The world of running, past and present, is full of inspirational women. From pioneers who smashed through barriers, like Bobbi Gibb or Kathrine Switzer, to those who continue to break records and redefine what's possible, from Femke Bol to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. No list can ever be definitive, so we've decided to just get personal, and talk about the women in running who inspire us.
But that's just us. Everyone has their own source of inspiration, and we want to know yours. Leave us a comment on Facebook or Twitter, seconds for 100m in leather spikes on a soggy cinder track Instagram, letting us know the women - whether they are elite or amateur, sprinters or ultramarathoners, coaches or physios - who support and inspire you...
Kate's picks
Laura Muir
I'm an unashamed track and field nerd, and love nothing more than watching people leap into a sandpit, lever themselves over improbable heights on a bendy pole, or run around in 400m circles. But one of my favourite things in all of athletics (aside from the camaraderie of pole vaulters and multi-eventers) is the exact moment when Laura Muir's face changes from "I'm relaxed, I'm tracking the field" to "OK, game ON". It's a visible change you can pinpoint to the hundredth of a second, and what it means is utter commitment. Perhaps many athletes have this moment in their heads, but it's so fabulous and rare to actually see it play out in front of you. There's no poker face. And perhaps the fact that you can see when she cranks up several gears just makes it a little bit more relatable to me (albeit at about a hundredth of the speed) when it's much more common to see the serene 'makes it look easy' face from other top runners. Not to suggest that they don't give it 100% too, but there's something about Muir's visible, utter commitment that really makes my lower lip wobble. and scream her home.
Cathy Freeman
Published: 08 March 2023 How mental flexibility could improve your running and went down a youtube wormhole. Actually, I do remember watching the 2000 Sydney Olympics the first time around too, but back then I had very little idea of Freeman's story, the pre-race drama, or the absolutely astonishing amount of pressure she was under when she came out into the stadium to race the 400m. She was a standard-bearer both literally - she lit the olympic cauldron in the stadium - and figuratively, as the first Australian Aboriginal athlete to win an Olympic gold. As a performance of boundless grace under almost intolerable pressure, that 49-and-a-bit-seconds can't be beaten. But it's not a straightforward story arc: Freeman was not (and still is not) not comfortable with adulation and never played the media game - which would probably have been lucrative for her. She's no zero-to-hero cliche, but a complicated, sometimes contradictory person, who is all the most interesting and inspiring because of it. And that race.
Sinead Diver
It's sometimes the people who we identify most closely with who inspire us the most - though to claim I identify with Diver seems presumptuous at best. We have three things in common: our age, number of children, and that we both run, Other than that, it's like comparing a creaky moggy at the RSPCA with a cheetah. Diver, 46, is the Australian marathon record holder, a record she broke just last year. If that wasn't enough, she's got something possibly even rarer - a fantastic sense of humour. If you haven't discovered her instagram - heapsgoodrunners - then do follow. Very few runners have the ability to poke fun at running, and the things runners do to themselves, so well - and I think only one also happens to be the fastest woman in her country's history. It's an overused cliche, and I hope I don't use it too often, but to me, she really is a legend.
Fanny Blankers-Koen
... and talking of legends. The history of women's running can sometimes feel more like a pamphlet than an encyclopedia - too many years of not being allowed to enter races, of being on the sidelines and never the main billing. Fanny Blankers-Koen, however, is a one woman multi-volume history all by herself. At the 1948 Olympics, the Dutch 'Flying Housewife' (though I prefer the alternative 'Flying Dutchmam') won four Olympic golds, in the 100m, 80m hurdles, 200m and 4 x 100m relay. Given that a rule put in place before the Games stipulated an athlete could only enter a maximum three individual events, you wonder quite how many she could have won. She was already national record holder at 800m and world record holder at high and long jumps. 7? 8? That she did all this in the face of sexist disapproval and criticism - as a mother, she should have stayed at home with her kids! And as for wearing 'short trousers', well, we all know where that ends! - and having been told she was too old, just makes it even better. Her training, by the way, consisted of a couple of sessions a week - but if you are imagining therefore a sedate 100m jog, she won the 100m in 11.9 seconds. You go try and do that, and come back to me and tell me she wasn't an incredible athlete.
Molly Seidel
Life as an elite runner in the age of 'you must share all' social media is actually pretty tough. On the one hand, you are expected, as part of contracts with brands, to be putting your face all over the 'gram and sharing everything as 'inspo'. On the other, you've got your actual job: grinding out session after session, battling injuries and trying to stay focussed on your goals. It's not really very glamorous. The result is quite often a fudge of cliches and unrealistic staged photo shoots that make it hard to really warm to. So it's the honesty Seidel brings to it - as well as the humour - that really makes her stand out. She's talked about her struggles with an eating disorder, about battling ADHD and getting her medication right. She is brave, and bold. She never makes excuses if her race didn't go as she wanted it to. She puts her training on Strava (a rarity in itself) and posts funny photos on Insta that really give a sense of her personality. Check out her insta post featuring a screen shot of the guy on a dating app who, on learning she was a pro marathon runner, asked if she thought she could beat him in a race. 'I'd sure f****g hope so' was her reply. You have to love her.
Jen's picks
Gina Little
I interviewed Gina shortly after she had run the Chicago Marathon – her 602nd marathon. She has been awarded her Six Star Finisher Medal and had become the oldest woman ever to do so. After coming off the phone, I wanted to tell anyone who would listen about her. Averaging two marathons a month at the age of 77 is impressive in itself, but consistently knocking them out in around 4:30 is pretty remarkable – especially considering Gina told me she has NEVER done any speedwork and never bothers tracking her pace or heart rate ('I don’t understand all that – I clock my time that I’ve run and that’s it!' she said). Oh, and she has ice-cream or chocolate every night – and never deprives herself of chips – a woman after my own heart. Her laid-back attitude and complete adoration for both the sport and her running buddies (which, unsurprisingly, she has in abundance) were both completely infectious. I hope I'm like Gina when I'm 77.
Sophie Power
GB ultrarunner, campaigner and mother-of-three Sophie Power works tirelessly to make running and racing equitable for women. In 2018, she was How to run twice a day and why you should try it – a photo which went viral. One of the reasons Power chose to do so was because the UTMB didn’t allow runners to defer their places due to pregnancy and she didn’t want to lose her place. Afterwards several race directors contacted Sophie saying they were embarrassed they had never thought about their pregnancy policy. So, this year, she set up She Races – a campaign for equality in racing. As a result, the UTMB, London and Boston have all changed their pregnancy polices to confirm pregnancy deferrals this year. She’s done all this alongside ultrarunning for GB (in the 24 hour European Champs in Verona) juggling other work projects and being being a mum of three. She is a total boss, and is flying the flag for women runners everywhere.
Jacky Hunt-Broersma
Amputee ultrarunner and mother of two Jacky Hunt lost her left leg to a rare type of bone cancer in 2002. After watching her husband take part in a race in 2016, she bought a prosthetic for running and signed up for her very first 10km run – but, in true Hunt-Broersma fashion, upgraded her place the night before to the half-marathon event. Her all-her-nothing approach to life – and indeed her running – led her to chasing down the record for the number of consecutive marathons ever run by a female last year (it was 95, and set two years go by a non-amputee runner). I first came across her challenge when she was on day 35, after she shared a post on social media of her sat on the floor utterly exhausted having ran two marathons that day, due to people on social media saying her initial attempted hadn’t ‘counted’ as she’d split the marathon into two halves. She passed the Guinness World Record by a further nine marathons – running 104 marathons in 104 days – a feat that is totally unfathomable. She says the feat was 90% a mental challenge – and her mental grit truly is next level. This woman is totally unstoppable and the utter proof that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.
Eilish McColgan
There are few athletes as sheer bloody hard-working as McColgan. So, when everything came together for her last year, in the form of a gold medal in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games, plus silver in the 5000m – and a pair of European Championships medals, plus three British record and a European record to top it off, I could not have been happier for her. I mean, who couldn’t? Especially watching her win *that gold* at the Commonwealth Games, where she emulated her mother’s victory – buoyed on by a roaring home crowd. She’s as gutsy as they come and has shown incredible resilience over the years: bouncing back from a number of setbacks, from near-career-ending injuries to missed podiums, to raise her game year after year to reach a whole new level. And to top of it off, she’s utterly lovely and always willing to share every last drop of her training regime with us. She's such a talent and I can’t wait to watch her make her marathon debut in London this year.
Sifan Hassan
In 2008, Sifan Hassan arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee, aged 15, where she moved into a shelter for young asylum seekers. She began running while studying to be a nurse and, five years later, just one month after becoming a Dutch citizen, won the European U23 cross-country title for the Netherlands. Fast forward to Tokyo 2020 and you’ll likely recall the 29-year-old competing in an extraordinary six races over eight days. I remember watching her lining up for the 10,000m – completely in awe – having already watched her win the 5,000m final earlier in the week and, just 24 hours earlier, clinching bronze in the 1,500m, despite taking a fall. During those games she covered 24,500 metres in total and became the first athlete ever to win medals across all these events in a single Olympic Games. Her talent and endurance is outstanding – and her story teaches us all the power of never, ever giving up.
