Frank Horwill MBE 19 June 1927 – 1 January 2012 (Penny Forse – quoting from press articles - image from Google Images – 18/1/12)
Frank Horwill, the renowned UK Senior Level 4 middle distance coach & legend, passed away at the age of 84. As a coach since 1961, Frank coached 49 Great Britain and Northern Ireland international athletes (at Sep 2008) from 800m to the Marathon - from track to the road and Cross Country. Five of his athletes have run sub-4 minute miles – the fastest being Tim Hutchings, who ran 3:54:53 and placed fourth in the 5000m in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In 1963 he co-founded the British Milers’ Club (BMC) with the aim of raising "British middle distance running to world supremacy". Seventeen years after the BMC was formed, British male middle distance runners held all the middle distance World Records.
In 1970 Frank invented the 5-pace/multi-tier system of training, used by Sebastian Coe to enormous success under his father and coach Peter Coe. Many other prominent athletes also adopted the 5-pace system of training including Saïd Aouita of Morocco, who was the only man at the time capable of running 800m in sub 1:44, 1500m in sub 3:30, 3000m in sub 7:30, 5000m in sub 13:00, and 10,000m in sub 27:30. Noah Ngeny, the 2000 Sydney Olympic 1500m champion, also adopted the system.
Widely respected in athletics circles around the world, Frank lectured and coached internationally, including in Canada, Ireland, Poland, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Bahrain, Portugal and South Africa. A prolific writer he regularly produced articles for Athletics Weekly and other sporting publications. He was co-author of ‘The Complete Middle Distance Runner (1972)’, along with Denis Watts and Harry Wilson. In 1991, Frank published ‘Obsession for Running’, described by The Daily Telegraph as “The athletics book of the year”. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for voluntary service to sport.
My own words
I went to Frank’s funeral yesterday on the Isle of Dogs. He was not my coach but in the 70s he was revered in middle distance circles, respected by coaches & athletes alike. He was anti-establishment, original, brusque & downright rude to those who shirked hard work or didn’t have the welfare & benefit of athletes & athletics at heart. He absolutely abhorred the ‘old-boy’ network.
I made good use of BMC 800m & 1500m races in order to attain the speed needed for achieving qualifying times. I remember warming up nervously at Crystal Palace for a National 1500m final, when a loud voice bellowed over in my direction “Go on, Yule, show some grit & determination!” I won that day!!! Even the athletes he coached, male & female, got the surname treatment.
As a coach, I have used Frank’s multi-tier or 5 pace system in my sessions & whoever devised our Lee triangle session showed a good knowledge of Frank’s system. I’ve still got my copy of ‘The Complete Middle Distance Runner’ and I wish I’d asked the 3 authors who helped create the Coe, Ovett, Cram, Moorcroft era to sign my copy. Penny Forse.