Ruth Christmas
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Born | 12 November 1904 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Died | 2 April 2001 (aged 86) Chelmsford, Essex, England |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | middle-distance |
| Club | London Olympiades AC |
Ruth Lillian Christmas (12 November 1904 – 2 April 2001) was a British middle-distance runner.
Biography
[edit]Christmas and her sister Esther followed their father into athletics. Ruth began competing in Cambridge in the 1920s, then moved to London and joined the London Olympiades women's athletics club. She took second place behind Violet Streater in the half-mile at the 1929 WAAA Championships,[1] and began competing internationally, recording impressive results.[2]
Christmas finished second behind Gladys Lunn in the half-mile event at the 1930 WAAA Championships.[3][4][5] At the AAA Cross Country Championships, held over a three mile distance, Christmas finished runner-up in Wolverton in 1930, and third at Epsom Downs in February 1931.[6] Her result in 1931 contributed to a team victory for her club London Olympiades.[6] Christmas was again runner-up in 1932 at Coventry. She gained plaudits for finishing second despite running with a heavily strapped knee, having aggravated an injury in the Southern Championships.[7] She once again finished second behind Gladys Lunn in the 880 yards event at the 1931 WAAA Championships.[8]
In the mile, Christmas recorded a possible world record time of 5:27.5 in 1932.[9]
The 1933 cross country season saw the exact same top three in both the Southern Counties Championship and the National Championship. In each race Christmas finished runner-up to Lillian Styles, with her sister Esther in third.[10] Christmas finished six seconds behind Styles in the nationals, held in waterlogged conditions at Warwick Racecourse.[10]
In her favoured distance of 880-yards or 800-metres, Christmas had a longstanding rivalry with Gladys Lunn, who stopped Christmas from winning several WAAA title. She finally became national 800 metres champion at the 1933 WAAA Championships.[11] She gained French nationality through marriage, becoming Ruth Christmas-Paysant, and began competing for her adopted homeland, winning the 1935 French Championships 800-metre title, and the cross-country equivalent in 1936. In 1939, she and her husband returned to Britain to avoid the oncoming World War II,[2] and she retired from athletics.[9] Author and playwright Simon Raven is her nephew.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Records by Women". Weekly Dispatch (London). 14 July 1929. Retrieved 15 December 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c Adrianne Blue, "Obituary: Ruth Christmas", The Guardian, 16 May 2001
- ^ "Women Athletes". Liverpool Daily Post. 18 August 1930. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ a b Cross-Country Running, The Times, 23 February 1931
- ^ Women's Championship - London Girl's Plucky Race, The Manchester Guardian, 22 February 1932
- ^ "Women Set Up new Records". Weekly Dispatch (London). 12 July 1931. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Obituary: Ruth Christmas", Daily Telegraph, 30 April 2001
- ^ a b Cross-Country Running, The Times, 6 March 1933
- ^ "Records go by the board". Weekly Dispatch (London). 16 July 1933. Retrieved 24 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.