Molly Butterworth: The England runner aiming to champion female athletes
“It’s insane!” - From ill-fitting kit to a dominance of male coaches, women runners face disparity and outdated ideas
Talented youngsters who drop out of the sport because they can’t find a bra that fits.
A world so dominated by male coaches that an England international runner wasn’t coached by a woman until she was 21.
Running kit which has such problematic sizing issues that female athletes cannot wear it.
It’s no wonder that when discussing the practical issues women runners have to deal with, coach and England 1,500m athlete, Molly Butterworth, has a striking summary: “It's absolutely insane.”
As someone who won bronze at the 2023 England Athletics Senior National Championship and lined up at the Indoor and Outdoor British Championships this year, as well as being a coach to athletes who run everything from 800m to the marathon, Molly knows what she is talking about.
But you if want more evidence, Sky Sports’ ‘Fit For Purpose?’ documentary features more than 20 interviews from elite female athletes, including the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katherine Grainger, talking about their struggles with sports kit.
And research carried out by Portsmouth University in 2020 found 75 per cent of British elite female athletes from Olympic and Paralympic sports had never had a sports bra fitted, with 26 per cent of them reporting that breast pain affected their ability to give their all in training or competition.
Meanwhile, academics at Loughborough University have been attempting to ensure female coaches are better represented in elite sport. Their endeavours come off-the-back of a study that showed female coaches made up between eight and 11% of Great Britain coaches at Olympics held between 2004 and 2016.
‘You didn't see female coaches. It wasn't something that happened’:
Molly is aiming to use her position as an elite athlete and a coach at PGC1-Coaching to champion women’s running, both by training female athletes at all levels and by addressing those issues currently plaguing the sport.
Founded in 2019 by Josh Schofield, a road, track and cross-country runner who himself competed for England at a junior level, PGC1 caters for athletes trying to run their first marathon all the way up to qualifying for the Commonwealth games.
Molly has taken the lead coaching female athletes at the club: “I want to focus on being really inspirational and guiding women into this sport because there's such a gap in terms of female coaches.
“It’s something that since becoming a coach I've noticed even more. When I was just an athlete, I didn't notice that gap as much because it was always there.
“When I started running at 12, you didn't see female coaches. It wasn't something that happened.”
Molly said she was 21 before she saw a woman employed as a coach in the sport, something she looks back on as “crazy”.
“It’s something that you don't think of,” Molly, who ran with Doncaster Athletics Club as a youngster, said. “I was so lucky growing up as I had the most incredible coach. He was absolutely wonderful and so supportive.
“Then I got to Leeds uni and it was the same, with no female coaches. It was only when I went to Leeds talent hub that they hired [former British middle and long-distance runner] Helen Clitheroe.”
Molly said not only was she in “absolute awe” at what Helen had achieved, but she was also suddenly able to talk to someone openly about all the things women athletes experience.
“As a woman, you experience sport and training in a very different way and sometimes that's quite hard to talk about.
“I'm very confident, I'm quite happy to talk about my cycle and things like that with men and women, but that isn't the case for everyone.
“And I know it can be a really difficult conversation, but it has such a big impact on your training and on the programming that needs to be done for you.”
Molly said all too often the ways a woman’s cycle effects their running isn’t even considered - but added it makes a huge difference to how athletes feel during their training.
She told Running Tales: “There are different parts in your cycle, during some of which you're much stronger because of the way your hormones are being produced.
“And then there are other times where your bones are a little bit more susceptible, so you feel as if, for example, you have shin splints, but it's actually just hormones.
“It's so different, but you don't think about it. You just think, ‘oh, I'm on my period, I can't do anything about it’.
“Something that I really try and do with my athletes is get them to open up with me. Obviously when they meet me, I'm a new person, they don't know me, and everything feels weird. But I really try and put time into that relationship, to say let me know and we'll do what's best for you in that cycle.
“Because I know what works best for me. Day one of my period, I cannot run. My body is so fatigued and run down. If I do, I end up getting sick, I end up getting ill and it just doesn't work.
“Whereas the week before I'm throwing weights around in the gym and running so fast I'm like, ‘oh my gosh, I'm basically an Olympian this week’. And that’s because of the way my hormones are - and people just don't know that.
“It’s about planning around where you are in your cycle. But again, it's not something that women know much about overall because people don’t talk about it.”
Ill-fitting vests and bras that don’t provide support - the life of a female runner:
Molly is planning to run a PGC1-Coaching retreat day for female athletes, where women can come and learn more about themselves and their bodies, as well as discussing practical issues such as running kit.
She said PGC1 had been on a journey itself when it comes to kit supply. Previously, sizing issues around their vests meant many women couldn’t wear them as the kit did not seem to come in big enough sizes.
“The sizing was just so off,” Molly said. “It was really unfair on our female runners because the men had all this incredible kit and we just couldn't produce the same for the women.
“A massive thing that we're doing at the minute is talking to kit providers and asking what they make for women that's going to be comfortable to run in, because that’s so important.
“Imagine if you have to run a marathon or half-marathon in something you aren’t comfortable in. You'd find it really hard, but as women we've all been there.”
It’s not just vest tops which aren’t always geared to female runners, with Molly pointing to the fact there are limited options around seemingly basic items such as bras.
“You'd be so surprised at what places provide and how limited the options are,” she said. “I've been really lucky to have met a cool lady years and years ago and she's basically running a company now that's making these really specific bras and they're going around to different companies and to schools to educate girls on how best to find a sports bra that fits them, to keep them in the sport.
“The difference in the dropout rate between girls and boys as they go through puberty is awful. I think about when I was growing up, and there were maybe eight girls in the group I was training with and by the time I was 16, there was just me.
“That's so, so sad. It's so upsetting, and part of the reason was that they just didn't feel comfortable. Young girls don't have the kit, they don't have the support that they need.”
Molly said that not only do women runners have trouble finding the kit they need, when they do it is often exorbitantly expensive.
“When you can find the good kit, it's so far out of anyone's price range, you can't get enough of it to do a full training week,” she said.
“I’m probably not training like the average person - we’re training eight or nine times a week, so that’s a big rotation, but even if you're going out for three runs, you want to be able to have, every time, a clean sports bra and a clean t-shirt that fit and don’t chafe or give you any discomfort or even bruising.”
How gaining a social media platform boosted Molly’s Olympic dream:
These days, Molly is passionate about all things running, but initially she took some persuading to take part in the sport.
As a child, her first love was swimming. It was only after watching a film about cross-country running that she started to take an interest in running.
Before long, she was taking part in the South Yorkshire schools’ cross-country, prompting watchers to wonder who the girl they’d never seen at the track was. By 13, she had joined Doncaster Athletics Club.
“I had started going to the track and I just fell in love with running,” she said. “It was for really silly reasons at first - I didn't have to dry my hair after every session and I didn't stink of chlorine.
“It wasn’t as if I thought I could be any good at it. I didn’t realise I had any talent in the sport.”
But before long Molly’s ability was clear to anyone who was watching. Throughout university, she continued to run, inspired by the likes of Olympic finalist Alex Bell, who was also training in Leeds.
“I didn't know if I could make a career out of running,” Molly said. “But I was very lucky that in Leeds, the performance atmosphere is so high and seeing the likes of Alex Bell at the track was just ridiculous because they were real people and were really nice and very inspiring.
“I started to think, ‘this could be something’. You just have to decide if you're going to give it everything or not.”
Molly’s biggest achievement to date was that third place finish at last year’s England championships, but the 25-year-old retains ambitions to reach the Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
She said: “For the next 12 months, it's about making an impact. I want to be in those big races. I want to be pushing for the front. I want to be making finals.
“In the British champs, I didn't make the final this year, and obviously the quality was much higher because it was the Olympic trial but just being there was incredible.
“I was nowhere near being ready for that step then, but I want to spend the next 12 months getting into those races and making an impact, being the one that is pushing on the pace and having the confidence to take it on.
“And then working towards those longer-term goals of trying to go to the Commonwealth or the Olympics or Europeans or a World event. I really want to try and get that GB vest under my belt.”
One aspect of her life that has given Molly increased hope of achieving those dreams is moving from a desk-based work environment into coaching. It is a change that has allowed her to prioritise her rest and nutrition, as well as structuring her week around training rather than a 9-5 job.
But it wasn’t a move she deliberately planned. Like so many people, Molly’s route into her new career began with the setback of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
With extra free time on her hands, she launched an Instagram account which immediately proved hugely popular.
“Within two months, I had maybe 10,000-ish followers,” she said, “and I was so out of my depth.
“I hadn't planned it. I’d just wanted something to do in lockdown.
“I know a lot of people took up running but I already did that, so I needed something else to fill my time.”
Before long, she was getting offers to become a personal trainer. The power of her social media success continued to pay dividends as Molly combined running social accounts with coaching work.
And it was a role as Head of Social Media and Marketing that initially took her to PGC1-Coaching. Molly still holds that position, but she soon started coaching as well, quickly coming to enjoy the group’s ethos of working hard to improve athletes of all abilities.
‘Slow running doesn’t exist - you’re a runner, an athlete’:
Molly said one of the things she really loves about working at PGC1 is how it fosters inclusivity.
“It’s for anyone who wants to improve and has running goals,” she said.
Molly told Running Tales that the first thing many new clients will tell her is that they are a ‘slow runner’ and that she, therefore, won’t be able to help them much.
It is an idea she rails against: “Slow running just doesn't exist. You’re not a slow runner, you're an athlete, you're a runner.
“And whatever your goals are, you can get there. But if you define yourself as one thing, that is where you're gonna sit.
“A big thing that we work with is pushing people out of that mindset. It’s about going from ‘I'm slow’ to, ‘well, what's your goal’?”
Molly said once that mindset change is made, that’s when the magic can happen - with hard work.
PGC1 has coaches all over the UK, as well as internationally. Part of its ethos is to build a community of runners, both in-person and virtually.
While regular track sessions take place in Daventry on Wednesday evenings, the role of group chats is just as important.
Molly said: “We assign the track sessions virtually as well, so people can sync them to their watch. It builds that community feel.
“The group chat allows everyone to put in their thoughts and their feelings about the session. It's really nice because you go to the group races and I have people who can't make it to a workout on Wednesday because they live in London, but they feel like they know the group when they go to the team races.
“At events, we have a host of PGC1 athletes all wearing our kit and it’s a really nice environment.”
If Molly has anything to do it with it, this inclusive, encouraging environment could just become one that not only enables girls and women to embrace running but helps one particular female athlete achieve her Olympic goal.
Find out more about PGC1-Coaching:
Founded in 2019, PGC1-Coaching provides expert bespoke training plans for endurance athletes from professional coaches with a deep understanding of the science and art behind endurance running.
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