Bruce Tulloh
Pioneer of barefoot running BORN SEPTEMBER 29, 1935 - DIED APRIL 28, 2018, AGED 82
INTRIGUED by a story of epic adventure, Michael “Bruce” Tulloh set out to run 2,876 miles across the US – from Los Angeles to New York – in 1969.
After a gruelling 64.9 days, accompanied by wife Sue, who drove a donated caravan, Tulloh secured his place in the Guinness World Records until he was superseded in 1980.
He wrote about the experience in a bestselling book, Four Million Footsteps, one of 23 he had published.
Born in Datchet, Berkshire, Tulloh was inspired to run by the Czech runner Emil Zátopek and won his first race aged 12.
While studying botany at Southampton University he competed in cross-country and it was here he first became acquainted with the idea of shoeless running.
Tulloh believed that ditching spikes for a more natural technique would give him an advantage over his opponents.
Joking that barefoot was “the lightest running shoe ever”, the young athlete was noticed by selectors for the Olympics.
Any reservations they had about this novel style of running were soon quashed when Tulloh ran a sub-four-minute mile barefoot at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, winning the men’s 5,000m race.
He was also a longstanding biology teacher at Marlborough College and coached notable athletes including Mike Boit and Richard Nerurkar.
The sportsman continued to inspire a generation of runners by writing regular columns for Runner’s World and Athletics Weekly.
Tulloh passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Sue, son Clive and daughters Jojo and Katherine.