Tracy Barlow (born 18 June 1985) is a British long distance runner. She has represented Great Britain in the

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 ...

at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

and

2018 European Athletics Championships The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany, from 6 to 12 August 2018. The championships were part of the first European Championships with other events happening in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Grea ...

. Her marathon best of 2:30:42, set in 2017, ranks her in the UK all-time top 25. Barlow did not have a strong background in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

in her youth and mainly took part in sprinting events at school. She only began taking part in club distance running competitions with

Thames Valley Harriers Thames Valley Harriers (TVH) is an athletics club founded in 1887. It is based at the Linford Christie Stadium, in West London, England. In track and field, TVH competes in the Premiership Division of the National Athletics League (NAL) as wel ...

in 2008 at the age of 23. She entered the Run to the Beat

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

in 2010 and ranked in the top 400. She completed her first

at the

2011 London Marathon The 2011 London Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 17 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai in a course record time of 2:04:40 hours and ...

, finishing in 3:52:59 hours and placing 1402nd in the mass race. She steadily improved in 2012, running 3:27:18 hours at the

2012 London Marathon The 2012 London Marathon was the 32nd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 22 April. Both of the elite races were won by Kenyan athletes, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede was the only non-Kenyan to re ...

then 3:17:45 at the 2012

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon, currently branded as TCS Amsterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Platinum Label from World Athle ...

. A sub-three hour clocking at the

2013 London Marathon The 2013 London Marathon was the 33rd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 21 April. The men's elite race was won by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede and the women's race was won by Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo. ...

saw her place in the top 50 women in the mass race. She began working with coach Nick Anderson in order to improve further and she subsequently dropped her best to 2:54:13 hours at the

2014 London Marathon The 2014 London Marathon was the 34th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 13 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and the women's race was won by Kenyan Edna Kip ...

(placing 27th in the women's mass race) and finished 18th at the 2014 Berlin Marathon with a run of 2:51:29.Tracy Barlow
Power of 10. Retrieved 2020-05-03.Henderson, Jason (2017-06-04)
Barlow’s journey from sprinter to GB marathoner
''Athletics Weekly''. Retrieved 2020-05-03. Barlow worked full-time as a nurse during her early running career, later moving into receptionist and office administration work to enable her to train more effectively. She established herself as an elite level runner in 2015. At the

2015 London Marathon The 2015 London Marathon was the 35th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 26 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Ethiopian Tigist Tufa. Th ...

she ran 2:39:56 to place fourth in the mass race (and 22nd among all women). She then knocked a minute off her best at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a road-running race held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, every year in the second or third Sunday of October. Aside from the actual marathon, the race also includes a half-marathon. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon ...

with a run of 2:38:49 for 13th place. A stand-out performance of 2:33:20 to win the women's mass race at the

2016 London Marathon The 2016 London Marathon was the 36th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 24 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Kenyan Jemima Sumgong. The ...

meant she was four minutes clear of any other woman in the mass race, and faster than Olympians Freya Ross and

René Kalmer René Kalmer (born 3 November 1980 in Roodepoort, Gauteng) is a South African runner who has competed over distances ranging from 800 metres to the marathon. She represented South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics, running in the 1500 metres. S ...

had run in the elite race. She reduced her office work to part-time in January 2017 before turning fully professional as a runner at age 31 in March. The change proved successful as she placed 16th in the elite race of the

2017 London Marathon The 2017 London Marathon was the 37th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 23 April. Mary Jepkosgei Keitany won the women's race, setting a new women-only marathon world record with a time of 2:17:0 ...

, setting a personal best of 2:30:42 and gaining selection for the

as Britain's third fastest woman (behind

Charlotte Purdue Charlotte Lucy Purdue (born 10 June 1991) is a British long-distance runner who competes in the Marathon and Half Marathon, as well as cross country running for Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletics Club. After winning a number of youth ti ...

and

Alyson Dixon Alyson Dixon (born 24 September 1978) is an English long-distance runner. Athletic career Dixon won the 2011 Brighton Marathon. She competed for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but did not finish due to an Achilles tendon injury. She ...

). At the World Championships race held in London, she finished 43rd in her international debut. The following year she placed ninth at the

2018 London Marathon The 2018 London Marathon was the 38th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 22 April. Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Vivian Cheruiyot won elite races. In the wheelchair races, Britain's David Weir (wheel ...

and represented Great Britain at the

, taking 15th place in a time of 2:35:00 and leading the British women to fourth in the team competition. She fell down the rankings at the

2019 London Marathon The 2019 London Marathon was the 39th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 28 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who took his fourth London Marathon victory in a time of ...

, running 2:36:26 for 19th place (fourth fastest Briton).London Marathon Women — Slow Kosgei Start, Then…!
''Track and Field News'' (2019-05-02). Retrieved 2020-05-02.

Marathon record

^ Chip time

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Tracy 1985 births Living people English female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners English female marathon runners British female marathon runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British sportswomen 21st-century English sportswomen