Running Music: Iron Maiden 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'

So far:

The Clash ‘London Calling’
Arcade Fire ‘Keep the Car Running’

And next:

Iron Maiden ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’

“Run on and on, run on and on, the loneliness of the long distance runner.” (Iron Maiden)

The great thing about having to run with a guide is, I never experience that “loneliness”.

That’s not to say that running doesn’t have it’s mental challenges, something I plan to write about in a future post, but boredom through lack of company isn’t an issue. In fact, one of the great things about the long Sunday run is, the tempo is slightly lower meaning plenty of time to put the world, or issues arising from Saturday’s football, to right.

‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ by Iron Maiden featured on the band’s
1986 album ‘Somewhere in Time’. It tells the narrative of the 1950s
Alan Sillitow short story of the same name, which was turned into a film in 1962.

When teenage boy Colin is sent down for robbing a bakery, his life prospects look pretty bleak. He takes up long distance running by way of distraction from the brutal regime of the Borstal-style young offender's institution he finds himself in.

His athletic ability is recognised by the powers that be and he is given the chance of early release, should he be victorious in a cross-country race against a local public school.

Not willing to play the game and present his captives with their desired publicity boost, when approaching the finish line clearly in the lead, Colin stops and, to the bemusement of the watching spectators, waits for his fellow competitors to cross ahead of him. Having stuck two fingers up at the establishment, Colin faces years of hard labour, rather than the early release he could so easily have taken.

‘Somewhere in Time’ got to number 3 in the UK album chart on its release in November 1986. It also inspired the title of the band’s ‘Somewhere Back in Time’ world tour which included
a night at Twickenham Stadium in July 2008, a show which remains one of the best I’ve ever been to.

(Photo taken by John Webb at the British Music Experience at the O2 in London)