that I was capable of much more. And here the idea and essence of this book was born. I was going to attempt to do the 10 Kilometer race in December 1992, the following year of course, at a time of around 36 minutes and 30 seconds. And this a book is what kept me going and occupied for one more year of my life, whilst suffering quite appalling poverty. Poverty not only in my own supposed country, but poverty of one of the most well educated and reasonably athletically gifted people from my old University, that of Warwick.

If I was to keep myself out of what I call the local Auchwitz, the local psychiatric hospital, only unemployment benefit could keep me from starving I decided to write this book, my first! I had little idea of how to approach this. Life had become pure and almost instinctual survival. There was no way I could live within the framework that most people took for granted. So I guess it is much more than a record of running but a lesson in how to go about a major written project with little prior knowledge. It was all new to me. And it must be stated that all the while I was concentrating on seeking a proper job, and that any normal routine was really impossible. The essence I suppose of the book was the fight to organise my mind and body not only in response to the section three order, illegally placed about me PREVIOUSLY, but in response to my very own will. When I had come out of hospital in January 1990, I felt like my life was over. Administered what is known in the trade as ‘liquid cosh’ had such a debilitating effect physically, that I still today as I get this work into publication, in 2014, not recovered from its effects.

Here is a day to day account of my tribulations. A description of the inch by inch climb from nothingness towards my goal. This is the quintessential nature of running. To see improvement, to fight, of being alone mile after mile with your thoughts. Run to survive. The way of the cheetah. I had no idea of how to approach my goal but have given it to you pretty straight. Some may scorn and others mock. If I help those who also find themselves in similar unfortunate circumstances, with little motivation to live, then I have achieved something.

Man is always striving to better himself. Personal bests abound throughout sport. The Ribble Valley 10K was won this year in a fantastic time of under 30 minutes! The renowned Eamon Coghlan has recently expressed a wish to be the first 40 year old to do a sub 4 minute mile. What next? Where will it end? Who will be the first 70 year old to do a sub 33 minute 10K? The list of records to be broken is endless. It has become, for me as a scientist, more than just an account of survival but one of research interest, leading to such diverse questions as to who will be the first man to run as fast as a cheetah? Speeds of 70 miles per hour.

Hence, although the book may appear rather higgledy-piggledy, it gradually grows deeper as fresh insights are learned. Join me in my journey where I attempt to articulate it as best as I could as a novice writer. It begins to analyse the true nature of my thoughts and perceptions. How they slowly alter over the year, and as many saw this decade as the decade of the brain it is fitting with the times. It has become a most profound study on the way running effects not only physique, but mental attitude itself. I could term this Biomorphology.

With hobbies in evolution and cosmology I can easily see that road running is a causative agent in bringing about changes in humans. The Hi-tech wear associated with the sport illustrates my point. All types of ultra state of the art designed shoes, running tights, vests in all kinds of colour combinations typified the sport. Changes that occur are subtle and ones which many would not notice.

Eventually my goal would be to see how mechanisms of ageing can correlate with running performance. It would not be absurd to suggest that I myself should be capable of achieving consistent sub 36 minute 10K’s up to the age of 50. However this book must be seen and viewed as describing only a small proportion of that. One year without a pressure road race is not the same as a year filled with say 10 proper road races. Yet I felt that at age 33 I was fully able to run a sub 36 minute 10 kilometer road race even achieving the goal of 34 minutes, which as I vividly recall the 36 minute time in 1984 would be absolutely fantastic to behold. Quite a considerable feat, of that I can assure you, the reader. Please do not think that running is some kind of namby pamby event and that a time of 36 minutes to run 10 Kilometers has no meaning. Believe me as someone with a reasonable degree of athletic prowess, this time is good and something to be really proud of. So if any readers are tempted to take up this activity, I simply say just enjoy yourself and explore your potential. Explore the many clothing products on offer and just jog along to whatever the rhythm of your life maybe.

Let’s use this book as a preliminary agent of change. Perhaps experts with better facilities will write their accounts of their own experiences. Whose revelations may shock the world of sports psychology. It seems that we as humans are capable of much more than we think. And that is important for us to examine the nature of these achievements. If running is seen as a healthy past time then modern society must incorporate it for the benefit of everyone. If it helps in dieting, and saves some of you expensive trips to the dietary farms of this world then so much the better. Society can only gain from the ferment of literary debate. Yet the world over knows of the craze in road running. As I edit this book many years later, through my window I see many ‘joggers’ as they like to be known as, running. Many.

Many diets are little more than rigid regimes of bizarre meals followed by trips to obscure clinics where strenuous health workouts sap the spirit. My book has been quite revealing, and the path of road running, although perhaps viewed by some leass athletically gifted as too dedicated and hard effort, has cut the pounds off me. All in all I have managed to lose a stone in weight. Quite an achievement. Who actually enjoys a diet? I still eat chocolates and biscuits, and drink tea with sugar. Being out of work the temptation to gorge has always been there, yet I can eat a couple of Mars bars with confidence. In fact it is something that a runner can look forward to on a cold winter’s evening.

For me it has been about developing the right thought process, which when understood prevents obesity. I now have what I consider to be a reasonably healthy body, a flat stomach with firm muscles and a much more relaxed breathing posture. Running has matured my approach to how I should treat my body. Eventually I even began to realize that I was capable of that really quick time of 34 minutes. But I live and learn. Overall the year has proved immensely worthwhile. I intend to review my record of recording each run so that an even greater in depth research account can be produced.

But that is a project for the future, and will certainly include many races. The book has been the mainstay of my year. It has kept me going through those cold frosty mornings where through sheer poverty I was unable to keep warm. Where sometimes I would lay in bed till 4 O clock in the afternoon it was so cold. At times I felt as if I were in a Gulag, with only my road running to look forward to. That is behind me now, for I have done the ground work. There is much to look forward to, to achieve to put my mind’s energy on. It is science in action. I thought of many research topics as I developed. This is the beauty of biology. It encompasses so much.

I have read in an article in Scientific American recently which indicated that it is not beyond the impossible to live until 400. Here is a start on that epic journey. My education in the sciences has proved a valuable tool in the investigation of road running. Some athletes see 30 years of age as the end of peak performance. But there are more and more examples of older people maintaining high athletic standards after this age. Society has aged and expectations have begun to alter accordingly. Although this book is primarily not a study of the ageing process it is something to which I allude as a reference point. A more thorough research programme would be needed by some institution for a prognostic diagnosis of road running. With respect to fundamental cellular processes nobody can put their finger on why people experience ageing effects. What my journey has done is show me a truer picture of my innate potential.

If by writing this account of my attempt to bring home to the reader the complexities in not only partaking in a scientific study but of producing information in a readable literary manner then I have done my job as a writer. Raised interest and brought more depth and meaning to life.

A Diary on The Art, Philosophy, and Biopsychology of Road Running by Stephen Fox.

5th February 92

So here I begin!!! These are my diary notes.

Although I had successfully competed in the Ribble Valley Triathlon, in November of 1991, it had left me with a niggling injury to the left leg. Then I was in work as a tele-sales clerk, with a company known as Express Gifts, based in Preston, Lancashire. I would hobble around at work as if my leg was broken. However, as I write this book, I am no longer employed by them, and when I take into account my so called strange and delusional nervous illness in November 1989, which placed me on the sick until April 5th 1991, the reader may perhaps appreciate the predicament that I was facing. Workers were laid off from Express Gifts on the 18th December 1991 and I made quite sure that I did not miss out on the delights of the festive season. However, it was my poor performance in the Ribble Valley 10K on the 27th December 1991 that prompted me to further investigate, and I eagerly began to do this by first going on a simple run or gentle jog around by the Tarmac quarry which took something like 25 minutes. I wasn’t particularly interested in times at this point. I note that I had a steely determined manner and concentrated on keeping on my toes in the hope of alleviating the pain in the right ankle. The left calf aching from the Triathlon had been OK and my breathing was steady.

I had not marked out a diet but at this time of year I was subsisting on heaps of mashed potatoes. In my flat, I had a two ringed cooker, on which I did all my basic cooking. I was only on around £45 a week to pay for everything, bills included, so potatoes were what I lived on. I could buy a huge sack of them from the outdoor car boot sale on Wednesday evenings up on the Lincoln Industrial estate. How I loved heaps of mashed potatoes with butter. As