Tracy Barlow (runner)

Tracy Barlow (born 18 June 1985) is a British long distance runner.[1] She has represented Great Britain in the marathon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and 2018 European Athletics Championships.[2] Her marathon best of 2:30:42, set in 2017, ranks her in the UK all-time top 25.[3]

Tracy Barlow
Barlow at the 2017 London Marathon
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1985-06-18) 18 June 1985
Sport
SportLong-distance running
Event(s)Marathon

Barlow did not have a strong background in track and field in her youth and mainly took part in sprinting events at school.[4] She only began taking part in club distance running competitions with Thames Valley Harriers in 2008 at the age of 23. She entered the Run to the Beat half marathon in 2010 and ranked in the top 400. She completed her first marathon at the 2011 London Marathon, finishing in 3:52:59 hours and placing 1402nd in the mass race. She steadily improved in 2012, running 3:27:18 hours at the 2012 London Marathon then 3:17:45 at the 2012 Amsterdam Marathon.

A sub-three hour clocking at the 2013 London Marathon saw her place in the top 50 women in the mass race.[5] She began working with coach Nick Anderson in order to improve further and she subsequently dropped her best to 2:54:13 hours at the 2014 London Marathon (placing 27th in the women's mass race) and finished 18th at the 2014 Berlin Marathon with a run of 2:51:29.[5][6]

Barlow worked full-time as a nurse during her early running career, later moving into receptionist and office administration work to enable her to train more effectively.[6] She established herself as an elite level runner in 2015. At the 2015 London Marathon she ran 2:39:56 to place fourth in the mass race (and 22nd among all women). She then knocked a minute off her best at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon with a run of 2:38:49 for 13th place. A stand-out performance of 2:33:20 to win the women's mass race at the 2016 London Marathon meant she was four minutes clear of any other woman in the mass race, and faster than Olympians Freya Ross and René Kalmer had run in the elite race.[7][8][9]

She reduced her office work to part-time in January 2017 before turning fully professional as a runner at age 31 in March.[6] The change proved successful as she placed 16th in the elite race of the 2017 London Marathon, setting a personal best of 2:30:42 and gaining selection for the 2017 World Championships in Athletics as Britain's third fastest woman (behind Charlotte Purdue and Alyson Dixon).[6] At the World Championships race held in London, she finished 43rd in her international debut.[10] The following year she placed ninth at the 2018 London Marathon and represented Great Britain at the 2018 European Athletics Championships, taking 15th place in a time of 2:35:00 and leading the British women to fourth in the team competition.[11] She fell down the rankings at the 2019 London Marathon, running 2:36:26 for 19th place (fourth fastest Briton).[12]

Marathon record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  Great Britain
2011 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 1402nd 3:52:59^
2012 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 571st 3:27:18^
Amsterdam Marathon Amsterdam, Netherlands 54th 3:17:45^
2013 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 68th 2:59:53^
2014 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 41st 2:54:13^
Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 18th 2:51:29
2015 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 24th 2:40:02
Toronto Waterfront Marathon Toronto, Canada 13th 2:38:51
2016 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 17th 2:33:20
Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany 9th 2:32:05
2017 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 16th 2:30:42
World Championships London, United Kingdom 43rd 2:41:03
2018 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 9th 2:32:09
European Championships Berlin, Germany 15th 2:35:00
2019 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 19th 2:36:26
2020 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 15th 2:34:42

^ Chip time

References
  1. "Tracy Barlow". IAAF. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  2. "Marathon women". IAAF. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  3. "Marathon Women Overall All-time". Power of 10. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  4. Tracy Barlow talks training and rise to the top. Fast Running (2018-10-05). Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  5. Tracy Barlow. Power of 10. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  6. Henderson, Jason (2017-06-04). Barlow’s journey from sprinter to GB marathoner. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  7. SPRINTING TO THE TOP. Pockets Mag. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  8. Men Results. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  9. Women Results. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  10. Crumley, Euan (2017-08-06). Rose Chelimo takes marathon gold as Aly Dixon wins the crowd in London. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  11. Tracy Barlow best of British marathoners in Berlin. Fast Running (2018-08-12). Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  12. London Marathon Women — Slow Kosgei Start, Then…!. Track and Field News (2019-05-02). Retrieved 2020-05-02.
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