The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner"
Collection first edition
Author	Alan Sillitoe
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Social realism
Published in	The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (collection)
Publisher	W. H. Allen Ltd
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Publication date	1959

"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same name. The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working class area, who has bleak prospects in life and few interests beyond petty crime. The boy turns to long-distance running as a method of both an emotional and a physical escape from his situation. The story was adapted for a 1962 film of the same title, with Sillitoe writing the screenplay and Tony Richardson directing. The part of Smith (now called Colin) was played by Tom Courtenay.

When he is caught by the police for robbing a bakery, Smith is sentenced to be confined in Ruxton Towers in Essex, a borstal (prison school) for delinquent youths. Taken there in handcuffs and detained in bleak and highly restrictive circumstances, he seeks solace in long-distance running, attracting the notice of the school's authorities for his physical prowess. Long-distance running offers Smith a welcome distraction from the brutal drudgery of the Borstal regime and he is offered a light workload for his last six months at Borstal, if he wins in an important cross-country competition against a prestigious public school. For Ruxton Towers to win the cross-country race would be a major PR boost for the establishment, and Smith has an obvious incentive to co-operate.

However, when the day of the race arrives Smith throws victory away: after speeding ahead of the other runners he deliberately stops running a few metres short of the finishing line, even though he is well ahead and could easily win. Seconds tick by as Smith stands there, in full view of the amazed race spectators who shout at him to finish the race. However, he deliberately lets the other runners pass him and cross the finishing line, thereby losing the race in a defiant gesture aimed against his Borstal captors, and the repressive forces that they represent. In deliberately losing the race, Smith demonstrates his free spirit and independence. The response of the Borstal authorities to Smith's action is heavy-handed. With the prospect of a light workload gone, Smith resigns himself to the drudgery of the soul-destroying manual labour he is forced to do. However, looking back on his actions he has no regrets. This helps show independence in his life as he breaks away from the thoughts of the borstal.