Pauline Stuart ( Cushnie; born 1 August 1956) is a former pioneer female

fell runner Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

, being the first woman to win many of the classic

fell race Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

s in the late 1970s and early 1980s, some as soon as they allowed women to enter.

Early life

Stuart was born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

but raised in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

. She left school at eighteen and began training as a nurse, but moved on to go to work for the Youth Hostels Association (YHA). She had been inspired by seeing

Joss Naylor Joss Naylor, MBE (born 10 February 1936 at Wasdale Head) is an English fell runner who set many long-distance records, and a sheep farmer, living in the English Lake District. As his achievements increased he became better known as the King of th ...

out running on the fells when she worked at the YHA at

Wasdale Wasdale () is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastwa ...

Running career

In 1979 a female Fell Runner of the Year contest was instigated, and Pauline was the winner of the second title in 1980. Stuart then had a couple of years of injuries and operations, including issues with a

bunion A bunion, also known as hallux valgus, is a deformity of the joint connecting the big toe to the foot. The big toe often bends towards the other toes and the joint becomes red and painful. The onset of bunions is typically gradual. Complicatio ...

and a

heel spur A calcaneal spur (also known as a heel spur) is a bony outgrowth from the calcaneal tuberosity (heel bone). Calcaneal spurs are typically detected by x-ray examination. It is a form of exostosis. When a foot is exposed to constant stress, calcium ...

. She returned in 1984 for another attempt at the British Fell Championships (as it was now called), managing to win it that year and again in 1985, giving her three titles in total. In 1984 she won ten out of ten of her championship counters, sealing it with her win at the

Ben Nevis Race The Ben Nevis Race is a mountain race that takes place annually, from the foot of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the British Isles) to the top, then back again. The course is 14km long and includes around 1,340metres of ascent. Up to six hu ...

. Having split from her former husband Pete Haworth, she married her fellow fell running champion

Kenny Stuart Kenny Stuart (born 25 February 1957 in Penrith) is a former fell and road runner from Threlkeld in the Lake District. Early in his career, when there was still a split between professional and amateur fell racing, Stuart competed in professiona ...

at the end of 1985. Pauline and Kenny swept all before them in 1984 and 1985, winning many doubles at races. Unusually, both the male and female British championships were retained in successive seasons. Stuart won the

Snowdon Race The Snowdon Race ( cy, Ras Yr Wyddfa) is a ten-mile endurance running competition in Gwynedd, from Llanberis to the peak of Snowdon. Contestants must make the five miles up the Llanberis Path to the summit ( above sea level) and return down. Cur ...

three times (in 1980, 1984 and 1985), setting a record each time. The 1985 Snowdon time (which has subsequently been beaten) was 1:20:29. Pauline had also set the course record for the Ben Nevis race on 1 September 1984, with a time of 1:43:25, which stood for 34 years before being broken by 24 seconds by

Victoria Wilkinson Victoria Wilkinson (born 19 August 1978) is an English runner and cyclo-cross rider who was a world mountain running champion at junior level and who has several times been a national fell running champion as a senior athlete. Biography Wilkin ...

in 2018. She set new marks in the 1984 season at the fell races at Fairfield,

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' t ...

Latrigg Latrigg is one of the lowest fells in the Lake District in North West England, but is a popular climb due to its convenient location overlooking the town of Keswick and the beautiful views down the valley of Borrowdale from the summit. It is th ...

(which lasted 21 years), Three Shires and

Dunnerdale The Duddon Valley is a valley in the southern Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Duddon flows through the valley, rising in the mountains between Eskdale and Langdale, before flowing into the Irish Sea near Broughton in ...

. Stuart competed in the first World Cup of Mountain Running, in San Vigilio, Italy, in 1985, finishing ninth, despite feeling sick, not knowing that she was pregnant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Pauline British fell runners 1956 births Living people British female mountain runners