Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy (24 December 1889 – April 1972) was an

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long-distance runner who is recognized by the

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as having set the first women's

world best A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the marathon on 3 October 1926 with a time of 3:40:22. Piercy was reported to have run unofficially and her mark was set on the

Polytechnic Marathon The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the g ...

course between

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and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Early life

Piercy was born Violet Stewart Louisa Piercy on 24 December 1889 in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. Her father was George Piercy; her mother was Louisa Sophia Piercy. Her father died shortly after her birth; a brother died at age of 8. She attended the Old Palace of John Whitgift School. In 1923, she worked as a medical secretary in south London.

Running

According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', when Piercy began obtaining publicity for her running, "the prevailing notion at the time was that women were too fragile to run more than a few hundred feet." One of her early publicized runs took place in October 1926, when she ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

course of that era in 3 hours 40 minutes and 22 seconds, although researchers since believe she may have only run about twenty miles. On 1 August 1927 she set a record at the British games for a ten-mile run in 1 hour 13 minutes. In 1928, she again attempted the London Marathon race but stopped after twenty miles due to excessive heat, with a time of 3 hours 31 minutes. In March 1935, she became established as "one of the first known female endurance runners in Britain", according to ''The New York Times'', after her public five-mile run from

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

to the monument in the center of London marking the starting location of the Great London Fire, including the 311 stairs to the top of the monument, which she completed in 43 minutes and 2 seconds. She also ran the London Marathon in 1933 and 1936, finishing both in about 4 hours and 25 minutes. In 1933, she also completed a 22-mile run approved by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association, through sleet and rain, in 3 hours 45 minutes. In 1936, she was permitted to begin ahead of the male runners in the London Marathon, and her completion time remained the women's record until

Dale Greig Dale Greig (15 May 1937 – 12 May 2019) was a Scottish cross country champion and pioneering long-distance runner. In 1964 she became the first woman to run a marathon in under 3 hours 30 minutes. Her time of 3:27:45 at the Isle of Wight Marat ...

surpassed the record in 1964. According to the IAAF, Piercy's 1926 time stood for 37 years until

Merry Lepper Merry Lepper (born December 31, 1942) is a former American long-distance runner from California who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on December 16, 1963, with a time ...

's 3:37:07 performance at the

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on 16 December 1963.

Later life and death

Following multiple moves after World War II, she may have lived in a women's shelter after the late-1950's. Records indicate she may have lived in Battersea and Wandsworth until the late-1950s. A death certificate dated 11 April 1972 for "Violet Pearson, otherwise Violet Piercy, otherwise Violet Pierce" describes brain haemorrhage as the cause of death at University College Hospital in London. Her death certificate states that she had no fixed address.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piercy, Violet 1889 births 1972 deaths English female marathon runners British female marathon runners English female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) People educated at the Old Palace School