Ted Toft: Updated 19/1/11

The committee for the Leicester Marathon are looking to honour the loss of Ted through naming the children's race, new for 2011, as the Ted Toft Mile for Young People.  

The idea is a  collaboration between LOROS, the City Council (with Steve Humphries) and one that, as part of the committee for the Leicester Marathon, will bring together the road running fraternity and the inform the greater public of what Ted did throughout the sport in encouraging our younger generations in the sport.

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The funeral was held at St Michael and All Angels Church in Cosby on 19th January at 2.00 p.m.

Please see the tributes below which will be added to as and when they are received. You may be interested too to go to the Leicester Mercury website which also has a Tributes page for Eddie. There is a photo of him on our scrolling photo page when he received his national award for Services to Athletics in 2008 and another photo in an earlier news section below.

 

Tributes

My Personal Memories of Eddie Toft

I first knew of Eddie Toft towards the end of the 1960s not long after coming to Leicester. My then husband, Martin Knowles, was delighted that another "Northerner" and someone for whom he had a great deal of respect had also come to Leicester. He had known Eddie from his school days in Bury, Lancashire and was pleased to continue to have coaching advice and contact with him because of Eddie's extensive knowledge of middle distance running on the track. This contact began while we were at Leicester University and continued on with the local club, Leicester Coritanian AC. It continued on too, a generation later, with Martin's younger son, Joe, benefitting from Eddie's middle distance coaching expertise on the track at Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium.

I did not actually meet him until the early 1970s when he was organising some training for Leicester Coritanian members at the Leicester University Athletics track on Manor Road. This was my first introduction to words such as "paarlauf" and "fartlek" (both of which words caused our young son to giggle uncontrollably!) while I helped out with the very odd type of relay races that occurred! I have only rarely seen, since then, such a complete understanding by anyone of the importance of track training to off-track events, and also of off-track training to the track performance of athletes. Even in recent years he had talked about how difficult it is to run a sensible and efficient 5,000m or 10,000m track race, yet how beneficial it is to the middle and long distance runners to try it.

During the 1970s and 1980s Eddie was a vital figure within the club and was committed to ensuring that the athletes in Leicester Coritanian AC had better competition - he therefore supported the setting up of Charnwood AC. This was at a time when there was considerable resistance to having more than one track and field club in the County. However he knew the importance of competition and continued throughout his time in Leicester to promote and sustain competitive races. He was also the guiding force behind developing and sustaining various Road Running Leagues in the County and the Midlands. His quiet commitment and dedication were responsible (as far as I am aware) for the Pace Relays (which were annually held at GEC Whetstone), for the Round Leicester Relay which attracts so many athletes but which demanded a mammoth amount of planning and organisation to be successful, and for the return of the Leicester Marathon.

Eddie frequently bemoaned to me the fact that so many of the huge number of club road runners in the County did not want to run on the track. He tried hard to persuade the "new" joggers of the 70s and 80s, and also the new running clubs, to try both track training and track events, but often with little success. His expertise on the track ranged from 800m up to 10,000m but he sadly witnessed the decline of British success in these events in the latter half of his life. However he still continued to support and develop the County 10,000m Track Championships (alongside other middle and long distance off-track Championships).

For many people Eddie's commitment to disability athletics may not be so well known. However he supported every event that was organised for disabled athletes throughout the County. His contributions and support have been acknowledged by many in Special Schools throughout the County. He was also the oldest volunteer at the Special Olympics at Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium in 2009. Again, such a quiet and unassuming commitment and dedication from this humble man.

I have heard, and read, about how people have named Eddie (Ted as he came to be known in Leicester) as "Mr Endurance".  Indeed this accolade is well deserved considering how extensive his knowledge was - from the fell running, to the Marathon, to the road races, to the cross-country events - and possibly more that I know nothing about. For me however the enduring memory is of Eddie at the side of the athletics track. How amazing then that my first memory of him is jogging across the middle of the track between fartlek training or paarlauf relay races at the Manor Road Athletics track; and that my last memory, more than forty years later, is of him jogging across the middle of the Saffron Lane Athletics track doing exactly the same (and still calling times and encouragement to athletes) - just a month ago in his training sessions with Leicester Triathlon Club.

Like many, I have admired and respected this quiet and unassuming man. He has taught me a lot in relation to Endurance officiating and I will always be grateful for that. I hope that these few and slightly different memories, will help others to remember his mammoth contribution to track athletics as well as to Endurance. Thank you for everything Eddie.

Cherie (Knowles) D'Silva

January 2011

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I would just like to say that I was sorry to hear of the passing of Ted Toft, a fine man.

Matthew Hibberd (sent to LRAA website)

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The End of an Era - Thanks Ted!!

(From the Leicester Coritanian AC website)

The sad passing of Ted Toft means that Road and Cross Country running in Leicestershire will not be quite the same again! Ted was unique and he will leave a gap that will be very hard to fill.

However, Ted's legacy will be that his huge input and commitment to our sport over more than 40 years will ensure that the heartbeat of distance running in the county and beyond will continue to grow in strength long into the future.

Ted was a great character who has inspired generations of athletes and coaches alike, all of whom have benefited from his vast experience and wise counsel. No one ever had a bad word to say about Ted and in many ways that says everything about him.

 

The photograph above shows Ted on January 30th of last year carrying out one of his last duties as President of the Midland Counties Cross Country Association presenting the winning medals to the Coritanian U15 girls' team. He always took great pride in any of the club's achievements and this was a proud moment for him

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Ted Toft

A really nice person and a gentleman, helpful, guided people in the correct direction in a pleasant and tactfull manner.

Since we moved "up north" to Leicestershire some 28 years ago Ted has been Mr Endurance, a phrase he hated, in that county, but was known and respected all over the country.  Ted was a of great help to us over the years and got us working on some strange events

He will be greatly missed in Leicestershire as we feel that it will take a team of people to, the word that comes to mind is replace Ted, this cannot be, as with his knowledge of competing, coaching and as an endurance official he is not replaceable.

He was missed by us all at the Huncote Hash Sunday last but hope that we lived up to his high standards, even though the whistle was a bit weak.

Sorry thank we will not be able to make the 19th as we will be in Christchurch New Zealand for the International Paralympic Committee World Athletics Championships. We think Ted would have approved.

Our condolences to his wide family.

Margaret and Colin Fox

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  It is with great sadness that we announced the death of Ed Toft during the week. Ed was a great servant to the sport and had organised this event for many years and indeed was expecting to be here today to officiate and present the awards. Ed has been an inspiration and guide to many over many years and the sport will be a lesser place for his passing. Our sympathies are extended to his family and many friends.

 JOHN SKEVINGTON, LRAA

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The atmosphere at the county championships will be against a background of profound sadness at this shocking news. Yes Ed had reached a very good age but he has always been a spritely individual who made light of his years. Everyone in Leicestershire athletics has at one time or another benefitted from his wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

Dave Wheeler, Fleckney & Kibworth RC

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 Edwin (Ted) Toft: I came to Leicestershire thirty six years ago as an active athlete and was surprised to find that there was no athletics club in Loughborough.   With other like-minded individuals we started to correct this omission which brought me in touch with Edwin (Ted) Toft for the first time. Ted was still participating as a runner himself at that stage but was already actively involved in the Leicestershire and Rutland Amateur Athletic Association (L&RAAA) and the North Midland Cross Country League.  It was with his help that we were able to form Charnwood Athletics Club.  His club at that stage was the relatively new Leicester Coritanians and the formation of a rival club in Loughborough, which would weaken the Coritanians, was not welcomed by some, but Ted gave us his help and support I believe seeing the development as an opportunity for more people both young and old to get involved in the sport he loved.  

 Since those early associations Ted was an ever constant in our endeavours to bring athletics to a wider population.  For many years L&RAAA hosted not only their own domestic list of championships but both the Inter Counties Cross Country, and Track and Field, Championships on a biennial basis.  These were massive undertakings which today occupy the time of many fulltime paid officials but Ted and the team around him undertook such activities in their spare time on a totally voluntary basis.  Indeed such was their professionalism that both the Midland and the National Cross Country Championships were held in the county.  In the last three decades of course the sport of running has taken off with firstly the jogging boom and then recognition that running can be good for your health.  With these changes many harrier clubs have grown up around Leicestershire and the wider Midlands and all have needed help and encouragement.  Ted was always there in his unassuming way to give this support, answer questions, and help with the organisation of events in which they could participate and thus become established.

 I am sure a list of Ted's various roles and contributions will be submitted elsewhere but it is true to say not much has happened in the sport of running in Leicestershire without Ted's involvement in his usual humble and unassuming way.  I do not believe he has ever sought office or prominence but has always been willing to fill gaps when others have been reticent to help.   He was more at home marking out a muddy cross country course on the morning of a race, or standing at the finish in the rain recording positions, rather than taking a more public role in the presentation of the event.    It is no exaggeration to state that every runner in Leicestershire has cause to be thankful to Ted for the contribution he made and he will be sadly missed. 

John Harper, (President, Charnwood Athletic Club, Life Vice-President, L&RAA)

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 From L&RAA Programme for County Cross Country Champs

It is with sadness in our hearts that we welcome you to the 85^th Cross-Country Championships today - it is these Championships which are remembered for the presence of our friend, expert and colleague, Ted Toft. He has, for over 40 years been the person to find venues for our Championships, to inspect the courses and to ensure that they were sufficiently challenging as well as safe for athletes of all ages. For many decades he took in all the entries, drew the course maps by hand, and ensured that the organisation ran like clockwork. He has also been someone who supported our Disability events including these Cross-Country Disability Development races before the Championship races. His contribution to Leicestershire & Rutland Athletics is almost immeasurable - he will be greatly missed. His passing at the start of this week has been a huge shock to all of us.

We also remember Brian Ferris, a name less well known to many athletes here, but who was an excellent, efficient and jovial Timekeeper at all our events. He was one of the stalwart Officials who remain to the very end of events (sometimes in the dark) to ensure that even the slowest competitor has their time recorded in the results. Brian lived in Market Bosworth alongside this Park and would have loved the fact that our Championships are being held on his doorstep. He died in September 2010.

Our minute's silence today will be dedicated to both of them.

Ted was always someone who felt that these events should go on whatever the circumstances and so we will respect that by continuing with the same standards and traditions that he had set. It is in that spirit that I would like to thank all the organisers and officials from Leicestershire & Rutland AA who give up their time voluntarily each year, using their expertise to ensure that these Championships events take place. I would also like to thank the helpers from Hinckley Running Club for hosting this event and marking out the course, and to the army of marshals and helpers who are scattered around the course. Finally my thanks go to the staff from Bosworth Battlefield Centre for letting us use their Centre and fields, and to First Aid Services for their support for this event. To all these and everyone else who has made this event possible I thank you on behalf of all the athletes and parents who benefit from the opportunity to enjoy running and testing out their cross country skills. Everyone works together to make today possible.

I will close with Ed's words to athletes from last year:

"Go out, run the course sensibly, and enjoy it."

 

June Clarke, President, Leicestershire & Rutland AA