ReadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2025

Mike Sheridan Author

Since retiring in October 2021, Brian Gardner has rekindled a childhood ambition to be a writer. He is a graduate in English Literature and a former athlete. He was a primary school teacher, fitness instructor, and a manager in physical activity and public health. He qualified with distinction in proofreading and copy editing from the College of Media and Publishing in 2022. His first book, No Cross-Country for Old Men, was published the same year. He is coauthor of the memoir of a world champion in athletics, David Sharpe, Enigma on Track, released in 2024. He lives in Wiltshire.

A bold and audaciously ambitious runner, Mike Sheridan embraced the grind tirelessly, year in and year out, as he straddled the fine red line of intense training that it takes to become one of the world's best marathoners. Through every soaring high and gut-wrenching low, through every injury and setback, Mike put his head down and got the work done, never complaining, always with his characteristic forward vision and his unshakable conviction that the impossible was only impossible until it had been conquered. This dogged belief in his own ability is what forged Mike Sheridan into a first-class athlete and, ultimately, a world record holder. He lives in Hampshire.