The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (Broché)

A Borstal institution, for boys who have broken the law. Summer. Sports day is coming up, with the big long-distance cross-country run. The winner will collect the Borstal Prize Cup for Long-Distance Cross-Country Running (All England). Smith, at 17, is probably the best long-distance runner of all the Borstals in England. Will he win the race ? Can he win the race ? Does he want to win it ? During the long months of winter training for the race, running alone in the lanes and fields of Essex, the boy has been thinking his own thoughts.
"You should think about nobody," he says to himself, "and go your own way." In your hand you are holding the story of how he goes his own way, on the day of the big race.