RunYoung50
Women’s running history
and the stories of older women runners
Welcome to RunYoung50
Find out about the pioneering female runners who paved the way for all the women who run today.
Read the stories of female runners in their fifties, sixties and seventies who are changing their lives through running.
And don’t forget to check out my blog lists which feature running blogs written by women over fifty.
Follow me on social media to get more news and stories.
Katie
Women’s Running History
Recent articles…
Hell in Paradise – the 1994 Telecom Tasmania Run
“The organisers dubbed this race “Hell in Paradise”. I am sure that when they coined this phrase they never anticipated how right they would be.” This seven-day stage race lived up to its nickname in more ways than one. Eleven of the 27 starters...
The perfect day – Melbourne 24h track race 1989
It isn't too often that everything goes well and perhaps this is part of the attraction of the 24 hour race - the waiting for the perfect day and the perfect performance.Eleanor Adams The period from 1985 to...
Dale Greig and the women’s marathon in the 1960s
Imagine a time when women did not run in road races. Imagine a time when women were told distance running would harm their health. Imagine a time when running in a marathon meant risking being jeered at or even assaulted. This time was in my...
Interviews With Runners Over 50
Six interviews with women in their fifties, sixties and seventies
Maddy Collinge
It’s unusual to meet a runner who’s been running for over 40 years, and it’s particularly unusual for that runner to be a woman. The RunBritain rankings website lists 31,600 active runners aged 60 and over, but only 28% of them are women. There has...
Nikki Love
Nikki Love is a 50-year old runner from Nottingham who loves adventure. Her motto is “chasing extraordinary” and this encapsulates her drive to set herself challenging goals, and her desire to encourage others to become active and discover their...
Pathways into long-distance running
Women over fifty are not often in the public eye, and we don't know much about older women's experience of participating in sport or their attitudes to exercise. Through interviewing women runners for my blog I want to share and give value to their...
Running After Fifty Articles
Vanessa Walker – running for a cause
Vanessa Walker chose to celebrate her 60th birthday in 2019 by competing in the Dukeries 30 ultra race with her two sons and six friends from her running club. Despite a very early start and 30 miles of running, she had enough energy left to attend...
Christine Oldfield – a runner with staying power
**Guest post** I'm delighted to feature this article from my friend and fellow club member Christine Oldfield. Her running story started more than 30 years ago and, now in her seventies, Christine is definitely a runner with staying power....
Female Ultrarunners over 50
In January I added three women to my list of running bloggers over 50. I noticed that all three of them run ultra distance races. Alene Nitzky, from Colorado USA, has been running ultras since 1991 and has run the Badwater 135 race twice. Carolin...
Running and the Menopause
Nikki Love – ultrarunning and the menopause
Earlier this year I interviewed ultrarunning adventurer Nikki Love about how the perimenopause has affected her running. Since 2016, Nikki has been undertaking ultra distance adventures, starting with the JungleUltra, a 5-day race through the...
Running and the Menopause – Resources
There is not much research into, or information about, the impact of the perimenopause and menopause on runners. What effect might it have on women's endurance and on our performance? How can we cope with the symptoms of the menopause? Should we...
Running on HRT
Arriving late for my first race of the cross country season in 2017, I was already feeling hot and bothered by the time I'd dumped my bag, got my trail shoes on and made my way to the start. It was unseasonably warm weather for...
My Running Story
Taking a Tumble – Running Hazards
After thousands of miles, runs in the dark, runs on icy pavements, dozens of muddy, slippery cross country races, tens of thousands of kerbs and almost ten years of running, today was the day when I took a tumble. Three miles into my run, I was on...
Too old for track?
On 9th August, I competed in an open track and field event for the first time. I ran a 1500 metre race for the first time. But just a few days before I almost pulled out of it. At 54, was I too old for track? First forays into track running I was...
London Marathon 2017
In May 2016 I applied in the ballot for a place in the Virgin Money London Marathon 2017. It was the second time I'd applied having failed to get a place the year before for the 2016 race. It was a record year for applications with 253,930 UK...
Most Read Articles
The six most popular articles on my blog recently….
The first Badwater ultra race
It is 6am on Friday 31st July 1987 and the temperature at the Badwater sinkhole in Death Valley, California, is already over 30°C. By midday it will rise to over 40°C. British ultrarunner Eleanor Adams stands with three others waiting to start the...
Female Ultrarunners over 50
In January I added three women to my list of running bloggers over 50. I noticed that all three of them run ultra distance races. Alene Nitzky, from Colorado USA, has been running ultras since 1991 and has run the Badwater 135 race twice. Carolin...
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...
“Jeffing” the Yorkshire Marathon
This is the story of how I got to the starting line of my first marathon and what happened on the day. Getting ready for the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday 9th October 2016 I thought about the interview I had done with Sandy Poole in January...
Running towards the menopause
Today (18th October) is World Menopause Day. I've spent quite a bit of time on Twitter participating in an awareness raising campaign organised by Henpicked, a network for women over 40, using the hashtag #HotFlashMob. It's probably the first time...
The first London Marathon
On a sunny day in August 1980 200 women from 27 countries lined up in Battersea Park in London to run a marathon. It was the first time the city's streets had ever been closed for a race. It was the 3rd August. Two days before the men's marathon...