2 Jun 2022 | General running history |
The marathon boom really got going in the early 1980s in the UK. The 1980s were a boom time for running magazines too, fed by the surge in popular interest in road running. New titles sprang up that catered for a new type of runner, the non-elite distance runner or...
11 Apr 2022 | Women's marathon history |
The 1970s were an important decade in the history of women’s marathon running in the UK and internationally. For most of the twentieth century, women were prohibited from running long distance races and it was only in the 1970s that countries began to lift the...
20 Mar 2022 | Running after fifty |
**Guest post** I met Anne Dockery at the British Masters Athletics Federation Championships in August 2021 where we raced each other in the 1500m (she was faster than me). I had a great chat with her afterwards and was delighted when she agreed to write a guest post...
27 Feb 2022 | Women's ultrarunning history |
When Eleanor Robinson turned 50 in November 1997, she had been an ultrarunner for 16 years. She was a 24 Hour World Champion, 100k World Champion twice and had probably set more world records and world bests than any other ultrarunner1. Robinson wasn’t interested in a...
27 Feb 2022 | Women's ultrarunning history |
The 1998 Nanango 1000 Mile Track Race was held from 11th to 26th March and had a 15-day cutoff. The race hosted the inaugural International Association of Ultrarunners 1000 Mile World Championship. Read an account of the race here. Competitors There were 16...
9 Jan 2022 | My running story |
On Saturday, I was a “DNF” for the first time. I failed to finish the Nottinghamshire Cross Country Championships race. I stopped at just past the 3-mile point in the 5-mile race due to a calf strain. I had walked a bit, stretched and massaged my calf and...
7 Jan 2022 | My running story |
Ten years ago, on 7th January 2012, I went to parkrun for the first time. I had been running for less than a year. I’d heard of parkrun but had only found out a few weeks before that there was a parkrun in Nottingham. I remember not being sure where to park or...
26 Nov 2021 | Women's endurance running history, Women's marathon history |
Google “marathon mistakes” and you’ll find lots of articles giving advice about how to avoid things going wrong in a marathon. You shouldn’t overtrain or undertrain, don’t forget to taper, get to the race in plenty of time, don’t get cold at the start, don’t go off...
26 Oct 2021 | Running after fifty |
**Guest post** Chris Bexton from Nottinghamshire began running at 53 and quickly found she could improve her times. Now in her sixties, Chris continues to be a competitive age group runner despite experiencing a major health setback just three years after starting...
23 Sep 2021 | General running history |
2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of my running club, Holme Pierrepont Running Club. In the course of my research into women’s running history in the UK, I’ve visited many athletics clubs’ and running clubs’ websites (see my blog post for Sporting...
