Off our Blocks - 1990s women's sport zine with a guide to running London parks

I recently came a couple of issues of  'Off our Blocks' a 'women's team sports zine' published in London in the mid 1990s, a time when women's sport had very little media recognition. This seems to have been a modest attempt to redress this in the DIY photocopied zine format more commonly used for music and politics at this time. The name of course refers to the starting blocks in running and swimming but was presumably also referencing the US feminist magazine 'Off our Backs' which was quite influential in this period. 

Anyway issue number one from 1994 includes a hand written guide to 'Running the parks of London' with tips on 'things to contemplate while training'. Runners in Holland Park are advised to 'watch out for slow moving nannies and elderly gentleman feeding the squirrels' and 'secondary kids smoking in the bushes at lunchtime', while Kensington Gardens comes with a warning to watch out for 'duck shit, picnicking tourists, rollerbladers, exploding embassies'.

As the contact address for 'Off our Blocks' was in London SE7 (Charlton) no surprise to see Blackheath featured with things to contemplate including 'lots of Georgian houses and BMW’s' and 'why Canary Wharf seems to keep changing position'. As well as 'whether or not to extend the run to nearby Greenwich Park' described as having the 'best views over London at any park. Very up-and-down, so good for endurance but bad if you’ve not done much for a while'.

25 years later these parks are still full of runners, not sure if much has changed from these descriptions. Is there still a marked out 'Peace mile' in Finsbury Park? In terms of running parklife in London the biggest change of course has been the advent of parkrun, a guide to which would take a whole book.

According to a note in Issue 2, the editors of Off Our Blocks were Cress Rolfe and Jen Strang. I came across these zines in 'Still I rise: feminisms, gender, resistance, Act 2' at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea. The exhibition closed on 27 May 2019.

Greenwich Park Temple of Running

The 37th London Marathon starts this Sunday from Blackheath and the top of the adjoining Greenwich Park, winding its way via Woolwich to run back through Greenwich next to the bottom of the park - all 40,000 of us. 

If you're looking for a bit of inspiration for your run look no further than a site in Greenwich Park itself. Other than a slight mound there's not much to see, but there is helpful sign to tell you what you're looking at: the site of what is now believed to be a Romano-Celtic temple, first discovered in 1902 and re-excavated by archaeologists for Channel 4's Time Team programme in 2000.

So what's all this got to do with running? Well for a start, there's a fragment of a statue found there which is believed to be the arm of the Goddess Diana. It is possible therefore that the temple was dedicated to Diana, the Goddess of the moon, woodlands and the hunt.  Sometimes referred to as 'fleet footed Diana' she was often described as running through the forest with her animals. 

Greenwich Diana fragment

Roman statute of Diana at Versailles
(Roman author Ovid also refers to her as the 'high skirted huntress' on account of her practical running attire)

Like many runners, Diana liked to bathe her feet after a hard day's exertion, a scene featuring in many paintings over the centuries including Titian's 'Diana and Actaeon' (above). In the Roman writer Ovid's version of this legend, this takes place at a pool  where 'the woodland goddess, weary from the hunt, would bathe her virgin limbs' accompanied by her nymphs. Actaeon, also out hunting in the woods, spies the naked Diana and in punishment she turns him into a stag who is chased and killed by his own hounds. Poor Actaeon doesn't realize at first that he has been transformed and he 'took off, marveling at how fast he was running. But when he saw his face and horns in a pool, he tried to say 'Oh no' but no words came' (Stanley Lombardo's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses)

I guess the lesson for runners here is if you find yourself running faster than expected, especially at the start of a marathon, you might regret it!

If  Diana fleet of foot is not enough to get you running, another object found in Greenwich Park  depicts a female figure holding a shield, which the information board states is likely to represent the Roman goddess Victory, probably better known to runners as her Greek equivalent - Nike.

Yes, Greenwich Park is a veritable temple of running and on Sunday thousands of devotees will be celebrating there.

South London Running News: Spring 2014

The sun has shone and the ground's drying out, and even the most fair weather of runners are showing their faces and indeed their legs.

Sidcup 10

I took part in Kent Athletic Club's Sidcup 10 Mile Road Race a couple of weeks ago (Sunday 9th March) and it felt like the first run of the summer, I was pouring water over my head after the first lap. More than 300 people took part in a well organised run, starting off at Sidcup Leisure Centre and finishing three laps later in the grounds of Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. Mark Steinle (Blackheath & Bromley) came in first for the men with a time of 55:11, while Tina Oldershaw (Paddock Wood AC) was the women's winner in 62:05.

Lewisham-based Kent Athletics Club have had a busy winter, winning the Surrey Cross Country League for the second year in a row. Not to mention the club's Conrad Williams winning a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay at the World Indoor Championship in Sopot earlier this month.

Parkrun

Parkrun continues to expand locally as everywhere else. On 8th March, more than 1400 runners were out for a 5k Saturday morning run across nine South East(ish) London runs, compared to 969 in the same area on the same weekend last year. At my home parkrun, Hilly Fields in Lewisham, slippery conditions on the muddiest part of the course necessitated a change of route during the latter part of the winter, but it's now back to normal.

Parkrun participants in 9 South London events,
second weekend in March, 2013 and 2014

10ks

Nearly 700 people finished the 'Wrap up and run' 10k in Crystal Palace last week (16th March) in aid of Age UK. Patrick Brown of East London Runners was the fastest man (35:52), while Sarah Watson of Kent AC was the fastest woman (39:59).

With the encouragement of Southwark Council, London City Runners are establishing a London City Athletics Club that will include a youth athletics section. Their inaugural event is a 10k run in Southwark Park on March 30th - with plans in place too to refurbish the athletics track in the park. On Saturday 5 July the park will also see the Southwark Park 150th anniversary 10k Run, organised by PB Race Events.

PB Race Events are also organising the 'Run for Diabetes 10k' in Greenwich Park on Saturday 14th June, while on 19th October there's another Greenwich Park 5k/10k organised by Run Through.

New Eltham Joggers are organising the Eltham Park 5 on Sunday June 8th, a 5 mile run through Eltham Parks and Shepherdleas Wood. There's also a 3.5 km run, and a 1 mile family fun run on the same day.

Croydon Half

Next big run for me is the Croydon Half Marathon on 30th March,organised by Striders of Croydon - I think there's still some places left.

(all photos from Sidcup 10 2014)

See previously: South London Running News Summer 2013