In the Media

Katie Holmes – Independent Sports Historian

Interviews and Articles

TV and radio interviews

On The Run, a three-part documentary series in which writer, poet and runner Helen Mort looks at the history of running. Episodes 2 and 3 feature brief interviews with me. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September and October 2024 (available on BBC Sounds).

Great British Railways Journeys, Series 15 Episode 8, Shawlands to Livingston, broadcast on BBC2, 29th March 2024.
The programme starts with a segment about Scottish distance running pioneer Dale Greig which includes an interview with me (available to British viewers on BBC iPlayer).

Live radio interview about races that have been inaccurately measured and too short, BBC Cambridgeshire, 14th November 2022.

Other interviews

Women’s Running Stories podcast, “Katie Holmes: The Life-Changing Power of Running, After 40“, September 2024

Five Women Who Changed Running Forever, an interview on Runner’s World UK podcast, October 2022

An interview with Liza Howard for her “Age-old Runners” series on iRunFar, March 2021

The E=MC² of Running Podcast interview
, February 2021

Tough Girl Podcast interview, January 2021

Blue Sky Running, Competitive after 50, March 2020

Dr Juliet McGrattan’s active women series, January 2019

Articles in print

Book review: A Runner’s Journey by Bruce Kidd, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2023 (contact me for free online access)

Rulebreakers, Women’s Running magazine (UK), December 2022
A slightly edited version of this article is available online on the Women’s Running website

There’ll be no prizes for women, Like the Wind magazine #25 (an article about Dale Greig), September 2020

Articles online

Diane Leather – Nobody Else is in Sight, an article for American running brand Tracksmith to mark the 70th anniversary of Diane Leather breaking the 5 minute mile barrier, May 2024

Scottish Women’s Distance Running Rulebreakers and Pioneers, Scottish Distance Running History website, April 2023

In 2022, I contributed profiles of Marea Hartman and Diane Leather to The Athletics Museum’s digital exhibition marking 100 years since the creation of the Women’s Amateur Athletic Association

Milestones in Women’s Marathon History – 1975 – Permission for Women to Run the Marathon in the UK, Playing Pasts, July 2022

Running Club Histories, Sporting Heritage, April 2021

Milestones in Women’s Marathon History – 1964 – Dale Greig, Playing Pasts, May 2020

Women’s History Network blog – article about Diane Leather, March 2020

Female Leadership at Fifty – Pursuing my curiosity, November 2019

Wikipedia editing

I created a Wikipedia biography for British ultrarunner Trudi Thomson

Conferences

Conference paper: ‘The “mass jog cult” and the revolution in road running in the UK in the 1970s and early 1980s’

British Society of Sports History Conference, 24th-25th August 2023, Institute of Sport, Manchester Metropolitan University

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Seminar paper: ‘“I thought I was born to run” – women who challenged the ban on long-distance racing in the UK’

Institute of Historical Research, Sport and Leisure Seminar, 27th February 2023, organised by British Society of Sports History

Listen to the seminar on the Sport in History Podcast

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Conference paper: “The Reluctant Bride – an attempt to force amalgamation of the Women’s Amateur Athletic Association with the AAA”

British Society of Sports History Conference, 25th-26th August 2022, International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester

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Conference paper: “Dale Greig – reluctant champion of the women’s marathon?”

Women in Sport – Women’s History Network West Midlands Region annual Women’s History Conference in conjunction with the British Society of Sports History, Saturday, 6 November 2021, University of Worcester

Awards

Sporting Inequities Prize 2022 – British Society of Sports History – awarded for outstanding work in an under-researched area – for my conference paper “The Reluctant Bride”

Independent Researcher Fellowship 2020/21 – Women’s History Network – for my research into Dale Greig

Talks

Women’s running history

“Fleet and Free” panel talk at British running brand SOAR on 22nd May 2024 – marking the 70th anniversary of Diane Leather breaking the 5 minute mile barrier

I had an interview and chat with members of Istead and Ifield Harriers, March 2021

Creative Writing

“M is for Mountain, M is for Menopause” and “The Bicycle” in Women’s Things – Writing from Mid-Life and Menopause, East Midlands Oral History Archive, April 2021

“Visiting the allotment during lockdown” in The World Outside zine published by Nottingham Writers’ Studio, August 2020

Most Read Articles

The six most popular articles on my blog recently….

Five Women Who Changed Running

Five Women Who Changed Running

Five women who changed running forever. They made the public aware of how strong women could be and how much they could achieve as athletes and runners.

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Female Ultrarunners over 50

Female Ultrarunners over 50

Female ultrarunners over 50 are challenging ageist attitudes about the physical competence of older people by taking part in ultramarathons.

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The first London Marathon

The first London Marathon

On 3rd August 1980, 181 women from 26 countries lined up to run in the first London marathon, the Avon International Women’s Marathon.

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