Frank J. Horwill MBE (19 June 1927 – 1 January 2012) was a UK Athletics senior level 4 coach most famous for founding the British Milers' Club (BMC) and for formulating the Five Pace Training Theory which is widely used for coaching middle-distance runners throughout the world.
UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The organisation outwardly rebranded itself as British Athletics in 2013, although it remains legally known as UK Athletics, and continues to use the UK Athletics name in internal governance.
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As a volunteer coach since 1961, Horwill coached over 50 Great Britain and Northern Ireland international athletes from 800 metres to the marathon – from track to the road and to the country.[ citation needed ] Five of his athletes achieved sub-4-minute miles – the fastest being Tim Hutchings, who ran 3:54.53 for the mile and placed fourth in the 5000m in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Timothy ("Tim") Hilton Hutchings is a former middle- and long-distance runner who represented England and Great Britain internationally.
In 1963 Horwill co-founded the British Milers' Club 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. This was attributed to the first ever national scheme of using 'hares' in races. The club has been the nursery and arena for many champions over the years, with the great majority of Britain's best middle distance runners being members and Horwill was an active member of the club's committee until his death.
While the training of middle and long distance runners at the time were dominated by physiological thinking (and later biochemical), Horwill's Five Pace Training Theory used elements of 'style running' of the 1920s and '30s, i.e. he applied motor learning theory to running. In physiological terms, he was convinced that running economy was best when one had learned a certain speed. In contrast to the runners of previous generations he increased the amount of high quality running.
Motor learning is a change, resulting from practice or a novel experience, in the capability for responding. It often involves improving the smoothness and accuracy of movements and is obviously necessary for complicated movements such as speaking, playing the piano, and climbing trees; but it is also important for calibrating simple movements like reflexes, as parameters of the body and environment change over time. Motor learning research often considers variables that contribute to motor program formation, sensitivity of error-detection processes, and strength of movement schemas. Motor learning is "relatively permanent", as the capability to respond appropriately is acquired and retained. As a result, the temporary processes that affect behaviour during practice or experience should not be considered learning, but rather transient performance effects. As such, the main components underlying the behavioural approach to motor learning are structure of practice and feedback given. The former pertains to the manipulation of timing and organization of practice for optimal information retention, while the latter pertains to the influence of feedback on the preparation, anticipation, and guidance of movement.
In 1970 Horwill invented the 5-pace/multi-tier system of training, used by Sebastian Coe to enormous success under his father and coach Peter Coe. In 1980, Peter Coe said, "we have used Frank Horwill's multi-tier system. It's all embracing." [1]
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe,, often referred to as Seb Coe or Lord Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.
Percy Newbold "Peter" Coe was a British athletics coach and coach of his son Sebastian Coe.
Many other prominent athletes have also adopted the 5-pace system of training including Saïd Aouita 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 10000m in sub 27:30 and Noah Ngeny, the 2000 Sydney Olympic 1,500m champion.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.46), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.45), and twice at 5000 m. Aouita was one of the first globally known Arab sportspeople. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Noah Kiprono Ngeny is a former Kenyan athlete, Olympic gold medalist at 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and world record holder in the 1000 m.
Horwill was widely respected in athletics circles throughout the world and lectured and coached internationally, including in Canada, Ireland, Poland, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Bahrain, Portugal and South Africa. The latter country held a special affection in his heart and on his frequent visits he was sought out for advice by aspiring South African middle distance athletes and coaches. He helped and influenced countless athletes and coaches worldwide by correspondence and coached a large squad of runners, "Horwill's Harriers", in London.
A prolific writer, Horwill regularly produced articles for the British magazine Athletics Weekly, and other sporting publications. He co-authored The Complete Middle Distance Runner (1972), along with Denis Watts and Harry Wilson. In 1991, Frank Horwill published Obsession for Running , described by The Daily Telegraph as "The athletics book of the year". Owen Anderson in Peak Performance called it "an outstanding book".
Athletics Weekly is a weekly track and field magazine.
The Daily Telegraph, commonly referred to simply as The Telegraph, is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as Daily Telegraph & Courier.
Horwill was a man of many quotes including, "We've only just begun to work"; "Anyone can run fast repetitions and have a cup of tea and a doughnut after each repetition!"; [2] "Keep going, keep going, keep going, until a little something inside you says, 'keep going'". Track side, at the 200m mark at BMC meetings he was heard to say, "If you can't go faster than that, get off the track!"
Horwill was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for voluntary service to sport. [3] Horwill died on 1 January 2012. [4] He was 84.
