19 Jun 2024
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: Jack Brooks, who at the age of 72 is set to achieve an incredible personal record by running his 600th marathon on June 22, raising funds for Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. You can sponsor him here: http://bit.ly/3wW6RUV
Where do you walk when you want to think?
I more often go for a run than a walk when I want to think. On those occasions any traffic-free country footpath will do.
Do you ever Google yourself?
I have a couple of times. Last time I did it I discovered that there was a cult horror film called Jack Brooks Monster Slayer, which dominated the site.
What TV did you watch as a child?
Bill and Ben, Four Feather Falls, Fireball XL5 (I can still remember the lyrics), Torchy the battery boy and Last of the Mohicans are the main ones that come to mind.
If you could have a conversation with someone who had died who would it be?
Jack Kerouac. When I was a student I devoured many of the books written by the beat poets and authors, but Kerouac (and particularly ‘On the Road’) was my favourite author. He lived life to the full.
What is your favourite single item of clothing?
I have a Goretex jacket that I bought in Chicago in 1999. The elastic on the sleeves has gone and I’m not even sure that it is still waterproof, but it is one of the first items to emerge from the cupboard every winter.
Were you well behaved at school?
No. I was sent to boarding school from the age of eight. Once, when I was driven back to school I locked every door in our house. Then when I was dropped off at the school I threw the keys in a ditch. Also in my teens I nearly got expelled for selling copies of International Times (an underground newspaper) around the school. I think that the only reason I wasn’t expelled was that the father of the friend I was selling them with was the mayor of an important nearby town. I was never considered to be prefect material and I hated all my time at school.
If you could travel back in time and offer your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Do what you can when you can. You never know what is round the corner. I really wish that I’d started running earlier than I did. As it is my best times at all distances were achieved in my mid forties.
Have you ever asked for an autograph?
I asked Colin Jackson for his autograph many years ago when I ran Anglesey Marathon. I remember asking him if he’d considered running a marathon. He replied quite firmly that it wasn’t anywhere near the top of his agenda.
What are your preferred pizza toppings?
Cheese, olives and mushrooms. The best pizzas I have ever consumed were in Naples. I haven’t found anywhere in St Albans that matches their quality. However, a number of my friends have highly recommended Gracey’s Pizza takeaway on Watford Road, Chiswell Green so I’ll probably check them out sometime soon.
Dogs or cats?
Dogs, although I’ve just spent a week dog sitting and my sister’s dogs have tried my patience at times. I don’t mind cats, but I don’t really consider them to be house pets in the same way that dogs are and they are too independently minded for my liking.
