And yet, despite the official line, Tarrant had become a hugely popular character who would be cheered on by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of spectators. Today, in his adopted home of Hereford, close to the city's running club, stands a sculpture in his honour - created, somewhat symbolically, by vulnerable teenagers living in a residential home nearby.

If you have ever trained for a race, been addicted to running or watched the running events during the Olympics, this is a book for you. In the 1950s and 60s, athletics all around the world were still muddled in the whole idea of the honor of the amateur athlete. In Britain, where most world class runners were educated scholars, the working class man was mostly disqualified by his need to make money - and running couldn't pay the bills. Tarrant is a victim of this system. Is it honor or outright snobbery? But "The Ghost Runner" does not give up. He never stops seeking justice, and never stops running in races even when he's been told "no". Two weeks later a letter arrived returning his six shillings subscription fee. He was informed that he was now banned from amateur athletics for life - including events such as the de facto British championships and trial races for Olympic selection. He bombarded officials with replies, pleading his case, but to no avail. Think about the consequences Ghost faces as a result of his decision to steal a pair of running shoes. Do you think that the way that Coach punishes him is fair? What would the consequences have been if Ghost had been stopped by the police instead? What would the consequences have been if his mother had discovered the theft? What would have happened if Ghost had never been caught? Why might it have been better for him to get caught? Trouble is, you can't run away from yourself." Coach snatched the towel from his shoulder, folded into a perfect square, and set it in the space between us. "Unfortunately," he said, "ain't nobody that fast." British athletics in the 1950s was governed according to a moral standard supposedly inspired by the Ancient Greeks but which stank of inequality and exclusion.

After discreetly changing, he wound his way through crowds to the start line, the only man without a number. His dream of running at the Olympics crushed, Tarrant nonetheless went on to dominate the domestic scene, establishing himself as one of the best long-distance runners in Britain. John suffered with his hospital treatment and wrote me, shortly before he died, that if he had his life over again he would choose complimentary medicine instead of mainstream torture. It's real, it has a very strong voice and character (I'm actually sad that the rest of the books in the series are supposed to be about other characters), and it's about a sport/fitness activity that a lot of people can do easily: we need more lit about stuff like this.

Recommend for: Runners and biography lovers. Honestly, if you love the story of an underdog, Tarrant is definitely all that.

I knew nothing of this and I hadn't heard of Jason Reynolds and this was a fantastic surprise. A great story that has great characters, so well written, easy to read and a fast read. I loved this book and I'm going to read more of the series. I'm so pleasantly surprised. Seriously. But as he had done time and time again, Tarrant dug deep into what propelled him and battled on. Slowly the gap began to shrink until he was just two laps behind Bentley. Suddenly the unthinkable seemed possible. It is the 1950s. John Tarrant runs. He runs all over the British countryside for miles around his home and dreams of Olympic Gold. But 17 pounds he accepted for boxing as a teenager makes him a professional - and ineligible for running in any races. So Tarrant invents the "Ghost Runner" - jumping into races without a number - to compete. He pleads his case to the Amateur association. While he has some success, his tale is also filled with heartache. He used running as his psychological help," says Nicola Tyler, who is chair of the Ghost Runners running club in Hereford and was trained by Tarrant's brother Vic for many years.