Eighty years ago, Florence Ilott achieved the impossible.
You may not have heard of Florence Ilott, but she was a big hit back in 1934. The almost-forgotten owner of a unique piece of London history, Florence has been back in the news recently thanks to the efforts of her grandson, Scott Pack. He took to Twitter recently to recount his grandmother’s achievement, and – well, we’ll just let Scott tell it.
I want to tell you about a remarkable woman that you almost certainly haven't heard of.
Her name is Florence Ilott and, in 1934, she became the first person to run across Westminster Bridge within the twelve chimes of Big Ben at noon. pic.twitter.com/16rbYSZtCD
— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) November 2, 2018
To put some numbers on that, that means running 353 metres in roughly 50 seconds. Also known as Bloody Fast. Step forward Florence Ilott, a member of the House of Commons staff, and a keen amateur runner.
Florence was an amateur sprinter and one of the MPs suggested she give it a go. So just before noon on April 14th 1934 she donned her running gear and awaited the first chime. pic.twitter.com/oGi3vj5E8R
— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) November 2, 2018
All of 20 years old, Florence lined up on the southern end of Westminster Bridge, aiming to do something that had never been done before. The buzz around the attempt meant several members of the press turned up, hoping for a story – and they certainly got one.
The event was recorded by reporters and photographers from the Associated Press, Daily Sketch and Evening Standard who saw her make it across the bridge by the tenth chime, becoming the first person to achieve the feat.
— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) November 2, 2018
Not only did Florence Ilott do the improbable, she did it even quicker than she needed to! Finishing by the tenth chime meant that she’d run the bridge in approximately 41 seconds. To put that in perspective, had she run another 47 metres, her 400 metre time would have been about 47 seconds. Staggeringly, that would put her less than a second off of the 400m world record at the time – Bill Carr’s 46.2 seconds, set at the 1932 Olympics – and not far off the modern record of 43.03. Make no mistake, Florence Ilott was lightning fast.
Here are some of the cuttings and pictures that were published at the time. pic.twitter.com/XctE6H4bdX
— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) November 2, 2018
The press went wild for her, and Florence became a minor celebrity at the time. She went on to have a glittering career as a sprinter, raised a family, and died in 2002 at the grand age of 88. Her family kept the newspaper cuttings, which Scott and his father sorted through. But there was one surprise left…
This is what we found. We had no idea this existed and we both watched it for the first time today.
THE ENDhttps://t.co/vDnGDecVD7
— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) November 2, 2018
Simply incredible. So the next time you wander over Westminster Bridge, take a little moment to remember the achievements of this remarkable woman.
You can read Scott’s full account of his grandmother’s race on his Twitter page.
Featured image: Scott Pack, via Twitter.