<Tr> <Th> Media type </Th> <Td> Print (Hardcover) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Publication date </Th> <Td> 1959 </Td> </Tr> <P> "The Loneliness of the Long - Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same name . The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working class area, who has bleak prospects in life and few interests beyond petty crime . The boy turns to long - distance running as a method of both an emotional and a physical escape from his situation . The story was adapted for a 1962 film of the same title, with Sillitoe writing the screenplay and Tony Richardson directing . The part of Smith (now called Colin) was played by Tom Courtenay . </P> <P> When he is caught by the police for robbing a bakery, Smith is sentenced to be confined in Ruxton Towers in Essex, a borstal (prison school) for delinquent youths . Taken there in handcuffs and detained in bleak and highly restrictive circumstances, he seeks solace in long - distance running, attracting the notice of the school's authorities for his physical prowess . Long - distance running offers Smith a welcome distraction from the brutal drudgery of the borstal regime and he is offered a light workload for his last six months at Ruxton Towers, if he wins in an important cross-country competition against a prestigious public school . For Ruxton Towers to win the cross-country race would be a major public relations boost for the establishment, and Smith has an obvious incentive to co-operate . </P>

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