Ruth Kennedy

Ruth Kennedy

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1957-01-13) 13 January 1957 (age 68)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	400m
Club	Notts AC
Medal record Athletics Representing   England Commonwealth Games 1974 Christchurch 4 x 400m relay 1978 Edmonton 4 x 400m relay

Ruth Kennedy (married name Ruth Patten; born 1957), is a female former athlete who competed for England.

Biography

Kennedy lived at Flawforth Avenue in Ruddington, the daughter of Betty and Derek Kennedy. ^[1] She attended Brincliffe Grammar School.

Coached by Colin Rains, she was the first Nottinghamshire female track athlete to represent England, in 1973. ^[2] In August 1973, the team came second in the 1973 European Athletics Junior Championships in Germany.

When aged 17 and at the school, she represented England and was part of the gold medal team at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, running the second leg, handing the baton to Jannette Roscoe on Saturday 2 February 1974, in a games record. She received the medal from Prince Philip. ^[3] The gold medal winning women's 4 × 400 metres relay team was Kennedy, Roscoe, Sue Pettett and Verona Bernard. ^{[4] [5]}

On Sunday 8 September 1974 in European competition in Italy, the team came 6th. In the middle of her A-levels she was rushed to Nottingham General Hospital for an operation on her appendix. She took French and Latin A levels in hospital. She had been planning to attend the Midlands Championship at Warley, against East Germany. ^[6]

Ruth trained from one and half hours each night at the Harvey Hadden Stadium, with her friend Janette Roscoe. Janette and Colin Rains taught PE at Clifton College.(Trent Polytechnic), where Ruth wanted to study PE and French. She wanted to move up to 800m, as there were few British women at that distance. ^[7] She flew out to Athens on 19 August 1975, ^[8] where she picked up a bronze in the 1975 European Athletics Junior Championships. ^[9]

But in 1976 she had an illness and never made the Olympic team. She did however in July 1976, finish third behind Verona Elder in the 400 metres event at the 1976 WAAA Championships. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}

She represented Trent Polytechnic at the British Students Cross Country Championships. When at Trent Polytechnic, she competed at the World Student Games in Bulgaria, and came fifth. ^[14]

She played hockey for Trent Polytechnic. ^[15] She took part in the British Polytechnics Championships. ^[16]

When at Trent Polytechnic, she represented England and won a gold medal again in the women's 4 × 100 metres relay, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ^[17] The other team members were Joslyn Hoyte-Smith, Verona Elder and Donna Hartley. ^[18] In Canada, she shared a room with Donna Hartley. Whilst that was good for team spirit, Donna Hartley was married, and her husband Bill was an athlete at the Games. Donna, aged 23, was not allowed to share a room with her own husband. Carnal relations were not apparently allowed. Alan Wells, in the Scottish team, and his wife Margot Wells, were also not allowed to share a room together. But it was strict Commonwealth policy to keep male and female sleeping arrangements separate, after some Scottish male athletes had been found in the women's area. Marea Hartman was the British women team manager.

At the Nottingham Goose Fair on 5 October 1978, she had a serious accident, with her boyfriend. At hospital, she had to have two finger nails removed. ^[19] The operator, from Rochdale, was fined £800 at Nottingham magistrates in May 1979. ^[20]

She married David Patten, aged 23, of Cardiff, on 18 August 1979 at Ruddington and competed under her married name thereafter. ^[21] David had attended Trent Polytechnic.

References

1. Nottingham Evening Post Tuesday 5 February 1974, page 1
2. Nottingham Evening Post Friday 16 February 1973, page 32
3. Nottingham Evening Post Saturday 2 February 1974, page 14
4. "1974 Games". Team England.
5. "Athletes, 1974 England team". Team England.
6. Nottingham Evening Post Monday 9 June 1975, page 16
7. Nottingham Evening Post Monday 14 July 1975, page 15
8. Nottingham Evening Post Monday 18 August 1975, page 19
9. Nottingham Evening Post Tuesday 26 August 1975, page 18
10. "Super Andrea Powers Home" . Sunday Express. 22 August 1976. Retrieved 8 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Athletics" . Birmingham Daily Post. 23 August 1976. Retrieved 8 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
13. "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
14. Nottingham Evening Post Wednesday 24 August 1977, page 21
15. Nottingham Evening Post Saturday 8 October 1977, page 15
16. Nottingham Evening Post Friday 5 May 1978, page 37
17. "1978 Athletes". Team England.
18. "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
19. Nottingham Evening Post Friday 6 October 1978, page 1
20. Nottingham Evening Post Tuesday 22 May 1979, page 1
21. "Marriages". Free BMD. Retrieved 8 March 2025.