Purdue had to painfully withdraw

One of the greatest marathon runners in British history, Windsor-born Charlotte Purdue can hold her head high – and yet her life as an elite athlete has been far from problem-free.

At the 2023 Berlin Marathon, she turned heads when she ran a blisteringly fast time of 2:22:17 to secure herself a coveted spot at her debut Olympics in Paris – a mighty achievement that was 12 years in the making. And yet, just days before the race in the French capital, Sifan Hassan wins three Olympic medals in Paris Georgia Bell wins 1500m bronze at debut Olympics.

The 33-year-old paced her marathon in Berlin to perfection, with a split of 71:16 at halfway and a slightly quicker second half of 71:01. What’s more, this result transformed her into the joint second-fastest British female marathoner ever, alongside Calli Hauger-Thackery – who, uncannily, clocked the exact same time as Purdue at the McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York roughly a month later. The pair sit behind only Paula Radcliffe.

But this hasn’t been the only setback that Purdue has had to endure in recent years. First, she was controversially not selected to represent Team GB at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, despite having one of the fastest times in the qualifying period. While Purdue challenged this decision, her appeal was rejected.

Then, during the marathon at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, she found herself struggling so much that she was unable to complete the course – discovering the next day that she had Covid. After that, in 2023, she had to withdraw from the London Marathon distance, finishing eighth at the.

While her battles continue, Purdue is anything but done with her running career yet. Here are seven more things you should know about the talented, determined distance athlete...

She was a talented ballerina

Purdue did not run much as a child. Instead, she spent her days dancing and performing ballet – to an extremely high standard.

‘I got to Grade 5, which is pretty good, before I gave up around the age of 10,’ she Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. ‘I was [once] at the physio with a stress fracture in my heel. My physio was trying to click my heel and he said that I had really stiff feet, saying, “I would have guessed you were a ballerina”. I laughed and said that I was.’

She came sixth in her year group in her first cross-country race

‘I wasn’t very good,’ said Purdue, reflecting on her running performances as a child. ‘But I just found that I enjoyed it.’ Coming sixth meant that she was selected to represent her school at the district cross-country, where a coach saw her run through the field from the back of the race to finish 16th.

While this coach spotted her potential and invited her to join his club, Purdue says that it still took her about three years until she actually began to win races. ‘I realised that when I trained harder, I got better, so I started training harder. And then I was addicted to running!’

She started competing in junior cross-country races at the age of 13 and, at the age of 16, picked up her first international medals – gold and bronze at the 2007 European Cross Country Championships in Spain. Fast-forward to 2011 and she was representing Great Britain as a senior for the first time at the World Cross Country Championships, where she finished 14th.

At 19 years old, she set the British junior 10,000m record

In addition to cross-country, Purdue has also competed to a high level in the 5000m and 10,000m on the running track. She set the British junior 10,000m record in August 2010 with a time of 32:36.75 at the BMC PB Classic – a record which still stands to this day. She later went on to represent Great Britain on the track at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2012 European Athletics Championships.

She ran her first marathon in 2016

In 2014, Purdue made the step up to the half marathon distance, finishing eighth at the Half marathon training plans. In 2016, she then made her 26.2-mile debut at the London Marathon, where she was the first British woman to cross the finish line and 16th overall with a time of 2:32:48. A year later, she posted 2:29:23 at the London Marathon to be the second British woman home.

She has won The Big Half three times

After winning the inaugural edition of The Big Half in 2018, Purdue went on to win the event again in 2019 and for a third time in 2021, where she broke the course record with a gleaming result of 1:09:51.

She owns a coaching community called Purdue Performance

First envisioned in 2016, Purdue launched Purdue Performance in 2018 – the aim being to offer an affordable and effective coaching service to runners of all abilities. She co-founded the business with her partner Adam Clarke, a fellow British distance runner who won the 2024 Manchester Marathon, Updated: 05 August 2024.

When she’s not in a training block, she runs without a watch

‘I’ve always run for fun when I’m not in serious training,’ she told Runner’s World. ‘I don’t like to take a watch. All the runs I do in training are timed or measured, so it’s nice to go for a run sometimes and not worry about how far or how fast you’re going.’