Women winning outright

[Graham Breeze]

Graham

To be honest i didn't put too much thought into it, and picked it as an example of a particularly strong time... just an opinion based on the likes of Billy Bland, Kenny Stuart, John Wild, Colin Donelly, and others, all doing great things, and a good strength in depth, some records still existing etc...

Whenever the 'greatest ever fellrunner' topic gets bought up, the prime candidates are usually Naylor/Stuart/Bland, with healthy arguments for John Wild and Colin Donelly put forward, and as they were mostly all prevalent during the 80's i picked that era as an example.

(also quite possibly influenced by the fact that my current choice of reading material is my collection of The Fellrunner magazines from the early 80's!!)

Yes OK. I just wondered why the 80s.

I recognise "received wisdom" but assertions about "the greatest" are usually tendentious because of the criteria adopted - ie the writer can decide what conclusion they wish to reach and work backwards to justify it.

Context is all.

And I think "records" can be seductively misleading - Andy Styan's Langdale record dates from 1977.

And if the 80s were so great what have Messrs Hope(s), Bailey, Jebb, Booth, Holmes,... been doing all these years?

But as to your real question: probably. I think there are currently several outstandingly good female runners over certain distances and terrain but the current euphoria should not erase the memory of some other great female runners in the past like the wonderful Anne Johnson and peerless Angela Mudge - and Sarah Rowell may have never bothered with a BGR but she was still a half-decent runner in her day.


Maybe when you reach The Fellrunners of the 90s you will form another opinion? Part 2 of my index is ready for the printer!

[anthonykay]

i think we are simply seeing more and more women participating in the sport and of course therefore more and more women at the top of the sport. long may it continue. i hope that the victorian attitude anthonykay refers to are not present in the sport, and that if they are they are a very very small minority and i hope they are not deterring women from taking part if they want to. there's no place in society for sexist attitudes at all - but i certainly don't think fell running is more sexist than society at large (if at all).

I don't think there are any Victorian or sexist attitudes within the sport, but I'm not so sure about society at large.

[anthonykay]

But as to your real question: probably. I think there are currently several outstandingly good female runners over certain distances and terrain but the current euphoria should not erase the memory of some other great female runners in the past like the wonderful Anne Johnson and peerless Angela Mudge - and Sarah Rowell may have never bothered with a BGR but she was still a half-decent runner in her day.

For sheer racing prowess over a period of a decade or more, I would consider Carol Greenwood up there with Angela Mudge and Victoria Wilkinson.

[Travs]

I don't think there are any Victorian or sexist attitudes within the sport, but I'm not so sure about society at large.

I think the ultra and Fell-running 'communities' are more astounded by the scale of the performance on a first attempt at such a race... seems pretty well regarded that she was the best runner, it was a case of could she maintain it...

It seems the mainstream coverage is obsessed with the fact that she's female...

[stumpy]

And in terms of extreme long distance mountain events Helen Diamantides was pretty instrumental in proving that women are capable of being at least the equal to men!

[Graham Breeze]

For sheer racing prowess over a period of a decade or more, I would consider Carol Greenwood up there with Angela Mudge and Victoria Wilkinson.

Yes I hadn't forgotten Carol - I ran a long way behind her a great many times - but she wasn't at her best on superlong rugged Lakeland races.

[JohnK]

A thread I started about 3 years ago :-

https://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/show...An-observation

and not a lot has changed over the 3 years except in the results, so maybe the hard work, dedication and terrain/conditions specific training is working for the ladies. Simple really put in the graft have the right positive mental apptitude and get the results.

[DrPatrickBarry]

Saturday 13 April, 2019 Knockmealdown Half Marathon
1 Becky Quinn F40 2:22:27
Mountain Half marathon with 1050 metres of climbing. (95 starters)
My brother informs me that Becky is a very strong runner in the IMRA community and regularly features in the top ten.
Seems to be enjoying herself here

[anthonykay]

Bridport Jurassic Coast Run (now in the FRA calendar): female winner in both 2017 and 2018 (and by nearly 7 minutes in 2017). http://bridport-runners.co.uk/?p=2872

[anthonykay]

Another instance, on my local patch, in the first running of the Garendon Gallop (damned alliteration again!), an off-road road race (away from public roads, but mostly on hard ground. But then, Gemma Steel has represented GB in international road and cross-country races. http://www.nicandsteve.com/Starttofi...7fsh6bPdAciyzs