The Longest Race
Tom Alter
In Abberley, Bahadur finds a coach who is a visionary, a guru who lets him follow the rhythm of his body and spirit. Bahadur is on his way to becoming a long-distance phenomenon, winning a major marathon in England. The Olympics beckon... but when the young man reaches the peak of his powers, he is plunged into the strange world of Indian sport, and the bureaucracy, politics and jealousies in which it is mired leaves him scarred and disillusioned. He abandons running until, years later, a moment of crisis forces him to return to it, showing him how the human spirit can triumph even when the odds are stacked against it.
Tom Alter (1950–2017) was born in Mussoorie, India, where he studied at Woodstock School. His parents were American Presbyterian missionaries. He left India to study at Yale University, returning to the country of his birth to join the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, from where he graduated, with a gold medal, in 1974. He had acted in over 250 Hindi films and 50 TV serials as well as in several stage productions. He wrote and recorded commentaries, hosted live shows, was a sports journalist, and wrote two other books – The Best in the World: India’s Ten Best World Cup Matches, which he co-authored with Ayaz Memon, and Rerun at Rialto, a novel.