Over the years there have been many twins in Sussex athletics, but apart from the wild Irish Shanahan boy throwers from Worthing in the post-war period, few have spent much time competing as seniors. The Auketts, also from Worthing, impacted women's middle distance and cross-country running early this century. Philippa is still third on the Sussex All-time 800m list, while the Howards, also from Worthing and again middle-distance runners, whom I hope to feature shortly, made an impact in the 1970/ 80s and Mark became a four-minute miler.
There have been other siblings over the years, but I cannot recall any family that has impacted Sussex athletics like the Bristow boys from Brighton and Hove in the 70s,80s and 90s. They won a host of Sussex middle distance and cross country titles.
Both their parents were heavily into athletics administration, and it is appropriate to start with Hazel and Jason.
Hazel was born at Bethnal Green in 1934, but when her family moved to Chingford, she went to the High School and set the Schools Standing Broad Jump record at 7' 11 3/4" (2.43m) before going to Bognor Teachers Training College.
Hazel's involvement with Brighton and Hove AC stretched over 30 years. Together with Carol Dale and May Langmaid, she was ever-present in the results box at Withdean Stadium for all the club events. She was club secretary from 1994 to 2005 and then secretary of the 200-Club from 1994 to 2005.
Her enthusiasm for field event judging was severely dampened when she missed an almost certain club record in the shot put when a gust of wind blew her hair in front of her eyes!
Hazel frequently travelled to the continent and to Boston to watch Andy in World Cross-Country champs and to Tokyo with Jason for World Champs in 1991. Her first teaching job was at Patcham, and she finished her teaching career at Balfour Infants Schools.
Jason was born at Horsham in 1931 and went to Collyers School. After National service, he worked for the London County Council before going to Bognor Teachers Training College, where he was in the same year as Hazel. They married in Horsham in 1957.
Jason was a PE teacher at Varndean Grammar School before moving on to Brighton College of Education as a PE lecturer, training many of the county's PE teachers. His pupils and students included many Brighton and Hove AC members as well as a few sporting legends such as former 10,000m World Record holder Dave Bedford and BBC presenter Des Lynam.
Jason was a regular on the timekeepers stand at Withdean Stadium, and his stopwatch travelled around the country to help out wherever needed at other events where the boys were competing.
He coached all three sons in their early years, and he and Hazel were always there at races with bin liners for tracksuits, hot flasks of tea and an assortment of post-race refreshments.
Jason travelled to New Zealand to watch Andy in World CC Champs and to Zagreb for the World Student Games and all over Europe and Boston for World CC Champs.
John Jason Bristow was the first to arrive on 1st November 1958 in Brighton, and he went to Varndean Boys Grammar School before going on to Loughborough University from 1977 to 1981. During those years he was in a unique situation of regularly training with and racing in teams with both Steve Ovett and Seb Coe (as they were breaking each other's world records).
In 1973, John caught the eye when he won the Sussex Schools Junior cross country championship and took the first of four trips to the English Schools cross-country championships. He was later to add the Sussex Schools Intermediate title in 1975 and the Senior crown in 1977. His best placing at "Nationals" came in 1976 when he finished 14th in the senior race. 
The first time we were aware of a trio of Bristow cross-country runners, was in the Brighton Schools CC championships of 1975. John won the Intermediate title, Andrew the Junior title and Paul the Middle Schools race, a feat which has not been repeated.
Many times they joined forces to achieve impressive team performances, and twice they combined to help the Brighton & Hove senior men's team win the Southern Cross Country team title.
In 1989 with Andy in third place, Nigel Gates fourth, Paul 20th, John 27th, Alan Rowe 63rd and Dave Knight 92nd combined to take the title. The same year Andy 15th, Nigel 16th, John 59th, Paul 71st, Dave 139th and Rob Mahoney 188th took the team into eighth place in the National CC Championships, which is still the highest placing a Sussex Club has finished. That year Steve Cram finished 83rd, and it is probably the only time three brothers beat Cram.
One year later Andy first, Nigel eighth, Richard Carter 25th, Paul 41st, John 52nd and Dave 68th, retained their Southern crown and they are still the only Sussex club to win the Southern Senior team title.
In the Bedford Boxing Day, 10 miles in 1989 and again at the Brighton 10k in 1992 the brothers combined to win the three-man team races.
On the Sussex scene, John chalked up many gold medals, individual and team. He was also a member of the first Sussex club team to win the National Youths CC team title in 1976, at Leicester with Billy Knight 9th, John 18th, Colin Brinkhurst 45th and Graham Thompsett 62nd.
In 1977 John won the Sussex Junior title and in 1981 he took the silver medal in the BUSF 3,000n steeplechase. Come 1989 he won the coveted Senior title with younger brother Paul in second place and Andrew taking the weekend off in preparation for a run for the England team the following weekend in Belgium.
1988/89 was a peak year for John who, at one time, held no less than five County titles which, was unheard of in Sussex before or since. He held the 5000m, 10000m track titles, the 10km Road title, the Senior CC title and Half-marathon title. He was also the first Sussex runner in the London Marathon (154th) in 2:29:23 at his first attempt. John finished second in the County 20-mile championship to Sussex Marathon record holder Derrick Stevens from Hastings but missed out on the medal in the track 1500m championships finishing fourth.
John worked in Switzerland winter 1981 – 1982 and then taught PE and Geography for three years in Hertfordshire 1982 – 1985. After working in Austria and Switzerland in the travel industry and sometimes as a barman, local Radio Presenter and English Teacher. He worked for various tour operators 1986 - 2001.
Since 2001 he has worked in Switzerland in various jobs - 2001 - 2009 barman, local radio presenter, English teacher including running his own bar and restaurant. He is currently co-director of an estate agents in Le Châble.
Andrew Deryck Jason Bristow was born in Brighton on 2nd September 1961 and was eager to follow in his brother's footsteps, running at every opportunity. He went to Varndean Grammar School and Birmingham University and combined a teaching career with athletics.
The last 20 of his 32 years in schools have been as Head of Science at Dr Challoner's Grammar in Amersham, where he has also supported the cross country team, with their "Brighton and Hove' red vests with two black hoops, to several national schools team titles.
In 1988 he married Jane who has had a corporate career, and they have two sons; Jamie, a four-times Cambridge Hockey blue and recreational runner and Alex, also a runner.
Andrew's successes started with victory in the Brighton Middle Schools CC championship in 1972. A year later he stepped up to win the Sussex Schools junior crown and the first of six trips to the English Schools cross-country championships. Four times Andrew finished in the top dozen places, 5th in the Junior race in 1976, 12th in the Inters in 1978, 8th in the Seniors in 1979 and 6th in the senior in 1980 when he led the Sussex Schools team to their first-ever victory in the Senior event.
1974 saw an unprecedented two-decade run of successes in County cross-country championships; winning the inaugural Colts Championships Boys crown in 1976, the Youths title in 1977, the Junior in 1980, and after placing third in the senior race in 1983, he was second in 1984. He was to win the Senior title in 1985 and 1986, and further victories came 1991 – 1993 and 1994 to make him one of just our athletes to have won the crown five or more times.
He is one of only two athletes, the other being Alan Rowe, who has won every Sussex County-country Cross-country title but is the only one to win all the Sussex Schools titles also.
In February 1977 Andrew won the inaugural Boys CC title 1977 at the Southern Championships. Two years later he was 6th in the Youths race, leading the Brighton and Hove team to their first-ever Youths team Championship title. In 1980 he finished second in the AAA Junior 3000m and 3rd in the 5000m tack events.
Andrew won the BUSF Cross-country title in 1985 and went on to win the 5000 crown, a year later before taking the Southern Senior title in 1990 and 1991.
He was runner up in the CAU championships in 1992 and 1994, and these were a step up to earn a place in the GB team at the World CC Championships, where he appeared seven times, which is more than any other Sussex athlete. Even Tim Hutchings could only make four appearances though they did include two silver medals.
Andy finished 58th at Auckland in 1988, 70th in Aix le Bains in 1990, and 41st in Antwerp in 1991. 26th in Boston in 1992, when the UK took third team place, 69th in 1993 in Amorebieta, Spain he did not finish in 1994 because of a hamstring injury, and he placed 69th at Turin in 1997.
In 1990 and 1991 it was virtually a family affair with Paul helping to organise the World Championships and John arranging travel for supporters, on top of this the parents were there as well.
Andy's efforts were by no means just centred on cross-country running. He also had a fine collection of track championships medals and many International races starting with Sussex and Schools' victories. He made five appearances at the English schools, starting with a fifth place in the Junior 1500m in 1976, and then 4th in the Inter 3000m in 1977, and 2nd in the same event the following year. Then the first-ever Sussex victory in the Senior 5,000m in 1979 and finally fifth in 1980 again in the 5,000m.
At Zagreb in hot and oppressive conditions at the World Student Games in 1987, Andy was running well when he suddenly collapsed on to the track. Help did not come quickly enough for Dad, Jason, and he was over the barrier and on to the track to tend his son, but he took four weeks before he recovered and was back racing when he was beaten by brother Paul over 3000m.
In 1990 Andrew notched up his best track performance when he finished third in the 10,000m Grand Prix in 28:04.04 in Berlin when Arto Barrios set a new World Record. Andy's time topped the British Rankings for that year. This run also bettered Tim Hutchings Sussex record and remains the Sussex record to this day and is currently 39th on the British All-time Ranking list.
In 1991 Andy qualified for the 10,000m at the World Championship in Tokyo, where, again in hot conditions, he finished 16th in 28:47.01s in his parents' presence.
Although Andy was to place 69th in the World Cross-country Championships in Turin in 1997 his work as a teacher was to curtail his training, and he eased his top-class track racing soon after the mid-nineties. However, he has made several appearances in club events and Park runs.
Paul Jason George Bristow was born on the 9th April 1963 and as Grammar Schools had ended in Brighton and Hove, he went to Dorothy Stringer School before going on to Varndean Sixth Form College and Cambridge University.
Married Wenja in Luzern, Switzerland in 2000 and has three children (Zoe (17), Tom (14) and Jackson (13). Living in Wimbledon and still a regular Wimbledon Common Park Runner.
Paul was very much the team man, and he collected a clutch of Southern County cross-country team gold medals, as recounted earlier, to go with the many Sussex County team medals with the Brighton and Hove Athletic Club, including the coveted Senior team championships. In 1989 he took the silver medal, behind John in the Sussex Senior cross-country championships.
He represented Sussex in the Inter-county Cross-country championships at Senior level, with a highest placing of 32nd in 1989, as well as through the junior age groups and the Sussex Schools at the All England championships both over the country and on the track several times.
He was no slouch however, and proved the be the fastest of the three brothers over 800 and 1500m and won the Sussex Schools senior 2000m steeplechase title in 1981 in 6:23.5s and
the County Senior 3000m steeplechase crown in 9:08.3s in 1988, while in 1984 and 1985 he finished second in the BUSF 3,000m steeplechase championships
He was also to complete a "Bristows" hattrick when he followed his brothers and won the County 5000m crown and Happy Gordon trophy, a trophy that is no longer presented. They are the only siblings to achieve this feat in any Sussex championship.
In 1991 he ran 30:18.78s when taking the bronze medal in the Southern 10,000m championship.
When he moved on to Cambridge University, he was invited to join the Hockey Club, a considerable honour, but I believed he declined as participation in hockey at Cambridge would have prevented his involvement in athletics. He did, however, become captain of the cross-country team and won the Inter-varsity 3000m steeplechase both 1983 and 1984, winning Blues for both cross-country and Athletics.
Paul repeated the medicine in the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge versus Harvard and Yale match, being the only British winner in 1983, and the only athlete to repeat his victory in 1985.
In 1994 Paul won the Zurich Canton cross-country championship, the equivalent to our County championships having won the 5000m the previous year.
Paul was also a highly talented hockey player, and if he had accepted Cambridge University's invitation to join their team instead of athletics, he might have finished up, like fellow Brighton and Hove club mate, Sean Rowland, as a member of the UK Olympic Games Hockey squad.
Paul said: "The reality at Cambridge was that it was not possible to run and to play hockey because the fixtures clashed, so in my first 3 years, I focused on running and just played hockey for my college team, which won the inter colleges Cup. I played more hockey in my final year and represented the Cambridge Wanderers (2nd XI) against Othreeford University.
"I played for Sussex Schools at both U16 and U18 and represented the South East England Division at U16 and U18 levels in the Interdivisional Tournament / England Trials."
Paul also played hockey for the Brighton Hockey Club.
He has spent all of his career in the organisation and marketing of international sports events. His first role was at the International Amateur Athletics Federation, where he was involved in the organisation of many of the World CC Championships in which Andy competed and the World Championships in Rome in 1987 and Tokyo in 1991.
Paul moved to Switzerland in 1992 to work for the marketing agency of the UEFA Champions League. He returned to the UK to build a sports technology company that won the contract to manage the website and mobile apps for the 2012 Olympic Games.
In 2015 he founded the company that manages the new multi-sport European Championships, which was staged for the first time in Glasgow and Berlin in 2018. The event brings together the existing European Championships in nine sports including athletics, and the next edition is in Munich in 2022.
Personal bests:
John: 800m 1:54.3 1988 – 1500m 3:49.13 1988 – One mile 4:10.3 1987 – 3000m 8:19.9 1987 – 5000m 14:23.4 1988 – 10000m 30:51.5 - 3000m S/c 9:22.5 1992 – Half-Mar 66:53 1988 – Marathon 2:26.50 1991.
Andrew: 800m 1:55.8 1987 – 1500m 3:46.44 1987 – One mile 4:05.20 1990 – 3000 7:55.47 1989 – 5000m 13:34.60 1992 – 10000m 28:04.04 1990 – Half-Mar 65:43 1992.
Paul: 800m 1:53.22 -1985 – 1500m 3:46.34 1992 – One mile 4:10.7 1987 – 3000 8:12.0 1987 – 5000m 14:35.23 1993 – 10000 30:18,78 1991 – 3000m S/c 9:02.78 1988 – Half-Mar 72:26 1993 –
All three Bristow boys were fully supportive of the Brighton and Hove club teams, competing when possible, in cross-country, track league teams and in many Road Relay teams, particularly in Southern and National Road relay championships six and 12 stage relays, and quite often all three lining up in the "A" teams.
I believe Andrew still holds the course record for the South of England six-stage relay, which is no longer run at Aldershot. This is quite an achievement as both Steve Ovett and Seb Coe competed over this course.
Will there ever be another such talented and successful family in Sussex Athletics?