Eleanor Robinson (formerly Adams, née Puckrin, 20 November 1947) is a British former
ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the
IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first
Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the
IAU 100 km European Championships (1992, 1993).
Early life
Eleanor Robinson, née Puckrin, was brought up in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
, North Yorkshire, England, the sister of Arthur, Richard and Philip. All of them were keen athletes. Arthur, the eldest, at the age of 69 broke the over 50s world record for the Tetra-Ironman in Virginia in October 2007.
Career
Eleanor Robinson's ultramarathon career arguably began when she witnessed Ros Paul, a fellow Briton, set a record of for 24 hours on the first day of a 6-day race in 1982. This was the first year that British women had run a track ultra and on that first occasion, Lynn Fitzgerald had beaten Ros Paul, setting world bests at 50 miles, 100 km (60 miles) and for 24 hours. It wasn't until 1985, however, that Robinson took on the 24-hour race at an event in Nottingham, where she broke the record with a distance of .
In the meantime, Robinson took part in the inaugural
Spartathlon in 1983. The race covers the 250 km (150 mile) route that the Athenian messenger
Pheidippides took in 490BC running from Athens to Sparta to get help against the Persians at the
Battle of Marathon. While
Yiannis Kouros
Yiannis Kouros (, ; born 13 February 1956 in Tripoli, Kingdom of Greece) is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Greece. Kouros holds or formerly held many world records between 100 miles and 1,000 miles. In 1991, he starred as Pheidippid ...
won the race, Robinson was the first woman to cross the line, in 32:37:52.
The
Road Runners Club of America's 1984 National 50-mile and 100 km championships were held on 14 October at Lincoln Park in Chicago. Robinson took the 50-mile women's title in 6:19:25 and went on to win the 100 km in 8:11:37.
At the 1984 New York 6-Day Race, Robinson was up against
Donna Hudson, who had just set a new 100-mile world record. Robinson took the lead from the start but was pursued closely by Hudson, who set a new American 48-hour record of 169 miles. Robinson went on to win, setting a world record of . For the next five or so years, Hudson and Robinson would proceed to battle it out over many races, mostly in Australia. Robinson won all of these challenges but Hudson frequently came second, breaking several American records along the way.
The first of these challenges was four months later in 1984, at Australia's first international 6-day race, which took place at
Colac, Victoria
Colac is a town in the Western District (Victoria), Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac.
History
For thousands of years clans of the Gulidjan people ...
and would become known as the
Cliff Young Australian 6-day race. In taking sixth place overall, Robinson broke 11 world records, becoming the first woman to surpass for the event, exceeding the world record set only a few weeks earlier in La Rochelle, France, by Edith Couhe. Hudson ran to set a new American best. Robinson ran Colac four more times, from 1986 to 1989 (it wasn't held in 1985), winning on each occasion and thereby beating Hudson twice more.
The 1987 race was the last of Hudson's career. While she set another American record of , Robinson ran a fresh world record of .
Her most notable appearance at Colac was in 1989, when
Sandra Barwick of New Zealand set out to beat Robinson's record. Robinson, however, came in third behind the two male athletes Maurice Taylor and Bryan Smith, with a new best of . Barwick came in 6 km (4 miles) behind to place fourth.
Adam's record five wins at Colac was later matched by
Elvira Janosi of
Serbia and Montenegro
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. Robinson, however, is the only athlete to have won the event in five consecutive races.
At the 1985
Westfield Ultra Marathon, a 960 km (600 mile) race from Sydney to Melbourne, Eleanor Robinson lined up against Donna Hudson and Margaret Smith of Melbourne. Robinson and Hudson were favourites but after the first day, Smith led the race. Robinson got ahead on the final day to win the race, just ahead of Hudson and Smith.
Meanwhile, in the Sri Chinmoy Adelaide 24 Hour Race, which was first held in 1982, Robinson was the winning woman and the only one of five, along with 16 men, to surpass .
The 1986 24-hour Multiplex Marathon was held at the Multiplex fitness centre in Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago. It was the first time an ultra event had been held in the area. Robinson was one of 16 competitors, four of them women.
The
London to Brighton Race, from the 1960s to the 1980s was considered the premier race in the ultramarathon calendar. The first recorded time is of 13:00:45 by John Bell in 1803. The 1986 race was won by Terry Tullett of Brighton. Robinson was the first woman to finish in a time of 6:43:40.
Death Valley to Mount Whitney Challenge
1987 was the first year that the official
Badwater Ultramarathon was run, on a 146-mile course from Death Valley to Mount Whitney. The previous year, Tom Crawford and Mike Witwer had attempted to organise an official race but it was cancelled when the insurance policy was rescinded. So the two of them ran the course, completing it in 70 hours and 27 minutes. After reading about it in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle'',
Kenneth Crutchlow, a British adventurer and ultra runner, challenged Crawford and Witwer to a team race: Crutchlow and a partner, representing Britain, versus the American pair. Reputedly, he wagered a pint of English ale.
Crutchlow put an ad in ''
Athletics Weekly'' to find a teammate and Robinson, at the time considered the best female ultra runner in the world, was the only person to respond. Supposedly Witwer pulled out when he discovered with whom Crutchlow was paired, concerned that he'd be beaten by a woman. Crawford found a replacement in Jean Ennis. Robinson, aged 39 at the time, took the lead early on and never relinquished it. After 52 miles, the American pair managed to close the gap to 7.5 minutes. Another 56 miles later, however, Robinson had stretched her lead to 4 hours. She completed the ascent of Mount Whitney after 52 hours and 45 minutes. Crawford and Ennis finished in 58:57. Robinson's teammate, the 45-year-old Crutchlow, finished the race in 126:30, alongside David Bolling, a journalist who decided to run the race to get the inside scoop.
From 1990 to retirement
The first 24-hour international championship was held at
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
in 1990, on an indoor loop of 890m around the shopping centre. Robinson reached 200 km (100 miles) in a new all-surface time of 19:00:31. She went on to win, covering a total of , the second best result after her own track record of , which she had set the previous year in Melbourne.
The women's world record was broken in 2011 by Mami Kudo of Japan but Robinson's record remains the UK all-time best for the event.
The 100 km National Ultramarathon Championships for Great Britain have been held every year since 1989. Robinson won in two successive years, 1996 and 1997, in Edinburgh. Hilary Walker won in 1995 and 1998, having previously won in 1989 and 1990. The championship record is held by
Carolyn Hunter-Rowe with a time of 7:34:54 set in 1993.
In 1987, Robinson had set a world record of 16 days, 23 hours and 9 minutes for 1000 miles, at a stage race in England.
Now, more than ten years later, at Nanango, Australia, in 1998, Robinson completed the distance in a world best of 13 days, 1 hour 54 minutes.
Robinson's career came to an end in 2001, when a persistent foot injury failed to respond to treatment.
Post retirement
Robinson was part of the Team GB crew supporting the competitors at the 2014 IAU 100 km World Championships, which
Ellie Greenwood won for the second time. She also supported the England runners at the 2013 Anglo Celtic Plate 100 km race. She was one of the team managers of England Athletics at the Perth 24 Hour race in 2010.
Achievements
Eleanor Robinson has held nearly 40 world records in a range of events from 30 miles to the 6 Day Race
and six world titles.
Personal life
Eleanor Robinson has two sons, two daughters and six grandchildren. She lives in Derbyshire.
She is the Club Secretary of Ripley Running Club.
She is also an active member of Belper Ten Twenty Triathlon Club and has qualified and represented Great Britain in Duathlon.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Eleanor
1947 births
Living people
British ultramarathon runners
English female long-distance runners
British female long-distance runners
Female ultramarathon runners
20th-century English sportswomen