Hackney Harriers: Races, Training and Socialising

By Carole Lucas and Jane Coleman

“Running is bad for your knees and it’s too cold to go out running!” How many times have we heard this negative view of running over the years? But evidence suggests we would all be happier, healthier and more productive if we exercised regularly.

Hence the start of HWH’s Wednesday evening and Sunday morning runs on Hampstead Heath. We sometimes got off to a slow, reluctant start but the thought of hot coffee and cake in the café at the end of the run kept us going. And didn’t we all feel great when we finished, boosted by endorphins and great company!

In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we decided that we needed some running goals to aim for. Many of us were eager to improve our PBs (personal bests not pert breasts) so we started entering races as a club. Over the next ten years members of HWH became a regular sight at races all over the UK. Many of us traveled further afield – including to the Gay Games in Amsterdam and Euro Games in 1998. Over the years we put in an excellent performance as a club, with many PBs and an impressive tally of medals and trophies.

Here are just some of the races we took part in over the years:

• Liverpool Women’s 10k – May 1991/1993/1994/1995
• London X Country Championships – November 1992 (Vicky Park Harriers)
• Victoria Park 5 Miler – 1993
• Bath Half Marathon – March 1994/1995/1996
• Reebok 10k – November 1995/1997
• Great North Run (Newcastle) – October 1995/1997/1998
• Greenwich 9 Mile Road race – June 1995
• Borehamwood Half – June 1996
• Great London Run (Diet Coke) – October 1995/1996
• Southwark Women’s 10k – March 1995/1996
• Brighton 10k – November 1996/1997/1998
• (Reading) Yellow Pages Half Marathon – March 1997
• Women’s (Hyde Park) London Run – September 1997
• Gay Games Amsterdam – August 1998

Hackney Women Harriers was a running club, but in reality it meant a whole lot more to the members. We were women runners, mostly lesbians, who wanted to run with other women so we naturally socialised together, and the social part of the club became as important to us as the running.

As soon as the club was formed we became a friendly and fun group who supported each other’s running and fitness goals and got on very well together. We met up three times a week for training runs and also entered races all over the country and in Europe.

We had our first meeting in the Duke of Wellington in Hackney and continued to meet up there after runs and races, and to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and any other excuse we could think of. If anyone was injured and not able to run, they could still keep in touch with the club by coming out in the evening. We ended up spending a fair bit of our time with each other and during these social times we got to know each other really well.

In later years we met in the fabulous Due South lesbian bar in Stoke Newington where we played pool and ate Erica’s bbqs. Tuesday night was womens’ night at The (Fallen) Angel in Islington and a favourite post-London Marathon celebration venue. Occasionally we met in The Oak bar on Green Lanes and once had a memorable karaoke night in Dalston. We ate out at restaurants and cafes on Stoke Newington Church Street, including Yum Yums, Rasa, and various Indian restaurants.

Races were also a social affair. We would travel together to races, and those of us who were not entering the race would come along to be a supporter and ‘bag lady’. Some of our members entered the London Marathon and we all turned out to cheer them on. We travelled to Bath, Brighton, Liverpool and Newcastle, among other places, where we stayed in gay BnBs and ran 10ks and half-marathons.

Fancy dress parties were a big part of our social scene and we had so many laughs together. Mary always stunned us with her amazing costumes. One of the most memorable fancy dress parties was held at Carole’s where every one of us dressed up as the famous Greek icon, Nana Mouskouri! One year a few of us went hiking together in the Brecon Beacons where we amused ourselves by claiming to have climbed the mountains Pen y Fan and Fan y Big. We shared a house together, cooked and played games in the evening.

We were much more than a running club. We formed strong friendships, many still going today and the social side was an important, supportive and fun part of Hackney Women Harriers.

In the ten years that the club existed more than 50 women were, at some point, members. Our peak membership at any one time was around thirty women, so we were a small club compared to some but significant and powerful, with enthusiastic supporters. Our very existence meant that women felt more confident to go out on the streets of London and run. We were (mostly) lesbians, we were visible and we were fit! On the whole we were middle-class and the majority were white, though some of us were of mixed heritage including Greek-Cypriot, Anglo-Japanese and Anglo-Trinidadian-Asian. All lived in London. Now only a few, just three of the women we could trace, remain in the London area. Two have moved overseas, one to New Zealand, another to Australia. Everyone else has moved within the UK – to North Devon, Derbyshire and Suffolk. Most of us are still fit and active. This is its own liberation and privilege.

Individual stories:

Helena Graham

Jane Coleman

Jan Aitchison

Christine Wildhaber

Carole Lucas

Janet Clift

Ruth Overton

Erica Tobias

More stories will follow…