9 Jul 2018 | Interviews with women runners over 50 |
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 been a significant...
8 Apr 2017 | Women's endurance running history, Women's marathon history |
In March I was fortunate to have the chance to meet Mara Yamauchi, the UK’s second-fastest marathon runner, when she came to Nottingham to talk to England Athletics Run Leaders about coaching and training. Mara Yamauchi was inspired to run by watching the Los...
21 May 2016 | Popular articles, Women's marathon history |
On a sunny day in August 1980, 181 women from 26 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 had...
26 Sep 2015 | Women's endurance running history, Women's marathon history |
American women love to run marathons. In 2014 43% of marathon finishers in US races were women, the highest percentage of any country in the world. In the UK the figure is 34%. And American women love half marathons even more than marathons. They outnumber male...
9 Nov 2014 | Women's endurance running history, Women's marathon history |
Kathrine Switzer is one of the most famous endurance runners of the twentieth century – not for her performances but for a milestone event. In 1967 she was the first woman to officially enter and complete the Boston Marathon, one of the longest-established marathon...