The Five and Ten Men: Ten Men Who Redefined Distance Running

The modern era of distance running began in the early years of the last century. The classic distances for competition have been the five and ten thousand metres. Over this period, the records for both distances have been broken many times by a variety of athletes from many different countries.

The records of today are far removed from those set from earlier eras. The world records of today would have been largely unimaginable only a few decades ago. Over the period covered in this book, the five thousand metre record has been reduced by some two minutes, while the ten thousand metre record has come down by almost five minutes.

Despite the obvious similarities between the two events, only ten men have succeeded in breaking the world record in both distances, making for a very select group. The group comprises runners from Finland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Russia, Australia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

This book looks at the careers of those ten men, the eras in which they competed, the types of training they undertook, and their lives outside of their sporting careers. As such, it is of interest for the social and political times in which they lived in addition to their purely sporting achievements.

Richard Amery has been a runner for as long as he can remember. He would be the first to admit that his interest for the sport far outweighed his ability. After retiring from his career as a secondary school teacher he decided to write the sort of book that he would have liked available to his younger self. Some years ago, he and his wife Christine bought a farm in the Adelaide hills about an hour from Adelaide, and he now spends his time equally between the city and the farm. When not doing farm work, most mornings he can be seen running through the adjoining forest with just his trusty border collie and endless kangaroos for company.