This is part six of a series of posts about the development of women’s six day running races. In 1984, the six day record changed hands five times. Firstly, Christine Barrett set a new record in the UK in May. Next, Mary Hanudel broke Barrett’s record in the USA in June. Then, at the New York Six Day Race in July, Eleanor Adams regained the record she had held at the start of the year. She held it for three months before French race walker Edith Couhé broke the record at the La Rochelle Six Day Race in France in October.
Edith Couhé – October 1984 – La Rochelle France

Couhé taking a break during Les 6 Jours de La Rochelle, Spiridon magazine (M. Delorme)
Edith Couhé (1944-2015) was a French race walker and sometime runner from Seine-Saint-Denis area east of Paris. According to her DUV profile, she was active as an ultra distance competitor in her thirties, forties and early fifties, from 1977 to 1997. Racing most often over 100km or 24 hours, she also took part in many longer distance races and walks. She appears to have competed exclusively in France.
By 1984, Couhé was one of the top women in French ultra distance. She had won 24 hour races and races with distances of 75km to 271km. Women typically accounted for less than 10% of the field at these events. And sometimes she was the only female competitor. In January and April 1984, Couhé had won two 100km races. Then she was invited to take part in the Paris-Bordeaux 580km race starting on 2nd June. Of the thirteen competitors who started, twelve of whom were men, only four finished. The three male finishers were Ramon Zabalo, Patrick Simonnet and Paul Faucheux, all French. The Sud-Ouest (South-West) newspaper organised the event. Whilst Couhé is recorded as finishing in 3 days and 15 hours, there was controversy over the end of the race. After Faucheux arrived at 1.30am, the race officials decided to stop the race and weren’t willing to wait for Couhé to arrive. She was only 15km away and might have taken two to three hours to reach the finish at Bordeaux’s railway station. The officials sent a car to find her and she was obliged to stop.
Just eleven days later Couhé took part in another 100km race at Migennes. No doubt still exhausted from more than three days on the roads, she finished fifth out of 24 women.
Les Six Jours de La Rochelle 1984

The results of Les Six Jours de La Rochelle race, Ultrarunning magazine
Les Six Jours de La Rochelle took place at the Parc des Expositions in the coastal city of La Rochelle in southwestern France from 4th to 10th October. It was the third time that the race had been held but the first time that women had been invited. The event was jointly organised by the local festival committee and the Sud-Ouest newspaper which had also organised the Paris-Bordeaux race in June. Seven of the competitors in that race also participated in the six day race: the four finishers, Jean-Gilles Boussiquet, J.C. Czaja and Alfredo Uria. The race was proclaimed to be the first world championship of ultra distance. The organisers made sure to invite an international field of athletes. Yiannis Kouros, who had set the men’s six day record at the New York Six Day Race in July, didn’t reply to his invitation. Eleanor Adams, who had set the women’s record at the same race, also did not attend. She was due to race in the USA on 14th October. The fifteen athletes who participated represented eight countries.
The venue for the Six Jours was an indoor arena with a 200 metre tarmac track. The event was unlike other ultra races with entertainments provided for the spectators who paid 15 francs to enter. In his race report, Andy Milroy noted that there was a restaurant on the infield and “entertainment which ranges from weight lifters and professional wrestlers to magicians and table tennis”.
Edith Couhé and Christine Barrett
Two women competed, Edith Couhé and Christine Barrett of Great Britain. At the end of the fifth full day of racing (120 hours in), Barrett was leading by about 10 miles with 404 miles. But an injury to her left leg led to her taking a break for about 8 hours, giving the lead to Couhé who finished with a new world record distance of 472 miles 1300 yards (760.800km), surpassing Adams’ previous mark by over 10 miles. Barrett finished with 446 miles 1129 yards, nearly 25 miles further than she had covered when she had set the world record in May.
In an extraordinary year for women’s ultrarunning, Couhé’s record lasted for less than two months. On 2nd December, Eleanor Adams reclaimed the record, extending the distance by over 28 miles at the Colac Six Day Race in Australia.
Banner photo: Sud-Ouest, 4th October, 1984
Sources
La Rochelle Six Days, Andy Milroy and Christine Barrett, Road Runners Club Newsletter, April 1985. Versions of Andy Milroy’s report also appeared in Ultrarunning magazine and Athletics Weekly.
Paris-Bordeaux pédestre, Sud-Ouest, 29th May 1984
Paris-Bordeaux pédestre, Comme Des Amis Partis Trop Tot, Sud-Ouest, 5th June 1984
Spiridon, September-October 1984 and January-February 1985
1,030 kilomètres, le record a battre, Sud-Ouest, 4th October 1984 and further reports on the race on 6th and 11th October.
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