Helene Diamantides was a superb hill and fell runner, who loved the hills and relished all the challenges in and around the sport.   A Scottish internationalist she competed in the great events such as the Dragon’s Back in Wales, the Mount Cameroun in in Borneo, the 100 mile Super Hogger Marathon in Algeria, ran from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu along with Alison Wright, in addition to domestic events like the Island Peaks Race, the Karrimor Mountain Marathon and many of the various ’rounds’.   We really should have a look at her career.  

Wikipedia tells us that “Helene Diamantides was born in 1964 in North Yorkshire, but she spent most of her childhood outside England. She lived in Ghana and later in Greece where as a teenager she competed internationally in the pentathlon and her running ability was encouraged and developed. At sixteen, she completed her first marathon. In 1982 she moved to Durham to study for a degree in education. It was through the University of Durham’s running club that she first began fell running. Over the next five years she competed in various fell races, including the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon.”

Greece was of course the home of the marathon and, the one she ran at the age of 16.   She is quoted in the book “It’s a Hill, Get Over It” ( a great title for a book on the subject)  Written by Steve Chilton, it is one everybody interested in the events) as saying: “The school used to have a school marathon over the original course, and kids and staff used to do it.   I wanted to do it at 15 but my parents rightly said no.   They said if you train you can do it next year.   I trained with my PE teacher and did it with her.   It was miserable.   I can still remember how awful it felt.”   She had no idea apparently that you could run in the mountains – cross-country was off-road running and mountains were things that she saw on TV with the likes of Chris Bonnington climbing them using oxygen.   Then at Durham University at the age of 18 she was introduced to the fell-running club by Alison Wright.  They trained together and ran a decent Sheffield marathon as well as a few fell races.   

She tried orienteering but although she was more than strong enough for it, she knew it wasn’t her sport.   When she came to running fell running races,  she began with Kentmere.   She and Alison went orienteering in the morning and because Alison wanted to do the hill race, she just went with her.   Kentmere is described on the SiEntries website as follows.

Held in July each year it is a popular and well supported event.   And that, followed by Buttermere Sailbeck and the Three Peaks,  was her introduction to hill running.

Helene did not stop cross-country running though and in 1995, running for the Westerlands club she won the West District Championships at Clydebank from Elaine McBrinn of Shettleston and Lindsay Cairns of Kilmarnock and her team was third.