Katharine Ford

Last updated

Katharine Ford is a multi record-breaking British ultracyclist, Epilepsy campaigner and Non Executive Director in the sport industry.

Contents

Personal life

Born in Glasgow in 1986, Aged 9, Katharine was diagnosed with Right Temporal-lobe Epilepsy, before undergoing major transformative brain surgery five years later at the Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Sick Children. [1]

In 2012, she was nominated to carry the Olympic flame, which she did on 26 July 2012 in Camden. Her nomination was for her achievement in cycling and in raising epilepsy awareness. [2] [3]

Ultra Cycling

To date Katharine is still the youngest British female and first ever Scot to officially complete the Race Across America, [4] across all its categories, in her 4 lady team, aged 22 years and 2 months while still an Undergraduate student at Durham University.

In March 2017, she became the British record holder and holder of the second greatest distance ridden by a female on a Static Cycle (340.4 km), in accordance with Guinness World Record rules in 12 hours. [5]

In July 2017, she became the first ever Briton to attempt to ride 12 Hours or more solo on an Indoor Velodrome and became the World Ultra Cycling Association Indoor Track Cycling world record holder across the 6 Hour, 100 km, 200 km & 300 km disciplines respectively. The ride raised comfortably over £23,000 for British charities, Epilepsy Action and the Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity. [6]

Career

Ford is currently an Independent Director of the Team Scotland Youth Trust, Commonwealth Games Scotland's official charity. [7]

Following the slate of elections in 2020 and with Nancy Guth finishing her term, Ford was at during Jan 2021-21, the only female serving on the Board of Directors of the World Ultra Cycling Association. In January 2021, she was appointed as the organisation's first female Vice President in its 42-year history, the year after, she became the first female to lead the sport in the history of Ultracycling as WUCA's President. [8]

She was appointed to the Board of Advisors in Scotland, of community grassroots sport charity Sported, in winter 2020.

She is former a Non-Executive Director of London disability sport organisation Interactive, London's body for disabled sport which became part of Sport London, [9] and the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust in London, which regenerated the last surviving finals venue from the 1948 London Olympics. [10]

Epilepsy Advocacy

Katharine is an ambassador for the Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital Charity, following work with the hospital over a number of years after she had been a patient in its neurology ward as a child. Following carrying the Olympic flame, she gifted her torch, to be held in trust in the hospital's neurology ward [11] [12] [13] where it is used as a milestone for patients recovering from brain and spinal injuries to relearn to walk.

She has been heavily involved in awareness raising campaigns for epilepsy in the UK, including proving information on first aid [14] for the condition and as an ambassador and using her trademark purple colours when riding her bike.

She had been a blogger for epilepsy awareness, through her blog The Diary of an Epileptic Ultra Cyclist for over eight years, [15] also writing content for Young Epilepsy as a guest blogger about cycling. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Leung</span> Scottish actress (born 1987)

Katie Liu Leung is a Scottish actress. Initially famous for playing Cho Chang, the titular character's first love interest in the Harry Potter film series, she is also known for her roles as Caitlyn in the animated series Arcane and Ash in the sci-fi series The Peripheral. In 2012, Leung made her stage debut in the play Wild Swans, and has since appeared in many other stage productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Hoy</span> British cyclist

Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Cycling</span> Governing body for cycle sport in Scotland

Scottish Cycling, legally the Scottish Cyclists' Union (SCU), is the governing body for cycle sport in Scotland and is part of British Cycling, the national governing body in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Hopkins</span> English media personality (born 1975)

Katie Olivia Hopkins is an English media personality, columnist, far-right political commentator, and former businesswoman. She was a contestant on the third series of The Apprentice in 2007; following further appearances in the media, she became a columnist for British national newspapers, including The Sun (2013–2015) and MailOnline (2015–2017). In 2015, she hosted her own television talk show If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World, and appeared on the fifteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother, finishing as runner-up. The following year, Hopkins became a presenter for the talk radio station LBC and underwent major brain surgery to treat her epilepsy. In 2021, she joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Prankerd</span> Welsh cyclist

Catherine Rachel "Katie" Prankerd is a Welsh former professional road and track cyclist.

Ellen Hunter is a Welsh competitive cyclist and tandem pilot for Aileen McGlynn at Paralympic events.

Margaret Anne Ford, Baroness Ford OBE FRSE is a Scottish business woman and non-aligned British peer. She was appointed by Tony Blair as a Labour Peer in 2006, but resigned the Labour Whip in 2009 and now sits as a Crossbencher. She is Chair of New River REIT plc and Chair of Deloitte UK Audit Governance Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Spotz</span> American adventurer (born 1987)

Katie Spotz FitzGerald is an American adventurer who became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, departing from Dakar, Senegal on January 3, 2010, and landing in Guyana on March 14, 2010. She was the first person to have swum the entire length of the Allegheny River in New York state and Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh</span> Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children was a hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. Locally, it was commonly referred to simply as the "Sick Kids". The hospital provided emergency care for children from birth to their 13th birthday, including a specialist Accident and Emergency facility. Some in-patient specialties saw children up to their 16th birthday. The hospital was located on Sciennes Road in the Sciennes area of Edinburgh's South Side and was managed by NHS Lothian. It moved in 2021 to the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Little France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Kenny</span> British cyclist

Dame Laura Rebecca Kenny, Lady Kenny is a British track and road cyclist who specialises in track endurance events, specifically the team pursuit, omnium, scratch race, elimination race and madison disciplines. With six Olympic medals, having won both the team pursuit and the omnium at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and madison at the 2020 Olympics, along with a silver medal from the team pursuit at the 2020 Olympics, she is both the most successful female cyclist, and the most successful British female athlete, in Olympic history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliana Buhring</span>

Juliana Buhring is a British-German ultra-endurance cyclist and writer. In December 2012, she set the first Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike, riding over 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) in a total time of 152 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Archibald</span> Scottish racing cyclist

Katie Archibald, is an elite Scottish and British racing cyclist, specialising in endurance track cycling events in which she represents Great Britain and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billie Fleming</span> British cyclist (1914-2014)

Lilian Irene Bartram known as Billie Fleming and Billie Dovey, was a long-distance cyclist who set the woman's record for greatest distance cycled in a year in 1938 at 29,603.7 miles (47,642.5 km). At the time of her death in 2014 she continued to receive letters from people saying how much she inspired them to cycle; her record still stood until 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Hall (cyclist)</span> British sport cyclist

Michael Richard Hall was a British cyclist and race organiser who specialised in self-supported ultra-distance cycling races. In 2012, he won the inaugural World Cycle Race. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Tour Divide ultra-endurance mountain bike race across the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States. In 2014, he won the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race, a road-based event from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast in the United States. From 2013, he was the principal organiser of the Transcontinental Race, an event similar to the TransAm Bicycle Race, but that traverses Europe. Michael Hall was also featured in the cycling film Inspired to Ride a film directed by Mike Dion.

The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running or in ultra-triathlon. Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is 100 miles (160 km), is sometimes considered to be ultra-distance cycling. However, such events are relatively common, so using a longer distance to define the category is more useful, such as any race or ride that is longer than 200 kilometres (120 mi), 300 kilometres (190 mi) or even a double century, 200 miles (320 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neah Evans</span> Scottish cyclist

Neah Evans is a Scottish professional racing cyclist who rode for Podium Ambition Pro Cycling. In June 2021, Evans was selected as part of Team GB's cycling squad for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she won a silver medal in the team pursuit event. In 2022, she won a gold medal in the points race at the Track Cycling World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Hospital for Children and Young People</span> Hospital in Scotland

The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People is a hospital that specialises in paediatric healthcare. The hospital replaced the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Sciennes. It forms part of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh campus in the Edinburgh BioQuarter at Little France, Edinburgh. The facility provides care for children and young people from birth to around 16 years of age and is managed by NHS Lothian.

<i>Mortuary Chapel, Royal Hospital for Sick Children</i> Building in Edinburgh

The Mortuary Chapel of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh is a late nineteenth-century chapel, designed by the Scottish architect George Washington Browne, with mural decorations by the Arts and Crafts artist Phoebe Anna Traquair. The chapel is designated as a "Category A" listed building by Historic Scotland. The murals are Phoebe Traquair's first professional commission, and the sole survivor of around 20 commissions instigated by Patrick Geddes' Edinburgh Social Union. They were described in 1887 as "the most important and memorable portion of the art of the Social Union" and in an August 1891 letter to her nephew, Traquair says "I myself believe that in some ways I shall never do better or maybe as well."

Jessie Lennox (1830-1933) was a British nurse, trained at Florence Nightingale's school of nursing. She is also known for accompanying the writer Anna Mackenzie and Mary Livingstone, wife of David Livingstone, when they travelled to Africa to find him in 1862.

References

  1. ↑ "Ultra-cyclist Katie Ford owes success to Sick Kids".
  2. ↑ "Spotlight on Camden torchbearer Katharine Ford". Love Camden. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ultra-cyclist Katie overcomes epilepsy to conquer America".
  4. ↑ "UltraMarathon Cycling Association". Ultracycling.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Cycling World Record Attempt - Scottish Cycling, Running & Outdoor Pursuits Show".
  6. ↑ "Individual Records | World Ultracycling Association".
  7. ↑ mtc. "TSYT Board". Team Scotland. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Facebook Groups". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to Interactive Trustees". Interactive.uk.net. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "£400K More Funding for Herne Hill". Britishcycling.org.uk. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  11. ↑ @ultracyclist44 (14 July 2015). "@EdinSickKids @_velotec Just 2 of a team of amazing nurses and an inspirational young woman called Becky. #Ward7" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ "Ultra-cyclist Katie Ford owes success to Sick Kids". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Hislop, John (16 August 2012). "Olympic Torch arrives at Edinburgh's Sick Kids' Hospital". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  14. ↑ How to help someone having an epileptic fit , retrieved 9 January 2021
  15. ↑ "The Diary of an Epileptic Ultra Cyclist". cyclingwithepilepsy.blogspot.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  16. ↑ Usher, Graeme. "Katie Ford | Guest bloggers | Share your story | For young people". Young Epilepsy. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.