Artist Tracey Emin is probably better known for her messy bed rather than her 5K time, but speaking recently at the Hay Festival, it seems that one of Britain’s most famous artists learned a lot from running at school.
Talking on stage at the festival about her most recent work, Emin reminisced about her love for school cross-country and the life lessons that it taught her. It seems, like all runners, that Emin found the process to be formative – and when reflecting on her life, the metaphor that explains it the best is a running one.
‘When I was at school, I used to do cross-country running, when I was about 13,’ says Emins. ‘I’d leave the school gates and I’d just keep a steady pace, steady pace, steady pace, steady pace. I’d run a bit faster, have a cigarette and then I’d think, “Ah, right, I’m getting to the beach now – I’ll start running.” And then when I was in the sand – I could run really well in the sand – and it was freezing cold, I’d love it.
‘Then when we got into the school grounds, you had to do three laps of the school field and I’d sprint like hell, run the last three laps – and my time, I’d come in, like, 10 minutes before the other people, but it was kind of effortless for me because I knew what I was doing and I enjoyed every single moment of it,’ continues Emins.
‘I’m just gonna put that metaphor exactly to my life now. I’m doing my sprint now. I’ve f*cked around at the beginning, talking to everyone, having my cigarette, whatever – enjoyed running through the sand, had a laugh going through the mud, you know, bit sticky, got through it, bit tricky, everything coming out the other side. And now I’m sprinting around that field like hell – and that’s how I’m competitive. I’m not looking at the other people in the race. I don’t care about the other people. I’m just doing what I feel that I have to do and do right.’
