Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
British middle- and long-distance runner who set five world records.
On the island
Eight records
The Very Thought of YouFavourite
Norrie Paramor and his Orchestra
Well, surely that's sh my wife and myself heard a lot of this record um when we're on our extended honeymoon in Australia, and it always brings back nostalgic memories.
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
Well I've chosen a record which um reminds me of England, I think marching soldiers and and sort of raising the flag. I mean that that's at the athletics you see the flag going up and I don't like the national anthem, but pomp and circumstance I think should be it.
Well, Scandinavia and the friend of mine with a beard always remind me of uh Nina and Frederick, so I've chosen one of their records by Mir Bist Duch.
Yes, th that's a bit of a joke. But uh anyway, the uh record I've chosen always reminds me of this and uh of course Katerina Valenti is a wonderful performer. So I've chosen her singing El Cumbanchero.
Barcarolle (from The Tales of Hoffmann)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Georg Solti
And when I go to the cinema, you know, it's very uncomfortable with long legs. The only film I've ever watched through was uh The Tales of Hoffman, and I was so impressed I sat through it twice, and I've chosen Bar Carole.
Well this uh I heard it so many times without knowing who it was singing it when I've been driving up and down the length of the continent and uh to me uh it uh brings back memories of you know driving around and being in France a lot and the continent in general.
Well, I've got um Petula Clark. A wonderful artist, I always think singing Shario.
Well you know music I feel always brings out some uh mood and I think this last record is one which should smooth you down after you've been racing round the island chasing I don't know what there is to chase and so I chose uh Claire de Lune by Debussy.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:00How do you think you could face the indefinite loneliness of a desert island?
Well, I think I would be pretty lonely because I miss all my friends, but on the other hand at times I'm always alone when I'm running a long way, so I I'm more or less trained to a certain extent, but I'd I think I'd be very lonely.
Presenter asks
1:21Now what do you want these records to do for you on the Desert Island? Evoke the past? Or just pass the time away or think for the future?
Well I think Uh yes, some of each. Uh they evoke memories, uh moods and hopes. I think that's putting it briefly.
Presenter asks
4:30Apart from your father, was there any other particular person who inspired you to want to get to the top?
Oh, a lot of people, but one in particular I'd mention, of course, um, Emil Zatopec. I saw him run in the Olympic Games after following his career at a distance in magazines, and he really inspired me to do something different.
The keepsakes
The book
Henry Gray
I I'd uh like to take something that demands a lot of concentration and attention. My choice would be Gray's Anatomy.
The luxury
That's a difficult question, of course, but I I think motor cars, the luxury in civilized living that I would miss. I'd like to take one, have it on a plinth on the island. Uh th th then I could uh remember the terrible traffic jams that I'm missing.
Presenter asks
6:20Is there a psychological stimulus to record breaking and nobody can break the four minute mile, then one person does it and a lot of people can do it.
Well, I think uh the wrong picture has been painted with regard to this sudden revolution in running records. And I go back and say that a man like Zatopec, under other influences, started people in into a completely new phase of uh training that was to run every day, which was unheard of before 1948, and uh not only to run every day but to run say thirty miles every day. And this brought about the sudden upsurge in record performances, one of which on the way was the four-minute mile.
Presenter asks
11:35In other words, you were a top amateur athlete, competing all over the world. Your expenses were paid, but between meetings, how did you keep yourself? Did you have a private income?
No, I didn't. I used to work and also I used to rough it, Shirley, myself, that is. … And uh we've often camped out, slept in the back of the car and you know, when people at home have been saying, Oh, they're having a wonderful time in Timbuktu or somewhere, there we'd be, you know I can remember when we're in Norway on one occasion we had this uh Norwegian fellow's big dog, a Reisen Schnauer's a sledge-pulling dog. We were knocking on the tradesman's entrance of the very posh hotel in Bergen, asking for food for the dog and this very solemn butler came out with a silver tray and a a tin of soup and bones for the dog.
Presenter asks
12:47And what are you up to now, Gordon? You have a scheme for getting fat stomachs off business men. What's all this about?
Putting it a bit crudely actually. Um we uh have started uh an advisory service for business executives on fitness. I think this is a big problem nowadays. That's one of the activities I'm doing. I'm training athletes and tennis players and uh I'm starting sports equipment business and uh
“I think I would be pretty lonely because I miss all my friends, but on the other hand at times I'm always alone when I'm running a long way, so I I'm more or less trained to a certain extent, but I'd I think I'd be very lonely.”
“I saw him run in the Olympic Games after following his career at a distance in magazines, and he really inspired me to do something different.”
“I didn't know I was going to be chosen for Britain as a result of winning the National Six Mile Championship and I had a very large envelope turned up in the post one morning with a Britain vest. I was very surprised and proud of this and I used to stand in front of the mirror with it on before I went to work in the morning and if anybody came up the stairs I'd take it off very quickly.”
“Well, I think uh the wrong picture has been painted with regard to this sudden revolution in running records. And I go back and say that a man like Zatopec, under other influences, started people in into a completely new phase of uh training that was to run every day, which was unheard of before 1948, and uh not only to run every day but to run say thirty miles every day. And this brought about the sudden upsurge in record performances, one of which on the way was the four-minute mile.”
“I think motor cars, the luxury in civilized living that I would miss. I'd like to take one, have it on a plinth on the island. Uh th th then I could uh remember the terrible traffic jams that I'm missing.”