Ros Evans (née Coats, 17 January 1950Sports Reference: Ros Coats. – 31 August 2024) was a British athlete who competed in fell running, orienteering, ski-orienteering and cross-country skiing. She was also mother to British track cyclist, Neah Evans.
Life Evans was born at Langbank, Renfrewshire. Her first outdoor pursuits were mountaineering and rock climbing. In order to improve her fitness for these activities, she began running in 1976 while at Jordanhill College where she underwent teacher training. She also began orienteering at around the same time.Bill Smith, Stud Marks on the Summits (Preston, 1985), 473–74.
As a runner, Evans won the British Fell Running Championships in 1979 and 1981,Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 329–30. and in 1979, she set a ladies’ record for the Bob Graham Round with a time of 20:31.Steve Chilton, The Round: In Bob Graham's Footsteps (Dingwall, 2015). She has won the Ben Nevis Race seven times, more than any other woman.ARRS: Ben Nevis. Among her other fell race victories were Ben Lomond, the Langdale Horseshoe, Sedbergh Hills, Borrowdale, the Fairfield Horseshoe, the Kentmere Horseshoe, Pendle, and the Snowdon Race.Bill Smith, Stud Marks on the Summits (Preston, 1985), 473–74. She still holds the female record for the Cow Hill Race from Fort William.Scottish Hill Racing: Cow Hill Race.
Evans was a Scottish Orienteering Champion"Sarajevo – Another Peak in Life of Ros", Glasgow Herald, 14 Jan 1984. and represented Great Britain in the World Orienteering Championships in 1985."Orienteering", Glasgow Herald, 15 Jul 1985; World Orienteering Championships 1985. She was a winner of the navigational Lake District Mountain Trial and, together with Anne-Marie Grindley, was in the first female team to complete the elite course of the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon.Richard Askwith, Feet in the Clouds (London, 2004), 292.
Evans competed in the World Ski Orienteering Championships"Sarajevo – Another Peak in Life of Ros", Glasgow Herald, 14 Jan 1984. and was selected to represent Great Britain in cross-country skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics where she participated in the 5 km, 10 km, 20 km and 4 x 5 km relay events.Sarajevo Olympic Winter Games Official Report.
She died on 31 August 2024.Ben Nevis Race: The Sad Loss of One of Our Own.
Private life Evans lived in Aberdeenshire with her husband, Malcolm Evans. One of their three children is Neah Evans who is a track cyclist and Olympian.David Rosen, "Ros Evans (née Coats), 1950–2024," The Fellrunner, Autumn 2024, 70.
References
External links Original Mountain Marathon on YouTube: 1985 KIMM showing Ros Evans