The more testing that is done, the more “cases” will be found, i.e. people who have markers showing that they were exposed to the virus (and probably developed immunity). The man he defeated, Italian Massimo Magnani, went berserk but his appeal fell on deaf ears. The four judges ruled in favour of Charlie and a photo in the local paper the next morning clearly showed No 69 - the Englishman - getting to the line on a dip!

The podium was set upon a specially-constructed stage surrounded by fountains and fronted by a 60-strong symphony orchestra." Spedding is a pharmacist by trade and worked in Ferryhill, County Durham. He is a real ale enthusiast and in 1976 co-founded the Durham brach of CAMRA. In September 2009, he published an autobiography of his running career called From Last to First. Much has been written about how science, once our greatest hope, has failed us. That is because it has been taken over by those with money and power who want more of both, and couldn’t care less what happens to the rest of us. The growth of the number of “cases” is being presented as an existential threat to the entire human race, rather than a happy confirmation that immunity is spreading within the population.I only wish I'd had longer as a marathon runner," admitted Charlie. "It took me 16 years of toil and sweat to get to an Olympic medal. I'd begun running seriously when I was 16 and I was 32 when I had my glorious year in 1984. But the wait only made it that much sweeter. Because Charlie revealed he only received #14,000 up front - the other #70,000 was a life insurance policy.

Bristol staged the World Half Marathon Championships two years ago and they were a great success. However, last year was a damp squib and, in an effort to create more interest and publicity, the organisers decided to bring in eight former stars to run their own race within the body of the main event. People know Lindsay for Brendan and Charlie and all the amazing names he’s coached,” says Shrubb. “But he’d take on ordinary athletes like me too.Whereas a most acceptable amount of money had been gathered in by Spedding at Houston and London the return in Los Angeles wasn't to be gauged by cash. When you receive an Oscar a pay cheque doesn't go with it.

Again Jones was satisfied enough that he had beaten such a strong field and defended his title: "The one second has never bothered me; everybody else made more of a fuss than I did," he revealed in Struthers' article, but from that day on he was wise enough to make sure he always wore a stopwatch. We had to put our winnings in a trust fund for when we retired," explained Spedding. "If we wanted to dip into it we had to satisfy the trustees that everything was pukka. As for Spedding, there was no shame in finishing second to Jones, although understandably he wasn't too keen to embrace the victor come the end of the race: "I didn't shake hands with him at the finish, but that wasn't because he had beaten me," which was fair enough considering Jones's caught-short moment. A time of nostalgia, to bathe in an era of great local success on the world scene? Or a ridiculous challenge for Spedding, now 51 and out of serious training for the last 12 years? Probably both if the truth were faced.

Brendan Foster and Charlie Spedding on the impact Dunn had on their lives and the wider sport following the coaching legend’s death aged 77

I’ve often thought since that, in a whole variety of sports, being able to make the right decision when you’re under physical and mental pressure is the key to being really successful. Dunn later began coaching fellow Gateshead Harrier Spedding and guided him to an unexpected bronze medal in the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984 in addition to victory in the London Marathon. It’s impossible to imagine that moment being lost now, or, as is happening with increasing frequency, being rewritten by some retrospective readjustment of the result. But imagine Treacy had finished fourth in that Olympic marathon, only to discover, three or four years later, that one of the runners ahead of him was caught doping, and that he was being promoted to the bronze medal position. Jones powered home, his eventual time of 2:08:16 setting a course record that would stand until 1997. Such was the quality of the running on the day, that Spedding's time of 2:08:33 was 84 seconds faster than the Englishman had ever run before, with third-placed Allister Hutton improving on his personal best time by some seven minutes. It also says a lot about the British athletes of yesteryear, and today unfortunately, that the marks set by Spedding and Hutton still stand as English and Scottish records to this day, a reflection on both their abilities and the shortage in top-quality marathon runners from Britain in the last 30 years or so. What came across to me, during the talk, was that not only that Charlie is a gifted runner he is intelligent and incredibly mentally strong. To not have made it on the international stage by the age of 28 and have the belief that you can be a world beater shows determination. All runners get prerace nerves and Charlie was no exception, but what marked him out was his ability to turn such butterflies into galloping horses. Citing the ’84 Olympic marathon, warming up Charlie observed and took in all the great runners swarming around; Rob de Castella, Alberto Salazar, Carlos Lopes, Takeshi So, Juma Ikangaa, Rod Dixon to name a few in what was the greatest ever assembled marathon field, but instead of withering he turned it into a powerful positive, realising that he was only 1 race away from achieving a dream, only 1 good race to gain what so few will get their hands on, an Olympic medal. When I asked at the end of the talk if he considered his mental strength a key advantage over his rivals, without a moment’s hesitation he answered, “yes”. It was something I certainly took away from the talk as it’s not easy to change but having been crippled by nerves, to the point of not even starting races, as a kid I am much the stronger for now realising all the fun of competing that I missed out on.

He’s Britain’s only Olympic marathon medallist in 45 years. It was the third time he’d tried to qualify, and he was an outsider.
He qualified again at 36, and was sixth in Seoul. discovered that he’s now due the bronze medal from the 20km walk at 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, thanks to the retrospective banning of the Russian gold medallist, By 1985 however, there was a new British cab on the rank, a Welshman so driven that it hurts just reading about some of his exploits. Stephen Henry Jones didn't let much get in his way, not even stomach cramps as it would transpire on 21 April 1985. His win in London was part of a golden year in which the man from Ebbw Vale could do no wrong.That was Charlie Spedding's first ever marathon race in the space city of Houston, America. His second brought another glorious victory in the London Marathon. And his third an Olympic bronze medal finally confirmed before 92,000 folk in the Los Angeles Coliseum Stadium and a worldwide television audience of two billion. Before the race I concentrated on one thing - positive thinking - because if you don't believe it can happen it won't. It's no good kidding yourself. It has to be for real. You have to believe with all your heart." So “cases” are going up in the summer time, when viral diseases have difficulty surviving. And our Betters are demanding total obedience to the Mask. Come autumn, as the normal winter flu season approaches, who among our Best & Brightest is going to risk getting rid of their laws requiring All Masks All The Time? While very few people are wearing masks on the high street, online mask shaming is in your face. Covidiot. Selfish. Get over it. Mask up. Granny killer”