Ruth Christmas
{{short description|British middle-distance runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Ruth Christmas
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = British (English)
| sport = Athletics
| event = middle-distance
| club = London Olympiades AC
| birth_date = 12 November 1904
| birth_place = Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
| death_date = 2 April 2001 (aged 86)
| death_place = Chelmsford, Essex, England
| height =
| weight =
| pb =
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}}
Ruth Lillian Christmas (12 November 1904 – 2 April 2001) was a British middle-distance runner.
Biography
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,{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19290714/436/0022 |title=Records by Women |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=14 July 1929 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 December 2024 }} and began competing internationally, recording impressive results.Adrianne Blue, "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/may/16/guardianobituaries Obituary: Ruth Christmas]", The Guardian, 16 May 2001
Christmas finished second behind Gladys Lunn in the half-mile event at the 1930 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000649/19300818/013/0013 |title=Women Athletes |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=18 August 1930 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 January 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=23 January 2025 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=23 January 2025 }} 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.Cross-Country Running, The Times, 23 February 1931 Her result in 1931 contributed to a team victory for her club London Olympiades. 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.Women's Championship - London Girl's Plucky Race, The Manchester Guardian, 22 February 1932 She once again finished second behind Gladys Lunn in the 880 yards event at the 1931 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19310712/256/0019 |title=Women Set Up new Records |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=12 July 1931 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 January 2025 }}
In the mile, Christmas recorded a possible world record time of 5:27.5 in 1932."[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1317726/Ruth-Christmas.html Obituary: Ruth Christmas]", Daily Telegraph, 30 April 2001
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.Cross-Country Running, The Times, 6 March 1933 Christmas finished six seconds behind Styles in the nationals, held in waterlogged conditions at Warwick Racecourse.
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003359/19330716/304/0016 |title=Records go by the board |work=Weekly Dispatch (London) |date=16 July 1933 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 January 2025 }} 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, and she retired from athletics. Author and playwright Simon Raven is her nephew.
References
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Category:English female middle-distance runners
Category:British female middle-distance runners
Category:English emigrants to France
Category:French female middle-distance runners
Category:Sportspeople from Cambridge