Picture from Westerlands CCC website

Any athlete who ended their career with National Championship victories in four different age categories over an incredible 30 years would be  reasonably happy with their achievements.  These successes were not, it should be remembered, for a single race, but for a series of races at varying distances, in different conditions and over all sorts of  terrain.   The calibre of opposition faced included, in Christine’s case, such as the legendary Angela Mudge, the quite outstanding Helen Diamantides, the very talented Tricia Calder,  Elspeth Scott and Ann Curtis, plus the others mentioned below and a host of superb women hill runners in what was a golden age for the sport.   

Year	Category	Winner: Name	Club	Second: Name	Club	Third: Name	Club
1989	Senior	Tricia Calder	Westerlands	Ann Curtis	Livingston	C Menhennet	Bellahouston
1993	Senior	H Diamantides	Westerlands	Elspeth Scott	Westerlands	C Menhennet	Clydesdale
1995	Senior	C Menhennet	Westerlands	Angela Mudge	Carnethy	Elspeth Scott	Westerlands
1998	Women O/40	C Menhennet	Westerlands	–	–	–	–
2008	Women O/40	J Higginbottom	Carnethy	Louise Burt	Fife	C Menhennet	Westerlands
2008	W/O50	C Menhennet	Westerlands	Jocelyn Scott	Fife	Anita Hamilton	Cosmic
2017	W/60	C Menhennet	Westerlands	Jocelyn Scott	Fife	Janice Smith	HBT

If we add to that a catalogue of international and invitational races across the globe including all the home countries plus most of Europe from France to Poland and even round the world to Australia, we have a picture of a very talented athlete indeed.   Nor was she one of the athletes who have a good career in their chosen sport but put nothing back in – Christine also did her share of committee work and race organisation when starting out at a time when women’s place in ultra distance running, and particularly on and over the hills and mountains was in its infancy.   Before following her sporting career, we should have a look at her sporting background.   This page will look at the background to her running and the start of her career as a serious runner before looking at the different aspects separately.

 

Name: Christine, nee Taylor, was born in Bolton in Lancashire.   

Date of Birth: 15th October 1956.   

Clubs: Bellahouston Harriers, Clydesdale Harriers, Westerlands CCC.

Family background: The Taylor family had an active lifestyle and are described in Steve Chilton’s book “Voices from the Hills” as a hill walking family.   Her father used to tell Christine and her sister “Don’t sit down, you’ll get stiff.”   As teenagers they ‘struggled through wind and mist up numerous Welsh and Lakeland hills when, as she says, they would rather have been on the beach.    She emphasises though that “Without a doubt, I owe my love of mountains and adventure to my parents’ early encouragement and passion for the outdoors.”   

Sporting background:  Although her school did not include track and field athletics but concentrated on team sports, she did represent it in the lacrosse, netball, tennis and rounders teams.   Plus 

(1) competitive dinghy sailing crewing at various events.   

(2) As a student she enjoyed squash at university, 

(3) She did some jogging to keep fit and had an occasional run up Winter Hill which was not far from the house she grew up in.     (NB: Winter Hill is 1496 feet in height and a hill race in its own right).

As a student she did some work in the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe which allowed her to indulge in hill walking and climbing during the day.   The buzz in the Bar in the evenings, with all the hill walkers’ tales and stories which all helped her decide to move to Glasgow after finishing her university studies.

Christine, on the left, at the WMRA Championships in Die, France

These all meant that she was a very fit person indeed with a love of the hills when the Glasgow Marathon appeared on the scene in 1984.   She first ran in it in 1985 as a member of Bellahouston Harriers.   That first run was timed at 3 hours 08 minutes 08 seconds.    In a field of 11, 492 runners, men and women combined, she finished 1303rd.   She ran in Glasgow again and had faster time and also a bit further afield.  eg in Snowdonia (2nd Lady finisher), Lochaber, Windermere and Moscow.   The experience of running Moscow where she was part of a tour party, was a bit different from the others .   When asked how she got roped into that one, she comments:  “Restless by nature and saw it advertised in Running Mag I think. Pete and I just decided to go for it; we wanted to run together but there were separate starts. Didn’t find him until ww met in the foreigners finishing chute and got bundled into a gym for caviar, eggs, black bread and tea – just what no one wanted at that point!!! Later our gang wenr hunting for beer ( within our allowed zone) and ended up in a weird hotel ‘night club’ drinking the only thing they had – champagne – by the bottle!   Got in very, very late, we didn’t bother sleeping – just packed our bags and waited in the foyer to be picked up for our very early flight to St Petersburgh ( Leningrad); most of us fell asleep on the coach tour of the city!!!”   As for the race itself – “Moscow was very hot and humid – black bread, pear juice and milky tea were the en route refreshments; streets lined with soldiers, women who stared you up and down for your good kit and trainers (gave away post-race).Great memories of the wee tour group of which Pete (ex hubby) and I were a part and saw some amazing pre -perestroika Russia.”

Back at home, training consisted of running on the roads around the south side of Glasgow and when she got married her husband took her ice climbing in the winter – not a pursuit that recommended itself to her as something she’d want to pursue but nevertheless we have an image of a very active lifestyle encompassing a variety of sports and activities  and all the while managing to obtain not only a university degree but also a post graduate qualification too.   It is surprising that these were not her only activities at this point.   She tells us via Steve Chilton’s book that back in the early 1980’s  her good friend Ali Coghill who worked at the Inverclyde Sports Centre encouraged her to enter the Scottish Island Peaks Race as part of an all women team using he mountaineering skills, marathon running experience and sailing experience.  1984 was a year of hard training and they used Christine’s father’s boat – a Contessa 32 footer.   Her running partner was Lesley Kirkwood who also worked at the Clachaig.  They competed at that time in several SIPR’s.  She says that they competed well and a passion for the race that was to last – as we will see – for three and a half decades.

She was still a member of Bellahouston Harriers and running for them and her career as a hill runner was just starting.   “The Fellrunner” magazine for November, 1985, listed the winners of the Scottish Hill Running Championship for that year as follows:  1.  A Curtis, Livingston;  2.  C Taylor, Bellahouston.   Among her races that year was a fourth place in the Bens of Jura race on 25th May – a 16 miles 7,500 foot of ascent race which was won again by Ann Curtis. 

 

We have now followed Christine from her school days where she competed for the school in four different sports and spent a lot of time on the hills with her family to the point where she was starting out on a career as a hill and mountain runner that would show her as a top class international athlete.   It is appropriate to look at some of the many challenges and races that she undertook during her 30+ year career in the sport.

 

The Scottish Island Peaks Race    Hill Runner 1986-89     To The Top:1990-99    From the Year 2000     Pictures