As a runner, Jones is having a dramatic impact on young female runners.

She hopes to coach other female runners in the future.

Last year, she returned to competition and ranked sixth in the world among female 800-meter runners.

It remains the fastest ever time by a female British under-23 runner.

For female elite runners, she said, the race has only just begun.

Many records for female runners over 50 years old were set by Irvine.

"But I felt jealousy toward the other female runners from the area," she said.

According to the publisher it was created "to serve a rapidly growing community of female runners."

Awards and separate categories for female runners were not initiated until the late 1970s.

Of those 4.5 million female runners, 42 percent, or 1.9 million, are 35 and older.