Memories Of Bob Matthews

TIM REDMAN IS AN EXGUIDE RUNNER FOR BOB MATTHEWS AND HERE PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MULTIPLE PARALYMPIC CHAMPION WHO DIED THIS MONTH AGED 56

- Bob Matthews

JOHN ANDERSON did not only coach Dave Moorcroft to a world 5000m record, but also helped many of the UK’s leading blind and partially-sighted athletes during the 1980s. And the one athlete that stood out from the rest was Bob Matthews.

A talented athlete, with the capacity for hard work and a good racing brain, Bob had the abilities that enabled him to win some big championship races and run fast times. But it was much more than Bob’s athletic ability that really impressed me as his friend and guide runner. 

When I started running together with Bob, it quickly became apparent what a talented man he was and how he’d learned to embrace his blindness in a positive, inspiring and sometimes amusing way.

Obviously, the most important thing for the guide runner is to be able to run as fast as the athlete and never cross the finish line ahead of them, whatever happens. But I made that fundamental mistake in one of our early races and got Bob disqualified from winning the UK 800m champs.

Straight afterwards, rather than being angry with me, he said: “Look, Tim. I know you’ve never won a UK Champs before, or got remotely close, with the likes of Coe, Ovett and Cram thrashing you every race, but just cos you out-dipped me here, it doesn’t mean you’ve won one now, either!”

He joked some more about it, then said: “Okay, I’ll forgive you, as long as you buy the beers when we get back home.”