139 Roger Black (MBE) British Olympic Athletics Legend with Sage Advice On Health, Happiness & The Relay Race/Marathon of Life!

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Ladies n' Genminminminmin (er, min...) absolutely thrilled & delighted to welcome UK Athletics Legend & Champion Roger Black MBE to the Good Listening To Show, for a classic bit of comedy & synergy! Allow me to explain! 

Literally 2 days after I had had the idea of "passing the Golden Baton" within my podcast structure, I had Roger Black in my Clearing, where I could award him AT LAST with Olympic Gold, having only managed to win Silver the 1st time in the 4x100 M Relay race, overtaken as he was, back in the day, by the Usain Bolt of his day, USA Olympic Legend Michael Jordan!

So here to receive his Golden Baton - at last - is Roger Black MBE!

More about Roger Black:

Roger Black’s athletic career almost never got started - twice! The first occasion was a medical check aged 11, at school, that revealed a potentially dangerous heart condition - a leaky valve. Even though there were no previous symptoms, the powers that be  took him off all games immediately. 

The next occasion came with his A level results. Roger needed three Bs to secure his place at university. What he got was an A in biology, a B in chemistry and a D in maths. Without ever realising it at the time, that D delayed him ever starting his journey to become a doctor, yet created the opportunity to explore another path completely - as a potentially world-class athlete. The doctors were now happy to let him do this, if that was what he wanted. It was! 

He ran competitively for his county and when he went into serious training, he was competing internationally within two months. Roger started running with Chris Akabusi and he believes his colleague’s speed helped him to run faster. This is a life lesson for Roger: if you want to improve your personal performance, surround yourself with the best possible people in that field so that you have to raise your game in order  to keep up with them. As they say of racehorses, any horse looks fast running past bushes! 

In Roger’s trophy cabinet you will find gold medals for Europe and the World and a Silver medal in the Olympics on the last possible occasion for him for it. No mean achievement for a lad with a leaky heart valve! Other achievements include winning Celebrity Master Mind and acquiring Daley Thompson as a fan of his guitar playing! Music and nature mean a lot to Roger Black as he moves purposefully towards the end of his sixth decade. 

Moving is a key issue as we get older, says Roger. “If you’re in the Olympics, the date of the final is always in sharp focus. But if you’re no longer in a competitive situation, you need to redefine your Why?” You need to focus on what you can control and make the most of every day. Exercise is freely available to everyone. Its benefits are beyond question. “Give it a go!” That is the advice from

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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