From The Sunday Times, January 7 2001
The world hill-running champion is in line for another honour, but she will not shout it from the mountains. By Simon Buckland
Fun runner: Mudge claims to do her sport for the love of it
OPERATION Mudge began in earnest a month ago. There have still been no sightings, but we can report contact. When Angela Mudge, the world hill-running champion, called in reply to an e-mail, it was from New Zealand. She left a number, which turned out to be a phone box which did not receive incoming calls.
There will always be those who seek fame, but few are actually sought out to have it offered to them. On January 16, at the Albert Hall, Mudge's name will be listed among the élite. She is nominated in the second World Sports Awards, to be judged by a panel chaired by Juan Antonio Samaranch, and including Muhammad Ali, Bobby Charlton, Steffi Graf, Niki Lauda and Mark Spitz.
Five Britons have been nominated - David Beckham, Steve Redgrave, Jonathan Edwards, Lennox Lewis and Mudge. Although she is tempted, Mudge will not be there in person for logistical reasons. She has already sent her apologies.
Mudge's problem has been achieving two ambitions at once. No sooner did the 30-year-old claim the world hill-running trophy than she set off on a long-planned trip to the Antipodes. "I'm not the kind of person that looks for publicity," she says, just in case we hadn't guessed.
Mudge admits that the nomination took her aback, but that was nothing compared with finding herself in the extreme sports category. "I find that surprising, because the sport is not that extreme," she sighs. "I think they look at things like running up and down Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, which sounds much more horrendous than it actually is. To me it's normal and not extreme at all."
The irony of gaining recognition from people who have perhaps not fully recognised what her sport entails is not lost on her; but this, she stresses, has no bearing on her decision not to return for the awards. "I've spent a lot of money to be here so going back isn't really an option." She may never again have an opportunity to mix in such company, but Mudge is unfazed. Perhaps she reckons she will not be missed.
Precisely what, then, is hill- running? The answer is somewhere between cross-country running, which Mudge does as a sideline, and orienteering. At times, the sport falls into the credibility gap between the two. The races vary in length from less than an hour to more than four and, virtually everywhere but Britain, are uphill only. The navigation element comes in the form of regular checkpoints.
"We're not really recognised on a domestic level, but then again most hill-running organisers would rather go and do their own thing," says Mudge. I tend not to worry about the political side - most runners are the same. We just want to get out there and race."
She knows, however, that by winning the world championships in Bergen, Germany, last September she might have changed all that. "I won having already planned my trip. It's unfortunate because I could've gone back to Scotland and raised the profile of hill running." As if that were not enough, the Olympics overshadowed everything. "I'm not sure how many people were aware our world championships were taking place," she reflects. You sense she has an idea.
There has been talk of hill- running becoming a demonstration sport at the next Olympics, but Mudge has her doubts about the quality of the courses. "I don't think you would get a true hillface. I think the sport would lose some of its purity." This, remember, is the prospect of Olympic glory. Mudge would rather keep it real. "It's nice that I just do my sport for the love of it. It might sound old-fashioned, but I do hill- running because I like it."
Although she was born in Devon, she has Scotland to thank for finding her destiny, since she took up hill-running at Stirling University. "I've always competed for Scotland," she said. "It would've been tough to have gone back down south and tried to gain selection there. Once I started running for Scotland there seemed no point in changing because they gave me my opportunity."
Even if she is among the prizewinners at the Albert Hall, Mudge will be in no hurry to collect her award. In the world title, she already has her reward. If she had been Swiss, it would have made her a national hero. For Mudge, it was enough that she and those close to her cared.
"Ahead of the world championships, I spent six weeks in the Alps acclimatising. I just took a bike and a tent and went for it," she says. She has spent most of her time out camping ever since. Simple pleasures. You almost feel guilty for having troubled her with the world which exists outside of hers.