The Ghost Runner: The Tragedy of the Man They Couldn't Stop

The words of that poem reflect the heart of John Tarrant:"If you think you are beaten, you are,If you think you dare not, you don't.If you like to win, but you think you can't,It is almost certain you won't.If you think you'll lose, you're lost,For out in the world we find,Success begins with a fellow's will.It's all in the state of mind.If you think you are outclassed, you are,You've got to think high to rise,You've got to be sure of yourself beforeYou can ever win a prize.Life's battles don't always goTo the stronger or faster man.But soon or late the man who wins,Is the man who thinks he can.God bless you, John Tarrant.The book starts awkwardly, slowly, and you feel it is going nowhere.The start can certainly be better written.But once into his stride near the middle and end of this epic heroic tale you can feel what Jones wanted to say at the start, but didn't. It's a pity that he did not.Nevertheless, this man's life and the family around him who were as strong in heart as he was are an inspiration to us all in these dismal times.John was blessed with a wife he could trust and who loved him unconditionally.A man of the like of John's brother you would be hard to find in this age.A must read for those who are free to run races without wondering how it got to be that way.A must read for John's experiences in South Africa.A must read for anyone, not only those who love running.

I have read many, many sports biographies. Many, even if well-written, rarely affect one's emotions. I finished this book yesterday and was close to tears by the end of it.The subject of the book, long-distance runner John Tarrant, had such persistently bad misfortune that despite his apparent pig-headedness and his lack of emotion, you cannot help but feel pity as the book charts his life story. Not all doom and gloom by any means - the book is ultimately a moral in the triumph of unwavering spirit - but it does make the reader aware of just what level of hardship Mr. Tarrant endured from cradle to grave.Bill Jones has achieved an excellent balance of narration, speculation and reference of source material. The author has clearly dedicated significant time to the life of John Tarrant, and leaves no stone unturned. The struggle Tarrant faced to become an accepted competitor took him across the world and Jones re-creates that path faithfully; all the while assessing, via first-hand accounts, the effects that Tarrant's obsession with running caused him both mentally and physically.This book is so good that it transcends sports afficionados, historical hunter-gatherers and running freaks alike - it is a story that absolutely anyone can marvel at; even if their interest in sport is negligible.An inspirational book that has pride of place on my biography bookshelf.

Was John Tarrant one of the best runners who never existed? In the official records, you'll find little mention of him. Tarrant was a great distance runner and Olympic hopeful, but the heinous crime of professionalism - accepting £17 in his youth as a boxer - meant that the IAAF and BAAB would never allow him to compete for his country. Tarrant's lifelong frustration with the authorities did not prevent him from running and he often joined in races without an official entry or number as the ghost runner of the title. The situation he found himself in was viewed with sympathy by many, but nobody with the ability to actually do something about it was moved to act. Tarrant's crusade to be reinstated was ultimately a failure, so it's a great thing that this poignant book will stop John Tarrant from fading away into forgotten history.

A well told story of an incredibly driven man, but I have to admit I didn’t know whether to admire or revile him. His pure selfishness made him difficult to warm to, particularly his seemingly total lack of feeling for his wife which seems in contrast to the depths of his love he put on paper to her. Whilst sympathetic to his running battles with the Athletic authorities, it’s difficult to tell if he would have been a success in an international vest as he seems to have as many humiliating failures as triumphant successes. All in all a very odd read.

Despite being a runner for many years, and a sports fan for all of my life, I had never heard of John Tarrant prior to being introduced to this book. Having now completed Bill Jones' biography of the man I find this quite surprising, and also find it rather amazing that it has taken over 35 years since his sad premature passing for someone to tell the story (apart from the publication of Tarrant's own memoirs in the late 1970's).For those as much in the dark as me John Tarrant was, in short, a talented long distance runner who in the late 1950s was barred from amateur running competitions by the authorities of the day after (rather foolishly, in hindsight) owning up to recieving a grand total of £17 for contesting boxing matches in his local town. He then took it upon himself to turn up and compete in races anyway, without an official entry, and was subsequently dubbed 'The Ghost Runner'. Haunted by exclusion in one way or another for the rest of his life, he eventually found himself immersed in the world of ultra distance running (i.e. much longer than a Marathon!).Bill Jones describes beautifully how a single punitive act could come to dominate one man's thinking, almost to the exclusion of everything else (e.g. employment, his family life), and yet also be a significant driving force behind some astounding feats of endurance. The story is told largely chronologically from Tarrant's troubled childhood to his early passing, skillfully intertwining many interesting (real) characters along the way; and by the end of the book Jones' really has you rooting for his man. No punches are pulled however (no pun intended, honest) with the author leaving the reader in no doubt that his subject was often a difficult and troubled man.Despite my surprise that this book was not written many years ago, I cannot help thinking that it is somehow apt that it appears now. Bill Jones concludes the book with an afterword that details some of the events that highlighted the end of amateurism in sport, including the reinstatement of Dwain Chambers to the GB team (compared to the ban on JT running for his country), and the appearance of a multi-millionaire professional Rafael Nadal in the Olympic Games tennis final. He does this I think mainly to hammer home the ridiculous nature of John Tarrant's treatment by the authorities, but it left me feeling almost as depressed about the state of sport today as it did about JT's trials back in the day. Full amateurism in sport clearly did not work, but neither I would argue does unfettered professionalism.I highly recommend this book.