There is little doubt that one of the most prodigious Sussex athletics' family were the Howards from Worthing. There are five of them and all runners and all except Mum, Virginia Sussex champions.
Clifford George Howard, born on 17th August 1934, really started the ball rolling in 1958 when he won the Sussex One-mile championship at Princes Park, Eastbourne. Cliff was and continued to be a regular competitor in Sussex track and cross-country events. He remained a good and reliable club athlete for many years. In those days there was not the opportunities there are today to continue as a veteran or master as they are now called .
Some of the Highlights of Tracy, Mark and Kevin Howard’s athletic careers.
1979: Mark finished 14th and Kevin (with a cold) placed 68th in the Inter-county U13 XC championships, the first twins ever to run for Sussex in the same event.
In the County Championships in December Tracy won the U17 title placing third overall in the combined Sen/Intermediate race.
1980: In the County Track Champs, in the U15 age group, Mark won the 1500m in 4:24.1 and also the 400m in 56.6s while Kevin won the javelin throw with 42.24m and was second in the 1500m in 4:24.8s and they were both members of the winning Worthing 4 x 400m relay team.
At the Sussex Schools Mark won the 1500m 4:22.2s and Kevin was second in the 800m in 2:10.5s.
Tracy was second in the U17 3000m in 11:17.0s. She showed her potential for long distance by being the third woman, at 16 years, to finish in the Walton 10-mile Road Race in 59:47.
Mark was to finish third in the Southern U15 1,500m in 4:18.4s and then ran a brilliant race in the English Schools to finish second in 4:12.5s. He later won the Southern 3,000m title in a new Sussex record time of 9:07.6s.
At the end of the year all three won medals in the Sussex Cross-Country Championships with Mark winning the U15 crown from Kevin and Tracy taking the silver medal in the U17 race.
1981: Inter-counties Cross-Country. U15 Mark 31st (2nd Sussex athlete).
Sussex Schools. U17 Tracy 2nd. U15 Mark 1st. Kevin 3rd. A complete set of medals for one family.
Southern. U17 Tracy 12th (1st Sussex). U15 Mark 14th, Kevin 26th.
English Schools. U17 Tracy finished 34th (2nd Sussex) and 78th for Kevin in the U15 race.
1982: Sussex Cross Country Champs. U17 Kevin 2nd to Richard Carter and in the Inter-Counties at the end of January he closed in the Sussex team that placed fourth in 31st place.
In the Sussex Schools U17 event Kevin had an excellent run to win from Mark.
In the Sussex Schools track championships there was a fine run from Kevin to win the 1,500m Steeplechase in a record time of 4:20.3s and he was to repeat this victory in the Southern championships in 4:23.3s. Mark won the 1500m flat at Withdean and finished third in the Southern 1,500m Championship.
There was another fine run over the barriers in the English Schools championships to take a fine second place in 4:21.5s but Kevin returned to winning ways to win the A.A.A U17 steeplechase title in 4:20.3s.
On to December where Tracy, now running for Crawley AC, finished fifth in the Sussex senior XC race.
1983: In the Sussex men’s Cross-Country Championships Kevin, still in winning form to take the U17 crown but a couple a weeks later in the Inter-Counties Mark led the Sussex team home in 23rd place, four places ahead of Kevin while the Southern Championships saw him finish a splendid 7th to Kevin’s 24th place.
Stepping up to 20-mile Tracy showed her talent for racing over the long distance by leading the women’s race in 2:02:32s and in April she finished 34th woman in the London Marathon in 2:46:27s which, at the time was the fastest marathon run by a British U20 athlete. And that time is still (2021) still the Sussex Junior record.
1984: Tracy was the first woman to finish in the Brighton 10km Road Race clocking 36:40s and later in the year, aged 20, was the youngest ever woman to represent Great Britain in an International Marathon finishing third in Rome in 2:48:05s
1985: Sussex U20 Cross Country Champs Kevin was 3rd and Mark 4th and in a tough CAU championship race Mark led the Sussex team home in 78th place while Kevin placed 110th.
Come the summer, Kevin won the Southern U20 3km steeplechase in a new Sussex record time of 5:48.43s, a record that survived for more than a decade.
Just before Christmas, Tracy took third place in the Sussex Senior Cross Country Champs behind internationals Bridget Smyth and Debbie Peel.
1986: Mark took third place in the Sussex U20 Cross Country Champs at Denne Park with Kevin in fourth place, 
while in the Southern Inter-counties event Tracy finished 11th and helped the Sussex team to finish third. They improved this to second team in the National Inter-Counties with Tracy closing in the scoring four in 39th place. She also won the Sussex League title after placing second in the final race and won the Caterham Half-marathon in 81:30s as well as taking bronze in the W.A.A.A 10,000m track championship in 33:34.77. At the end of the year she beat Debbie Peel for the Sussex Cross-country title.
1987: Tracy retained her Sussex Cross Country League crown while on the track Mark won the County 1,500m title in 3:49.2s, 29 years after father Cliff had won the County one mile title. Now sporting the Phoenix colours, like twin, Mark, Kevin finished third in the 3km steeplechase.
All the country's cross-country championships were brought forward to December from this year and Mark finished second behind Alan Rowe, in the senior race, a repeat of the U13 result some nine years earlier.
1988: Having qualified for the Sussex team for the Inter-counties, Mark was the fifth Sussex runner to finish placing 157th.
On the track Kevin reached the final of the Southern 1,500m Champs and finished seventh in 3:49.64s but Mark, who did not reach the final, placed 3rd in the Standard race in 3:47.48s.
1989: Mark and Kevin recorded one/two in the 1,500m on the track in 3:50.0s and 3:50.1s respectively and repeated the medicine the following day in the 800m race but come the Southern championships Mark snatched second place in 3:47.82s with Kevin in 8th place.
At Portsmouth, in an open One-mile race Mark became the fifth Sussex runner to break four minutes for the one-mile race placing fifth in in 3:59.3s.
1990: In the 3,000m Southern Championship Mark became only the sixth Sussex runner to break 8mins for the distance in placing fourth in 7:59.86s. Kevin was sixth in 8:04.7s and Mark repeated his placing in the Southern 1,500m in 3:46.07s.
1991: Kevin won the Sussex 3,000m steeplechase title while in the AAA. Championships at Birmingham Mark finished eighth after clocking 3:45.88s in his heat.
1992: Kevin ducked inside 9 minutes for the Southern steeplechase championship when placing third in 8:57.41s and Mark reached the final of the 1,500m clocked 3:46.98s in fifth place.
1993: Sixteen years after he first won the title Mark won the County 1,500m title with a leisurely, for him, time of 3:55.8s.
Between them the family have won some twenty Sussex, Area and National championships.
By the mid-nineties both Mark and Kevin had virtually moved away from championships races and concentrated more on the Open and BMC type races and competing in the many road races that had ballooned in Sussex.
In 1962 Cliff married Virginia Will at Thakeham and he spent most of his working life with the Inland Revenue He continued racing for many years but never again won another Sussex gold medal. He later became a starter and helped Tony Roberts, the current senior Sussex Starter in his early days at starting as well as starting most of the Worthing track meetings. He was also a long term member of the Worthing club committee and the Sussex Executive Committee and President and Life member of the Worthing Club.
Cliff also revived the Sussex Cross-country League in the 1970s but this time it included all ages and both sexes. The earlier league just after the War was senior men only. Cliff was league secretary until the mid-nineties.
Cliff was President of the Sussex County A.A.A 1985-87 and is a Life member of the Sussex County A.A. Cliff married again and will be celebrating his silver wedding anniversary with wife Barbara later this year.
Tracy was born on 27th December 1963 went to Durrington High School and in 1986 married Vic Strohacher. She continued racing even after the birth of her three girls. She later married Mark Faithfull in 2005 and is now a Beauty Therapist.
Mark and Kevin were born on 7th February 1966. Mark has two girls and works in Finance.
Kevin has a partner, Jo Cooper and has two girls. He is now working in Engineering.