Description: The mystery man threw off his disguise and started to run. Furious stewards gave chase. The crowd roared. A legend was born. Soon the world would know him as "the ghost runner," John Tarrant, the extraordinary man whom nobody could stop. As a hapless teenage boxer in the 1950s, he'd been paid 17 expenses. When he wanted to run, he was banned for life. His amateur status had been compromised. Forever. Now he was fighting back, gate-crashing races all over Britain. No number on his shirt. No friends in high places. Soon he would be a record-breaker, one of the greatest long-distance runners the world had ever seen.
Brief description:
Bill Jones worked for Granada Television for twenty-seven years where he was an award-winning documentary maker. He was researching a documentary about the centenary of the Salford Harriers in 1985 when he first came across the story of John Tarrant (a former Harriers member) and it has haunted him ever since.
Review Quotes:
"An astonishing story of staggering grit and determination."
-- "Independent (London) "