Julie Longden

Julie was married to Bruce for almost 19 years, but relocated permanently to South Africa after his death, and now lives in Paarl in the Western Cape, where they already had a property.

She has been involved in sports administration, management and coaching for most of her life, and is a qualified UKA Level 4 Performance Coach. She has been an Authorised IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Athletes’ Representative, has worked at Paarl Girls’ High School, as a coach/mentor and LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) organiser, and also Bloemhof Girls’ High School in Stellenbosch as athletics organiser, coach and hockey/netball conditioning coach.

Alison Longden

Alison is the eldest daughter of Bruce, and she lives in Geneva, Switzerland.
My own interest in athletics was fuelled by my Dad’s enthusiasm for coaching, and the athletes he personally coached.

I’m delighted to be involved with the Foundation and continue his work in a different way.

David Rice

Dave is 70 years old, and has been married to Eileen for 47 years. They have two sons. He lives in Hertford.

He has been involved in coaching, since the early 80’s, achieving numerous levels of coaching awards in sprints & hurdles, and combined events, under the old British Amateur Athletic Board (BAAB)/British Athletics Federation (BAF), and is now a Level 4 UK:A Performance Coach.

In 1992, whilst National Coach (North of the Thames Region), Bruce appointed Dave his Performance Manager and together they developed one of the strongest coach education regions in the UK. Dave continued as Coaching Administrator for the South of England (SEAA) – 19 counties – after the demise of BAF in 1999/2000, eventually chairing the SEAA Coaching Committee, until the formation of UK:A.

He continued to co-ordinate, and arrange, coaching courses, workshops, etc, during the early years of UK:A. He has also been team manager for various teams including England (East Region) UK School Games and London North Lions. East of England Combined Events Co-ordinator/Coach for Rover Initiative, and East of England Region.

Throughout this time he has continued to coach his own group of successful athletes, helping them to achieve honors at all levels.

Norman Groves

Norman, and his wife, Pauline, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in June 2019.

He has lived in Hatfield Heath for the last 26 years having previously lived in Bishop’s Stortford.

They two have two children, Esme’ and Dominic, and between they have produced four wonderful grandchildren.  Many years ago his two Godchildren came into their lives permanently, and they have given them three more ‘grandchildren’, so all in all he and Pauline feel that they are blessed.

Norman retired a few years ago having worked full time for the family company.  He started working for them when it was in its infancy and rose to become Finance Director to a company that has become one of the foremost electrical wholesalers in the country. However a few years ago he decided to take a sideways step to make life easier.

He likes to keep himself fit and is involved in heart rehabilitation classes twice a week, plays table tennis twice a week and walks strenuously every day. He likes watching all sports, particularly cricket and foot ball and is an Essex County Cricket Club season ticket holder. His other great love is travelling with Pauline and they enjoy planning where their next trip will be.

Since retiring, apart from being the treasurer of the Bruce Longdon Foundation he is now treasurer of his Masonic Lodge L of I, his local Probus group and the Hatfield Heath Magazine.

Sally Gunnell OBE

Sally Gunnell OBE; the Essex Girl who captured the hearts of a nation. She remains the only woman ever to hold four major track titles concurrently – Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth, and was coached by Bruce throughout her career.

Following her retirement from international athletics, Sally developed a new career as a television presenter and inspirational speaker. She has written four books on fitness, health, self-fulfilment, and wellbeing. She is married to Jon and is mum to three sons; Finley, Luca and Marley.

Sally’s rise to the pinnacle of her sport was hard won. She blew the chance to be World Champion in 1991, stormed back to win Olympic Gold in 1992 and defied incredible odds to become World Champion in 1993, setting a new World Record in the process.

Sally’s injuries eventually forced her retirement from elite sport, but she continued to remain in the public eye, thanks to her TV career. She worked for the BBC through the late Nineties and early Noughties, covering athletics events from around the world.

Her passion for health and wellbeing was a key component of her athletics success. She took her knowledge and experience in to the printed word, writing four influential books on the subject.

Today, she mixes keynote speaking and running corporate wellbeing programmes. She is also a high-profile supporter of healthy and active family initiatives in the UK.

Jon Bigg

• Level 3 UKA coach
• Level 1 British triathlon coach.
• Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
• British Athletics coach

Jon has used his own personal running experiences along with experience gained from working along side Olympic Champion and wife Sally Gunnell to build and effective and world renowned coaching philosophy. Through out Jons 20 years of coaching he has coached numerous athletes to the top level of the sport combining his ability to understand the individual needs of each athlete and the science behind building an effecting training plan.