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.

SOAR Mile 2018

The SOAR Mile 2018, held on Friday 27th July, was a great event with more than 200 runners taking part in 12 races at the London Marathon Community Track in Olympic Park.  After several weeks of relentless sunshine, the weather burst just before the event began with a big wet thunderstorm but the rain and the air had cleared by the time the races started, making for much improved running conditions.

As with other events such as Night of 10,000m PBs, the Milton Keynes MK 5000 PB Special, the Orion Harriers' FAST Friday races and the Kent AC 10,000m, this is part of a move in grassroots athletics to put on exciting events with a dusting of razmattazz alongside top quality racing. In this case the venue was adjacent to the iconic former Olympic stadium which added to the sense of occasion, and there was free beer!

As with some of the events mentioned above, spectators were encouraged to stand on the track and cheer from the outside lanes, here in lane three. This does make for a good atmosphere, my only suggestion for next year would be to maybe pull people back a lane to leave three lanes completely clear. In one of the races I watched people in lane three began to lean and step into lane two making it difficult to overtake in the closing stretch.

Hannah Viner (Highgate Harriers) was the fastest woman on the night, winning the £150 cash prize for her 4:47 mile.  The elite men's race was won by Dale King-Clutterbuck (Newham & Essex Beagles) in 4:05:37. He has gone under 4 minutes before,  but the windy conditions on the night probably cost him a few seconds.

Kent AC coach Ken Pike gives out final instructions

I ran in one of the earlier races. I was in two minds about taking part as I haven't been running much recently let alone racing (insert tedious achilles injury excuses), but really didn't want to miss the event as I hadn't run this distance on track before. Ended up with 6:02, so slightly annoyed for not pushing a little harder in middle of race as I have run faster on the road. 

SOAR Mile 2018 from Tim Soar on Vimeo.

Nice photo story at SOAR website

Full results

Running in a time of lowered flags and flowers

Running in a time

of lowered flags and flowers

Don't forget too soon

(photos taken while running on June 19th 2016, warming up for London City Mile. Top - rainbow flag at half mast on Southwark Council HQ, Tooley Street, London SE1 for 49 people murdered in a gay club in Orlando a week previously. Other photos taken at Hermitage Community Moorings, on River Thames at Wapping, with flowers for Jo Cox the Labour MP who lived there on a boat, and was murdered by a neo-nazi in Leeds on June 16th)

Running Haiku: Cherry Blossom

 

Through a pink shower

Running under the May trees

Cherry blossom boy

 

 

 

 

(photos from the former St John's churchyard, Fair Street, SE1 on my regular run commute route, except one below from Osaka in land of the cherry blossom, sent to me last week by my daughter who is visiting Japan)

 

 

'Running naked in a publick Road' (1754)

'Last Saturday Afternoon a foot-match was run between two Coal-Heavers, from the Turnpike in Whitechapel-road to Bow and back again, for five Shillings - The indecent Appearance of Men running naked in a publick Road, and the Number of idle People which such an Occasion generally draws together, may not be unworthy the serious Consideration of those Persons in whose Power it is to prevent them' (Oxford Journal 18 May 1754).

A short report of a mid-18th century running race in East London with a lot of detail packed into it. Running of this kind was evidently popular, drawing a crowd deemed disespectable by some ('idle People'). The runners were 'naked', but in this period that did not necessarily mean nude, as in wearing no clothes at all, but rather not wearing the socially expected amount of clothing. On the other hand coal heavers probably didn't have an elaborate range of underwear/sportswear in this period, so they might not have been wearing very much at all.

'Sporting Requisites of the Highest Class': Pre-First World War Sports Shops in London

I recently came across a couple of adverts from 1913 for sports shops in London - they appear in issues of Chin Wag, magazine of the Eton Manor Boys' Club which the Bishopsgate Institute has digitised.

F.H. Ayes Ltd was based at 111 Aldersgate Street (near to where the Barbican is now), and were 'manufacturers of every requisite for... lawn tennis, golf, football' etc.  The advert states that the firm was established as early as 1810. As well as sports equipment, they  manufactured board games and indeed wooden rocking horses. In the late nineteenth century they also installed 'removable grandstands for the Centre Court at Wimbledon' (John Lowerson,Sport and the English Middle Classes, 1870-1914, Manchester University Press, 1995).

Spalding's described itself as 'the great London House for Sporting Requisites of the highest class'. In this period they had two London stores - at 317/18 High Holborn and 78 Cheapside.  They also had shops in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Paris. But their home was in the United States where Albert Goodwill Spalding (1849-1915)  was an influential figure in the history of baseball- in an attempt to popularise the game in England he helped arrange a tour of baseball clubs in 1889, including a game at Kennington Oval (Mark Lamster, Spalding's World Tour: The Epic Adventure that Took Baseball Around the Globe, 2007). He opened his first shop in New York in 1885, and the company is still a big player in US sports. Interesting that global sports brands were already in existence, and present in city centres, more than a hundred years ago.

'For all sports, come to Spalding's'

'Running Race for Young Ladies' (1828)

'Running Race for Young Ladies at Tenterden' by Robert Cruickshank is an 1828 illustration from Pierce Egan's 'Life in London or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their rambles and sprees through the Metropolis'. This fictional account of London adventures was first published as a monthly serial from 1821. 

In reality races involving women would have been a rarity in this period, though not unknown. I don't know whether Cruickshank based his illustration on any real event, but it would have been hard going too far or fast in dresses like these!

Friday photos (20): 1948 Olympics in London

Some great photos of the 1948 Olympics in London from the Daily Herald Archive at the National Media Museum:

Runners in the decathlon- not certain of their identity, but comparing with other photos I think the USA athlete on left may be Irving Mondschein

The Marathon leaves Wembley Stadium at the start of the race

The 100 metres final at Wembley Stadium, won by Harrison Dillard of the USA in 10.3 seconds

Previously in Friday photo series:

New York High School Runners 1970s

Lilian Board, 1948-1970
Running in Tel Aviv 1942
Alan Turing the Runner

Marilyn Monroe the Runner
Tom Longboat, Canadian First Nations Marathon Runner
Runners in Space: an image from Munich 1972 on NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Jim Peters collapses in Vancouver 1954

Anita Neil - Britain's first female Black Olympian?

Running in the Streets of New Cross 1953

Running tracks from space

Running with Madonna

Ron Hill

1930s photos from Margate (Kent) and White City (London)

Magic Lantern Slides of London Running, 1909

Ladywell Running Track 1950
Muhammad Ali Running

Athletes Protests, 1968-2014
National Cross Country Championships 1965

Like the Wind Birthday Party

I really enjoyed the Like the Wind party in London last week. The event at Blackall Gallery in Shoreditch was held to mark the 1st birthday of the magazine, and launch its 4th issue. There was beer, curry and good running chat.

Cover design for Like the Wind #4 by Fergus McHugh

 When I first started this blog, I mused on twitter about whether anybody had thought about a running equivalent of high end cycling magazines like Rouleur. Of course there's lots of other running magazines - I love Athletics Weekly for its coverage of the sport side of running, and Runners World etc. cover all the fitness and kit angles. But there didn't seem to be anything that was focused on writing/photography/art about running. Someone soon told me about the plans for Like the Wind, launched by Simon Freeman and Jullie Freeman Kummer with the strapline 'it's not how we run, it's why we run'.

A year after its launch, the magazine is well loved and established, getting support and contributions from a range of runners, bloggers/writers and illustrators, including articles from US ultra-marathon legends Dean Karnazes and Scott Jurek.

Email from Dean Karnazes proudly displayed at Blackall Gallery last week

I was proud to have an article and photographs published in the new issue, based on my run round the track last year at the wonderful Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, a site steeped in history as the place where the first modern Olympic Marathon finished in 1896. I won't say more because you can read the article!

Contents of Like the Wind #4

You can order copies of the magazine online, but there are a few specialist shops that stock it, including The Running Works in London.

On the podium in Athens
(not one of the photos used in the magazine)

Friday photos (19): National Cross Country Championships 1965

More than 8700 runners are registered to take part in the English National Cross Country Championships tomorrow afternoon, taking place for the 15th time at Parliament Hill  since the race was first held there in 1957. I plan to be among them, joining the thousands on that famous charge up the hill that marks the start of the course.

These images are from a British Pathé newsreel featuring the 1965 Nationals there, described by the commentator as 'nine miles of snow, ice, mud and slush'. The race was won for the second year running by Mel Batty (Thurrock Harriers), who also set a world ten mile record in 1964. His old club have established a Mel Batty 10k road race in memory of their lifelong member, who died in 2011.

Mel Batty

Mel Batty crosses the finishing line - the 1965 Nationals were sponsored by News of the World

New Zealand runners at the start of the race

Previously in Friday photo series:

New York High School Runners 1970s

Lilian Board, 1948-1970
Running in Tel Aviv 1942
Alan Turing the Runner

Marilyn Monroe the Runner
Tom Longboat, Canadian First Nations Marathon Runner
Runners in Space: an image from Munich 1972 on NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Jim Peters collapses in Vancouver 1954

Anita Neil - Britain's first female Black Olympian?

Running in the Streets of New Cross 1953

Running tracks from space

Running with Madonna

Ron Hill

1930s photos from Margate (Kent) and White City (London)

Magic Lantern Slides of London Running, 1909

Ladywell Running Track 1950
Muhammad Ali Running

Athletes Protests, 1968-2014

Running on Screen (5): Walford Half Marathon

London's biggest race of the year so far - albeit fictional - was today's Walford Half Marathon on Eastenders (BBC TV).

After weeks of flirty training storylines, the 13.1 mile race started and finished in the soap's Albert Square.

Peter and Kush stop for a chat a the water station and wonder why they got overtaken
(training tip - practice drinking and running at the same time)

Shabnam Masood holds her lead in the market finishing funnel...

...before toasting victory over Kush with a well-deserved bottle of water

Kush does the decent thing and gives (prospective father in law?) Masood some help to the finish line

Later Lauren proposed marriage to Peter - but will the post-run euphoria last much longer?
Or will the killer of Lucy Beale (Peter's sister) soon be revealed?
Boom - Boom -
Boom- Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom

Still no sign of the result at power of 10 - come on British Athletics!

Watch the episode here until end of February 2015

Friday Photos (15): Magic Lantern slides of London running, 1909

Before the cinema there was the magic lantern show, featuring the public projection of slides.  Lucerna is an archive of  magic lantern images, including some interesting early 20th century London running shots from Walter Tyler Ltd., based in Waterloo Road

This first one is of the start of a 10 mile Amateur Athletics Association race at Stamford Bridge on 17 April 1909:

'Poly. Sports, Stamford Bridge - Yeatman winner of 440 yards race':

According to a report in the Daily Mail, 15 May1909, 'In an international contest at Stamford Bridge the Polytechnic Club beat the Stade Francais by three points to one' with 'J.R. Yeatman (Polytechnic)' winning the quarter-mile in a time 52.4 seconds.

Final one, from April 1909 is entitled 'South London Harriers finish of 100 yards final, Connolly (no.25) wins'.

Previously in Friday photo series:

New York High School Runners 1970s

Lilian Board, 1948-1970
Running in Tel Aviv 1942
Alan Turing the Runner

Marilyn Monroe the Runner
Tom Longboat, Canadian First Nations Marathon Runner
Runners in Space: an image from Munich 1972 on NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Jim Peters collapses in Vancouver 1954

Anita Neil - Britain's first female Black Olympian?

Running in the Streets of New Cross 1953

Running tracks from space

Running with Madonna

Ron Hill

1930s photos from Margate (Kent) and White City (London)

Peckham Pioneer Centre: 1930s swimming pool

As part of the Open House London weekend, I went on a tour this morning of the former Pioneer Centre in St Mary's Road, Peckham. The building opened in 1935 as part of a radical public health initiative known as the Peckham Experiment. Rather than offering medical treatments, the emphasis was on keeping people healthy - the building included a gym, swimming pool and dance hall, among other facilities for local families. It closed in the 1950s, and after a period as an adult education college, was converted to private flats in the late 1990s.

The original pool from the 1930s is still there, though it's diving board is no longer in use as the depth of the pool at that end was reduced during the conversion of the building

Swimmers at the pool when it was part of the health centre

An exercise class on the roof of the Pioneer Centre

Friday photos (12): Running with Madonna: 'Those who run seem to have all the fun'

Madonna's been running regularly since the 1980s, not sure whether she's ever taken part in a race but she's often been photographed out and about with an assortment of personal trainers and bodyguards.

Most of these photos were taken around 1987 when she carried off some great running outfits:

Madonna running past Buckingham Palace in London, 1987

Madonna in Central Park, New York 2006

Boy George said recently: “As for Madonna, I always used to laugh at her running. And now I run! I get why she always ran. I wish I'd run when she did.”

Madonna's Hung Up includes the great line 'those who run seem to have all the fun'. She has also written and recorded a song called 'Run'. I don't think it's ever been released but you can find demo versions of it online - the lyrics include:

'If you wanna catch up to me

You better run as fast as you can

If you wanna live up to me

You better show me that you're the man

Am I going too fast

Am I going too fast for you baby

Never gonna finish last

Am I going too fast for you baby

Run run run run for your life

I said

Run run run but you better think twice'

Previously in the Friday Photos series:

New York High School Runners 1970s

Lilian Board, 1948-1970
Running in Tel Aviv 1942
Alan Turing the Runner

Marilyn Monroe the Runner
Tom Longboat, Canadian First Nations Marathon Runner
Runners in Space: an image from Munich 1972 on NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Jim Peters collapses in Vancouver 1954

Anita Neil - Britain's first female Black Olympian?

Running in the Streets of New Cross 1953

Running tracks from space

Married for the Marathon

This time last week I stayed up late to get my name down in the ballot for a London Marathon place next year. I'm glad I did because by the next morning all ballot places were full - that doesn't mean I've got a place of course, only that I've now got a chance of getting one. I helped out in Greenwich Park as a marshal at the start of this year's Marathon, part of crack team of parkrunners loading runners bags on to lorries and dancing to the Village People on a Sunday morning. Having experienced the atmosphere up close I would love to take part as a runner. I know people will go to almost any lengths to run, or even just to get involved in a major Marathon, but how far would you go? Would you get married in order to run in a Marathon, or even just to watch one?

London Marathon Marshal's Medal 2014

Johnny Hayes famously won the Marathon at the 1908 London Olympics. I say famously, though actually it was Dorando Pietri who arguably became most famous. The latter finished first, but was disqualified because he had been helped after collapsing several times near the end of the race from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium. Hayes crossed the line 30 seconds later but was awarded the gold medal. I've always thought history has been unkind to Hayes, Pietri being presented as an unfairly treated underdog when it was Hayes who actually did the business and finished the distance properly.

Anyway the following year Hayes told the following (possibly apocryphal!) story to an audience in New York:

'MARRIED FOR SPORT. John J Hayes, the Marathon champion, was describing in New York the enthusiasm that the Marathon race caused among Americans in London. "That race," said he, "was the chief motive that took us Americans abroad last summer. Indeed, coming back on the boat I heard an almost, incredible story about the race's attraction. "There was a very nice girl aboard who seemed unhappy. Her unhappiness was due to her husband. She was married to a rich but very old man; he might have been her grandfather. "She was a very frank sort of girl., and she confided her marital troubles to one of the women at her table. From her confidence it was plain that the aged husband was a brute. 'But, my dear child,' said the woman, 'whatever induced you to marry such a, man ?" 'Well, you see,' said the girl, 'I was so anxious to see that Marathon race' (Llandudno Advertiser, 10 April 1909).

Johnny Hayes in his Irish American Athletics Club kit,
shortly after winning in London