Alf may have been from the wrong side of the tracks, but was on the side of the angels. He was gritty, indomitable and honest – he embodied the virtues that the British like to think they have.


Alf enjoyed the contest, enjoyed pitting himself against the elements and other runners.

Alf Tupper, styled ‘The Tough Of The Track’, was the flagship character in The Victor comic, published from 1961 until the early 1990s.

And of course he was a working-class hero – the phrase “The Tough of the Track” was a sort of pun – it referred to his humble background as much as his gritty determination in competition.

Alf started life in the all-text comic The Rover in the late 1940s, but transferred to the picture-strip Victor when it launched.

He was a hero to several generations of British middle-distance runners, including Ron Hill, Brendan Foster and Steve Cram.

He was also my favourite – when I got The Victor every week, it was always a better comic if it was an Alf week. (After the end of each story, which might last for eight or ten weeks, there would be a hiatus during which there was no Alf.)

The Victor ran from 1961 to 1992. Each year an annual was also published: The Victor Book for Boys. Its strips included Alf Tupper, The Tough Of The Track; Braddock Of The Bombers; Morgyn The Mighty; Joe Bones, the Human Fly; The Hammer Man; Gerald Cadman, a cowardly British officer; The Goals Of Jimmy Grant.