Tracey Morris (born 9 September 1967) is a British long-distance runner.
Early career
editMorris grew up in Anglesey, Wales and ran as a Welsh schoolgirl,[1] but stopped running soon after. She moved to Leeds and in 1998, aged 30, she resumed running to keep fit ,[2] and took part in the London Marathon running for charity.
In December 2003 she took part in a local event the 'Leeds Abbey Dash' and finished as the first woman just ahead of Bev Jenkins .[3] The race was watched by UK Athletics' Bud Baldero[2] [4] who invited her to join the Great Britain Marathon squad. Baldero also ensured she had a place in the 2004 London Marathon for which her application had not been successful.[5] She was the only non-professional runner to be invited to take part.[1] In January 2004 she won two domestic half marathon races, the Brass Monkey Half Marathon and Four Villages Half Marathon.
On 18 April 2004, she stood on the Blackheath, London starting line not knowing what was to come.[6] But as a relatively unknown runner she burst into the public conscience by becoming the first British woman in the London Marathon. She was so unknown that one of the then British fastest runners, Birhan Dagne, did not try to finish in front of her as "I did not know who she was".[5]
After retiring, Morris continued working as an optician in Leeds.[7]
International Competition
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain and  Wales
| |||||
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 29th | Marathon | 2:41:00 |
| 2006 | Commonwealth Games | Melbourne, Australia | 4th | Marathon | 2:33:13 |
| 2006 | European Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 16th | Marathon | 2:37:34 |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 19th | Marathon | 2:36:40 |
Road races
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Wilmslow Half Marathon | Wilmslow | 9th | Half Marathon | 1:18:42 |
| 2004 | Four Villages Half Marathon | Helsby | 1st | Half Marathon | 1:14:22 |
| 2004 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | York | 1st | Half Marathon | 1:13:44 |
| 2004 | London Marathon | London | 10th | Marathon | 2:33:52 |
| 2005 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | York | 2nd | Half Marathon | 1:14:47 |
| 2005 | Liverpool Half Marathon | Liverpool | 2nd | Half Marathon | 1:13:18 |
| 2006 | Brass Monkey Half Marathon | York | 1st | Half Marathon | 1:16:55 |
| 2006 | Great North Run | Newcastle upon tyne | 12th | Half Marathon | 1:13:10 |
| 2007 | Silverstone Half Marathon | Silverstone | 3rd | Half Marathon | 1:17:26 |
| 2007 | Great North Run | Newcastle upon tyne | 7th | Half Marathon | 1:13:22 |
| 2008 | Reading Half Marathon | Reading, Berkshire | 7th | Half Marathon | 1:15:45 |
References
edit- ^ a b Anthony France and Ben Fenton (19 April 2004). "From fun run to Olympics in a giant stride by Tracey". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ a b Sarah Freeman (9 September 2014). "The fun runner who took on the Olympics". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Leeds Abbey Dash - Sunday 30th November 2003". race-results.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ Tom Fordyce (19 April 2004). "From the opticians to the Olympics". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ a b Duncan Mackay (19 April 2004). "Athens calls as Morris gets serious". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ Gareth A Davies (20 April 2004). "My Sport: Tracey Morris". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/the-fun-runner-who-took-on-the-olympics-1835217 [bare URL]
