In my opinion, Garry had the talent to not only be one of Norfolk’s best, but I genuinely believe he had the ability to be right up there with the very best on a national scale.
I will never forget during the mid-1980s when seeing this young lad running past my flat in Nursery Close in his Norfolk County vest whilst looking into my windows which at the time, I assumed he did to see if I was at home for a chat.
Chat with him I did which then turned out to be what was the start of regular visits to my home whilst I listened to him eagerly telling me about his running and his future ambitions.
It was the late Mike Sutton who was a teacher at Garry’s school who advised him to join a club having witnessed his running talents. I knew Mike well and he also mentioned him to me one evening when he was coaching his group of young Norwich City footballers down at the UEA whilst I was there training with some of my club mates from the Norfolk Gazelles.
Having joined the Norfolk Olympiads, Garry didn’t have to travel too far either as when it came to training sessions, his first coaches Dave and Jan Everett literally lived just a stone’s throw away from him when, apart from the Lakenham club nights, they also trained on the grass track at Hellesdon school.
However, as time progressed, Garry then moved over to Tim and Pauline Ash to train with their middle-distance group and whilst initially, he wasn’t the leading light, it was quite clear that he was improving all the time. I had several runs with him, and I think it is fair to say that every run was close to race pace. Initially I thought he was just trying to impress me, but no, that was how Garry trained all the time.
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By the late 1980s and early 90s, his strength was very much starting to show through when winning a few cross-country and local road races such as the Lowestoft 10k series.
It was in the country where he really excelled though, when becoming both the overall Essex and Icknield Cross Country Leagues champion along with winning the U20 and then Senior Men’s Norfolk Cross Country Championships too.
However, it was his second place in the Eastern Counties X/C and superb run outs in the National and Inter Counties Championships with 37th and 32nd placings which really put his name out there when it came to potentially going on to much bigger things.
His real claim to fame though has to be his five consecutive race wins including course record which still stands to this very day at what is the renowned Dovedale Dash in Derbyshire.
An event which not only has so much history, but a race where so many top athletes from track, road, cross country and fell running all line up together to take part in this most rugged of races which not only has to deal with the ascent and descent of the hilly and muddy terrain but cross the famous river dove with the stepping stones too. Garry’s five wins were between 1991 and 1995 with the record being set at 25:01 during what was to be his last outing in this race.
So, for those who have got this far reading my column this week and are wondering what went wrong?
Garry, now aged 53, was constantly plagued with an Achilles tendon injury which included surgery on two occasions. He made several attempted comebacks, but each time it looked like he was on his way back, he broke down again.
This was also followed by a series of mystery stomach issues which also led to bouts of hospitalisation and despite one test and examination after another, nothing seemed to prove to be conclusive.
Thankfully though after a recent visit to London and Harley Street there now looks to be some light at the end of the tunnel and whilst this will require further surgery, it will also be the end of what has been several years of misery for him. So much so he has had several bouts of severe depression due to not only his health-related issues, but also not being able to fulfil his running potential.
Back in August, I wrote in one of my columns about a super and enthusiastic gentleman by the name of Harvey Murray-Smith who I met on my holiday in the peak district in the town of Ashbourne.
Harvey being one of the Run Leader coaches at his club the Ashbourne Running Club.
Well just last week Harvey told me how he and several of his club members were going to take part in last weekend’s Dovedale Dash for which I told him about Garry’s exploits during the 1990s.
With Harvey being so very genuinely interested in hearing more, I decided to introduce them to each other via Facebook Messenger and before I knew it messages were flying back and forth.
It was like talking to the Garry of old and as for whose enthusiasm was the greater, I’m not so sure!
Come race day, whilst Harvey was speaking to the announcer on the PA System about Garry, ironically and co-incidentally, he saw Garry’s name written down on a sheet of paper detailing all his wins and course record and with that the name Garry Booty was being mentioned and boomed out across the PA system for all to hear.
This also resulted in a few words about Garry’s current health issues for which he was afforded a round of applause from all the athletes present along with a further invitation to come along as a guest to next year’s race.
Harvey of course related all of this back to Garry as well as telling him that he has also been mentioned in the Ashbourne newspaper this week too.
I then received a lovely phone call from Garry saying: “Neil, these last few days have cheered me up no end, what with being able to relive it all again. Thank you so very much for introducing me to Harvey, as all of this means so much to me.”
Once again it sums up for me just how the simple act of being able to run can be so good for not only our physical, but mental health too. ‘Exercise for the mind!’ At the same time, it also sums up just how fantastic the running community is.
Thank you, Harvey Murray-Smith, and thank you everyone who was part of what has turned out to be another very special Dovedale Dash for one of the all-time running stars of that event… Garry Booty, from Hellesdon, in Norfolk.
Garry owns the Frame Room in the Dixons Centre in Hellesdon where he puts as much effort and perfection into his work as he did with his running back in the day.
Final words of course from Garry: “If only we had today’s running equipment back then Neil. It would have saved you from driving out in your car putting drinks out the night before we did all those long runs which were always much further than you told me they were going to be!”
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