Leslie Mary Broadfoot Watson (February 4, 1945 - January 1, 2024) was a British long-distance runner, physiotherapist, and powerlifter.
Watson was born in Glasgow, Scotland and was the only child to her father, a doctor for the British Army, and her mother, a dancer specializing in Russian Cossack dancing.
[5] Watson joined the Ladies with a friend, and later described herself as one of the "scrubbers": runners with little natural athletic talent who succeed by hard training.
In the 1960s Watson studied at Glasgow University to qualify as a physiotherapist, and moved to London in 1970 to work at the National Health Service.
[7] Diane Leather and Sue Platt were two Olympiades members who had recently been to the Summer Olympics at this time, and the club sent winning teams to the English National Championships Senior Women division in 1959, 1961, and 1962.
The first women's marathon in the U.K. happened October 19, 1975 when the Masters and Maidens race was held: even then, it was unofficial and did not receive a permit from the Amateur Athletic Association or the WAAA.
[9] Watson later recalled: "I went out the night before the race and had lots of bad red wine and then on the way down I was eating chocolate and popcorn.
Watson and four other women (Ruth Anderson, Lydia Kirk, Lyn Billington, and unknown) entered the 54-mile London to Brighton ultramarathon, which had an 8-hour, 23 minute time limit.
The next year, the race hosts supported an official women's London to Brighton ultramarathon, and Watson returned to claim first again.
Magazine interviews focused on objectification and how her looks impacted male runners, and she was nicknamed the "glamour girl of marathons".
[1][2][4] In addition to the comments of outsiders, Watson repeatedly mentioned her personal expectations about weight loss and diet during interviews over her career.
[3] Over the same period, Watson began dating Bernard "Budgie" Mullen, a powerlifter who she had helped with extensive physical therapy after his 1993 motorcycle accident.