Hackney Women Harriers: Races, Training and Socialising: Erica Tobias

By Erica Tobias August 2026

I’ve always loved, played and watched sport. In my teens I represented County and played Club level at netball, tennis, squash, table-tennis, basketball, volleyball and swimming. When it came to a career, unsurprisingly it was in sport as a PE teacher.

I was never happier than when running after a ball, but I really didn’t get running for its own sake until the 90s when I started running to improve my stamina and fitness for other sports. After entering a few races I got the bug. Carole had already started the running club and she invited me to join. The club was quite established by then, the women members were a diverse mix of independent characters who were welcoming, friendly and supportive.

I loved taking part in regular training runs, especially the Sunday Hampstead Heath runs. It was a challenge getting up on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out at The Wellie, The Angel or maybe Due South. But it was an effective hangover cure especially with post-run coffee and tea-cakes at the Italian café.

The races were a highlight. We went all over the country and further afield to compete. My main distance was 10K with the odd half marathon. We had great weekends away renting cottages and B & B’s for races such as The Great North Run, Brighton 10K, Bath half, Amsterdam Gay Games and many more.

The camaraderie of the club was brilliant – everyone seemed to have so much energy and zest for life. This spilled over into social events which were equally enthusiastically attended. Some memorable (!) evenings were spent at restaurants and bars like the Shanghai Chinese restaurant where we hired the karaoke room and took turns singing and spinning on the lazy Susan. Other club haunts were The Glass Bar, Candy Bar, Rackets and First Out to name a few. Not to mention the legendary fancy dress/themed parties hosted by Carole, The Pres! These motivational evenings complimented the serious training, carb loading and cross-training to help us achieve Personal Bests in our races!

I made some good friends through The Harriers, many of whom are still in contact. It’s great to see where everyone has ended up and to reconnect with Ex Harriers.