Chris McKenzie
Chris representing PAL (Police Activity League) at a race.
Chris McKenzie was born in London in 1931; her earliest memories are marked by the German bombings of World War II. She was diagnosed at a young age with a serious bone infection that required her to wear a brace. While she was recovering, she had the good fortune to meet a famed runner named Anne Stone, who helped her recover, encouraged her to get into running and, eventually, became her coach. In the 1920s, Anne had twice been second in the 400m at the British Championships. She had not been part of the infamous 1928 Olympic 800 meters due to the British not sending a women’s team in protest over how few women’s events there were on the program.
Chris improved little by little and after three years, no longer needed to wear braces. She joined a club team, Mitchum AC, and was selected to represent County Surrey in a cross-country meet over Christmas break, 1947, in Scotland. Others had declined due to travel and the holiday.
“So we all started off and everything. And then the next thing I think to myself, those girls are so far in front of me, you know. And I went up the hill and down it through a stream and everybody's waiting with a stepping stone, you know, but I thought, well, it's not all that deep. I run through the water and everything up the hill again and then down again,” she said. After the race, she was surprised to be awarded a ribbon, only to find out that she had won the race. “There’re so many people who need to make sure that they want something instead of stepping back. I always stepped forward” she said.
3 x 880 yard women’s world recold holders (l-R): Chris, Diane Leather and Norah Smalley.
When she returned home, she rushed to show her medal to Anne, only to learn that Anne had passed away from cancer the night before. Anne had never shared that she was battling the disease.
In 1953, Chris was invited to run a 3 x 880 relay, a special event at the Britain vs. France dual meet, for a crack at the women’s world record. She was part of the “B” team that was intended to rabbit for the “A” team. Her team ended up taking first with a world-record time, 6:49.0. The official splits: Norah Smalley 2:18.5 on the lead-off, Chris 2:16.1 running second, and Diane Leather closing with a 2:14.4 anchor.
After the race, over the loudspeaker, the splits were announced. A man, Gordon Mckenzie, on the other side of the fence, yelled out that the announcer had the splits incorrect. Chris asked, “Are you an American? Because they always knew everything.”
At the awards dinner that night, the secretary of the British Athletics Board, Jack Crump, came up to Chris and apologized, saying her split time announced at the meet was incorrect. He informed her it had been corrected to 2:10.2—the time Gordon had given her. Soon after, Chris and Gordan became pen pals. Gordon was a two-time Olympian and had a passion for track and field. For two years, the two corresponded.
Gordan and Chris running by Yankee Stadium
Having no one else to tell about a called off engagement with her previous fiancée, David, who told her “I can't wait till we get married. Because then you can hang up your running shoes,” she wrote Gordon. He showed up on Christmas day in England to win her over and he did. Chris and Gordon came to America in March 1955, and got married seven months later in a church wedding in the Bronx.
The running culture in America was different; women were only allowed to race up to 220 yards. Chris was frustrated with the situation, often sneaking into and racing in the men’s races because her gender-neutral name allowed her to register. She and Delores Dwyer, a 1952 Helsinki Olympian, soon schemed to interrupt a closed-door meeting of the AAU. Once in the meeting, Chris took the microphone and asked why she could not race the quarter-mile or half-mile. The committee listed a litany of reasons.
“I pulled down my trousers. There's my shorts underneath it. And I took off my top [revealing a sports bra] and I said, ‘would you call me masculine?’” she said. The committee did not budge on their stance and Chris and Delores stormed out. However, the event must have stuck in the committee’s minds for at the 1958 AAU women’s outdoor nationals, women were allowed to race the 440 and 880 in an exhibition. Chris won the 440 in 61.6 while placing third in the 880.
Chris and family at an event honoring her service and ongoing commitment to the GNPAL track and field program.
In 1960, after receiving her U.S. citizenship, she was able to race the 800 in the women’s Olympic trials. She fell in the 800, in a collision, and finished far back. That wasn’t the end—Chris continued to push for equality. She retired from competition in 1964 and won many national Masters’ titles. She was involved in PAL (Police Activity League) and continued to coach into her 80s.
It wasn't always easy, but as her daughter Tina Bickerstaff tells it, the challenge led Chris to thrive. "The adversity of the society and the adversity of her family not being supportive of her choices fueled some of the determination and the obstinance when it came to being successful," Tina said.
Gabby Conlin is an oral historian, librarian and is a freelance content writer.
Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka is a longtime supporter of women’s running and is part of the leadership team for Starting Line 1928. She is currently an assistant scholarly professor at Washington State University in the Murrow College of Communication. You can find her (very) online @carabyrd.
If you would like to read more on Chris’s story, Marc Bloom published a three part feature story in 2017: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
