Alan Turing, says Wikipedia, was a British mathematician, logician and cryptographer, considered one of the fathers of computer science and one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century.
In short, a kind of genius. One of the leading figures of the last century, a mathematician who will go down in history for his contributions to the development of modern computers and for managing to decode Nazi messages encrypted by the Enigma machine.
All good, but what does it have to do with Runlovers …
What links Alan Turing to Runlovers is, needless to say, running. Indeed, one of the passions of this extraordinary character was running.
In between his studies, in fact, Turing cultivated a passion for running. He was noticed in one of his very hard workouts by the secretary of a running club, the Walton Athletic Club, who was impressed by his running speed and thus invited him to join his team.
Running, training and results
Once he joined the Walton Athletic Club, Turing intensified his passion for running. He soon became the strongest athlete on the team so much so that he won some races over the 3- and 10-mile distances.
Turing, however, was not afraid of longer races. In fact, he probably favored them. In fact, it is said that several times he ran the 64 kilometers separating Bletchley Park, where he worked for counterintelligence, from London in training.
The marathon
In July 1947, Turing ran his first marathon. He finished fourth by completing the race in 3 hours 01. But that was just the first one. Indeed, a few weeks later he took part in the Loughborough Marathon, a race that would also count as a qualifying race for the ’49 London Olympics.
Turing finished the race with a time of 2 hours 46 minutes, finishing fifth. The timing, if we consider the era and profession of our protagonist, is unbelievable. Suffice it to say, moreover, that at the Olympics the following year, the winner clocked a time only 11 minutes lower than Turing’s.
A short career
Turing’s running career was unfortunately very short. Due to a leg injury he ceased running shortly thereafter. However, his accomplishments remain, which, combined with those in the fields of science, make him a rare example of an athlete and scholar and a truly unique character. One only has to think of the events surrounding his homosexuality and the subsequent persecution he suffered in the British justice system, his tragic end, and the belated apology reserved for him by Prime Minister Brown in 2009 with the phrase “We’re sorry, you deserved better.”
A little peace
We are left with tales of his passion for running, the times he set in marathons and a sentence we like to quote.
One day, the secretary of his club asked him why he was punishing himself with such hard workouts.
Turing replied, “I do such a stressful job that the only way to get it out of my head is to run hard. That’s the only way I can get some peace.”