Are you inspired by women runners in their fifties, sixties and seventies? I am! And through this blog I aim to find out more about them. How many women over 50 are running? How did they get into running? What motivates them to carry on?
Diane Leather and the 5 minute mile
Sir Roger Bannister’s death on 3rd of March 2018 was widely reported in the UK and around the world. Bannister’s achievement of being the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes led to global fame and he was held in the highest esteem in the worlds of athletics and sport. For example Paula Radcliffe said: “We have lost one of the true pioneers, trailblazers and iconic inspirations of our sport. Sir Roger Bannister showed that barriers are there to be broken and there are no limits.” (Twitter, 4th March 2018)
This led me to wonder how many people are aware that just 23 days after Bannister’s world record run, a British woman crossed a similar significant threshold when she became the first woman to run a mile in less than 5 minutes. Has Diane Leather’s achievement received the same enduring admiration and applause?
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