Steve Binns??
the only Steve Binns I ever heard of was the hugely talented Olympian from Bingley Harriers in the North of England!
I open it up and sure enough Steve had left a comment on an old post I'd written titled Colin Reitz!! ( I started off the blog copying Tom Highnam's technique of titling each post with a famous (or infamous or just someone I used to know) runners name !
Stevie Binns the name alone conjures up a memory of him a photo in AW running in his mud spattered ,horizontal striped Bingley Harriers Vest, rounding a corner, with his head slightly held to one side!
Stevie Binns the name alone conjures up a memory of him a photo in AW running in his mud spattered ,horizontal striped Bingley Harriers Vest, rounding a corner, with his head slightly held to one side!
He was diminutive in statue (5ft7" - yeah I can talk!) but legendary in his running ability, in the pantheon of ; Mickey Morton, Nat Muir, John Doherty, Graham Williamson, Stevie Cram!
Quite extraordinary (as David Coleman might have said!) to hear from Steve who was enquiring of Reitzy (as he was known) whether he was still running and suggesting that he himself might have gained some weight since the days when he represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 where he got knocked out in a heat of the 10,000m running 28mins, his PB's of 27m55 , 13m23, 7m51 and weight (then) of 55KG.
I've done some running!!! will talk more later!
Quite extraordinary (as David Coleman might have said!) to hear from Steve who was enquiring of Reitzy (as he was known) whether he was still running and suggesting that he himself might have gained some weight since the days when he represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 where he got knocked out in a heat of the 10,000m running 28mins, his PB's of 27m55 , 13m23, 7m51 and weight (then) of 55KG.
Me getting an email (comment) from Stevie, was like a Sunday afternoon park football player getting an email from Liam Brady !
Steve was from 'up North' and a year older than me (but two years in age group) so I never raced against him that much - not that I was in anything like his league! However, Colin Reitz was local, he ran for Essex Beagles and truly distinguished himself in the Steeplechase winning a Bronze at the inaugural World Championships and had a PB of something like 8m12s 3000m S/C !!!!
Though Colin was also older than me because he was 'local' I saw much more of him!
He came across as a flash guy (not in a nasty sense but in the way that he always wore the latest gear that you couldn't buy, probably imported from the States), I don't know for sure but you wouldn't be surprised if he wore an earring or a tattoo long before it became vogue. He was from the East side of London and my guess is he'd have followed West Ham or Tottenham!!
I once raced him at London's Hyde Park in a race over 3miles put on by some film producers who were trying to promote a film called 'The Jericho Mile' - (my memory is very vague, it wasn't a classic, a film about a prisoner that found himself as a runner! ?).
Though Colin was also older than me because he was 'local' I saw much more of him!
He came across as a flash guy (not in a nasty sense but in the way that he always wore the latest gear that you couldn't buy, probably imported from the States), I don't know for sure but you wouldn't be surprised if he wore an earring or a tattoo long before it became vogue. He was from the East side of London and my guess is he'd have followed West Ham or Tottenham!!
I once raced him at London's Hyde Park in a race over 3miles put on by some film producers who were trying to promote a film called 'The Jericho Mile' - (my memory is very vague, it wasn't a classic, a film about a prisoner that found himself as a runner! ?).
Anyhow, I recently saw the result in an old training diary, I think from 1979. Colin won the race and I finished a not too distant 5th (I'll check back the actual result later!). Our Club won the 'team event' which was GBP2000 (in 1979 !!) we put it towards buying a Multigym for our Club House at Copthall!
So like Stevie , I wonder too, if Reitzy is still running?
Stevie suggests he isn't which is a shame but at least he has moved from the tough harsh dark industrial Mill lands of the North for the gentle rolling countryside of Hertfordshire (Hoddersdon !).
That's Steve in black below (with the grey highlights).
I've done some running!!! will talk more later!
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