Published:
20th January 2021
Peggy Crome, 77 from Devon, first represented Great Britain in 1986 at the European Championships in Milton Keynes, competing internationally 42 times and winning 16 gold medals since.
“By the beginning of the eighties, I’d brought up two children on my own and wanted to get back to being physically active,” she said. “Having smoked over 20 years I couldn’t run 100 metres without stopping for a rest, so decided to give up the cigarettes and start jogging.
“Giving up smoking was the hardest thing I’ve done but it was worth it. I challenged myself to quit and run two miles without stopping and achieved it, but that was just the beginning for me.”