Ros Evans (née Coats, 17 January 1950 – 31 August 2024) was a British athlete who competed in fell running,

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

, ski-orienteering and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

. She was also mother to British track cyclist, Neah Evans.

Life

Evans was born at Langbank, Renfrewshire. Her first outdoor pursuits were mountaineering and rock climbing. In order to improve her fitness for these activities, she began running in 1976 while at Jordanhill College where she underwent teacher training. She also began orienteering at around the same time. As a runner, Evans won the British Fell Running Championships in 1979 and 1981, and in 1979, she set a ladies’ record for the Bob Graham Round with a time of 20:31. She has won the Ben Nevis Race seven times, more than any other woman. Among her other fell race victories were Ben Lomond, the Langdale Horseshoe, Sedbergh Hills, Borrowdale, the Fairfield Horseshoe, the Kentmere Horseshoe, Pendle, and the Snowdon Race. She still holds the female record for the Cow Hill Race from Fort William. Evans was a Scottish Orienteering Champion and represented Great Britain in the World Orienteering Championships in 1985. She was a winner of the navigational Lake District Mountain Trial and, together with Anne-Marie Grindley, was in the first female team to complete the elite course of the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon. Evans competed in the

World Ski Orienteering Championships The World Ski Orienteering Championships (Ski-WOC) is the official event to award the titles of World Champions in ski orienteering. The World Championships is organized every odd year. The programme includes Sprint, Middle and Long Distance comp ...

and was selected to represent Great Britain in

at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

where she participated in the 5 km, 10 km, 20 km and 4 x 5 km relay events. She died on 31 August 2024.

Private life

Evans lived in Aberdeenshire with her husband, Malcolm Evans. One of their three children is Neah Evans who is a track cyclist and Olympian.David Rosen, "Ros Evans (née Coats), 1950–2024," ''The Fellrunner'', Autumn 2024, 70.

References

External links

Original Mountain Marathon on YouTube: 1985 KIMM showing Ros Evans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ros Scottish female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners British fell runners Olympic cross-country skiers for Great Britain Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Renfrewshire Scottish orienteers Female orienteers Foot orienteers Ski-orienteers 1950 births 2024 deaths Scottish female cross-country skiers 20th-century Scottish sportswomen