Hello Tilly, can you quickly introduce yourself?
If you had asked me this time last year what I do, I might have given you a list and gone on to undermine everything on it. But after the year we have had, with a new outlook and understanding of my place in the world and our future, I am ready to claim that list. So here goes!!!!! I am 22 and a runner from day one. Running has since enabled me to become a chemistry student, an artist, a dancer, a writer, a collaborator, work in progress, scared about the state of the world, anxious about climate change, horrified by the way we treat each other, angry about inequality, patriarchy, misogyny, capitalism, and governance. But also, hopeful that we will listen to the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Greta Thunberg, Adwoa Aboah, and all her Gurls (https://gurlstalk.libsyn.com) to stand up, take action, and rally for change.
How did you start running?
In the school playground, I would chase and catch the boys for my friends to kiss!
Is running helping you in your chemistry studies?
Running provides me with structure, distraction, friendships, goals, achievement, an excuse to get out, something to look forward to, a place to channel stress, energy, anxiety, and confusion, a clean break a switch of the brain, and at the end of all that, a huge fucking high. In that way, running most definitely helps with my chemistry degree. It must be a priority as I know without it, a lab or project would not happen (not to mention general everyday function and ability, ha).
Is chemistry helping you in your training? We are not talking about doping here!
I'm better at getting things done when I have a lot of things to do! Kind of like achieving individual reps within a training session, my degree provides me with small but frequent finish lines, even if that's just finishing a lecture (HUGE) or a section (a sentence will do) of a piece of coursework: little feelings of achievement that I then try to back up with more on the track.
What is your favorite distance? Your best race memory?
I organized a team to participate in a virtual ultra-relay that took place in September 2020. Eight women, three cities, 32 hours of running. A team that inspires me in running and life, which uplifts and shows up, demonstrates that women must be seen, heard, and encouraged to lead in this magic we call running culture and beyond.
Any great sports challenge out there you would like to achieve one day?
There is a charity called The Red Hen Project in my hometown. They support vulnerable children and families and work with schools to keep children safe and in education. For my 23rd Birthday in March this year, I am inviting friends to run 23km and donate £23 to The Red Hen Project to celebrate and support me. Join us! https://redhenproject.enthuse.com/pf/tilly-gw
We read this sentence on your Instagram "WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FINISH?” Is that a feeling you often get when running?
Ha, yes those are my words. I spent 8 weeks training for the Philadelphia Marathon when I moved to New York in September 2019. Prior to which, I had endured a childhood and adolescence of sprints training: sessions that incorporated reps and recoveries. Competitions where I participated in up to 3 different races. Championships with heats, perhaps a semi final, and if I was lucky, a final too. This explains a background of multiple finish lines: reached within one minute. So yes, after 3 hours and 28 minutes of constant movement. Of pacing. Of elation and surprise and reliance on my trusty legs. I felt I deserved to know: where the fuck is the finish?
Thanks a lot for your words! Anyone cool to suggest to us for our next portraits?
Thank you for the invitation! Would love to hear from my laaadiiieeszzzzz!!!
Amanda Ke
Dominique Froud
Dora Atim
Gabriella Kelly
Helen Wu
Kristina Theo
Meera Joshi
Ocean Lewis
Uniform
Up at 6 to train
Laps at dawn
Reps come down as the sun comes up
And so do the birds
Flapping about in concordance to our position on the track
On to a day in the lab
It feels momentous to be back in a lab coat and goggles
A wave of anxiety has taken me each time I have considered my return to uni + chemistry
Twisted with past people and past selves
Thinking of my 8 months in New York
So far away from my degree
I felt true and right in myself
In control of my lack of control
Running laps of prospect park before sunrise with my ladies
Then 6 months at home
Making and creating
In colour, line and shadow
Acting on an impulse to try new again and again In a time none of us imagined
I’m still making, creating, seeing the colour, line and shadows that inspire me A new setting
But the same lil til (big nyc? lil til big____)
True
I feel ok I am ok!