Julia Helene Armstrong née Gates, (born 12 May 1959) is a female British retired

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner who achieved most success running as Julia Gates in the mid to late '80s.

Biography

Armstrong was born in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. Her family moved to Britain in 1962, and settled near

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. She began her athletic career in 1974, joining Haslemere Border AC as their first female member. Armstrong met Nigel Gates, a fellow athlete, in 1979 at an international race in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

, Spain, and they married in 1982, she competed under her married name thereafter. Gates won the 1985

Dublin Marathon The Dublin Marathon is an annual 26.2 mile (42.2 km) road marathon in Dublin, Ireland, held on the last Sunday in October. Prior to 2016, the race took place on the last Monday in October, which is a public holiday in Ireland. Held each year ...

setting a course record with 2:41:24. Her personal best was 2:36:31, set in the 1986

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, where she came in as 3rd British finisher and 7th female overall. Also in 1986, Gates finished third behind Ann Ford in the marathon event at the

1986 WAAA Championships The 1986 WAAA Championships sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank, were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, from 6 to 7 June 1986. Results *+ ...

. Gates represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the marathon event, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. Armstrong was part of the British team that finished 3rd in the 1987 New York marathon. For the majority of her international career Julia and her husband Nigel lived and worked together in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, having founded Springs Health Club in the city. They separated in 1993, and she has been married three times since then, competing as Julia McGowan (1994–1997) and Julia Cornford (1998–2001) before changing her name back to Armstrong. She continued to compete at a high level, running as an elite female in the 2008 London Marathon, and in October 2008 she took up ultrarunning, coming in as 3rd female in a 56-mile cross-country race from London to Brighton. Throughout her early athletic career, Armstrong suffered from an

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

and this is documented in her book, ''Running to Learn''. She has spoken frankly about the disorder in a number of articles and interviews with the national press. Armstrong's worked as a personal trainer which led her in the direction of coaching and counselling, and working as a sports coach and therapist. In April 2008, Armstrong published her first book, ''Running to Learn'', which offers a mix of autobiography and the ideas and philosophy behind her successful career as a therapist.

Personal bests

* 5,000 metres - 15:51 Bath, 26 June 1985 * 10,000 metres - 33:29 Swansea Bay, 15 September 1985 * 10 miles - 55:10 Woking, 23 February 1986 * Marathon - 2:36:31 London, 20 April 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Julia 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Freetown Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games English female marathon runners British female marathon runners English female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century English sportswomen