Athlete Through The Lens: Ciara Boyd-Squires Long

Athlete Through The Lens is a project by Runlimited and Adrian Varzaru that aims to tell the stories of London's elite athletes beyond performances, times and races. Throughout this series, we will continue to dive into the who, what and why of the person behind the athlete. If you missed them, you can read the previous features with Mimi Corden-Lloyd and Jeremy Dempsey.

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When you were a youngster, did you also wonder about what your teachers got up to when they weren’t teaching? They definitely don’t live at school, despite what your 7 year-old self might have thought. For the students of Ciara Boyd-Squires Long, I wonder if they know that when not taking charge of a P.E. lesson, she’s one of the fastest marathon runners in London.

What her students probably don't know is that as they rock up to the school gates, Ciara has already clocked up the miles in her other life as an athlete.

To see what this looks like, Abi and Adrian met with Ciara right as Victoria Park opened its gates on a dull, rainy November morning to embark on her final big session ahead of the Valencia marathon. The charge? 10km, 10km, 5km at Marathon effort with 2:00 of jogging between each rep. 

Hailing from Melbourne and joining Victoria Park Harriers and Tower Hamlets AC in 2024, Ciara has steadily become a quiet force to be reckoned with on the city - and county’s - running scene. Contrary to what the climes of her native Australia may suggest, she is currently unbeaten over cross country in 2025, thriving equally on the roads as well as off of them. On top of this, her 2025 accolades abroad boast a top 40 finish from the Berlin Marathon and 3rd place at Mallorca Half. 

Although new to the London scene, Ciara has been a lifelong athlete, running her first race at 10 years old with her father before joining the world of triathlon alongside her running pursuits. Continuing to chase personal goals on the road and over cross country, she has taken this passion for sport and turned it into a career, teaching at a girls school and fostering the next generation of athletes as well as instilling a love for movement and sport. With her cool and collected demeanor, it isn’t hard to imagine Ciara standing out as one of the favourite faculty members for classes of youngsters.

As the year winds down, and after balancing seasons with the Metropolitan XC League, road races across Europe with her career and love for travelling, Ciara has had her sights firmly fixed on the roads of Valencia. This weekend, she takes on the marathon - renowned as one of the world’s fastest - where she aims to better her 2:45 from Berlin earlier this year. 

For Ciara, and a host of other runners across London, chasing elite-level goals comes with the added contingencies of life and work. A professional athlete’s schedule is prioritised around their training, recovery and racing. Ciara instead works around her responsibilities at work as well as a desire to travel in her free time. On top of this is the cost invested to train, compete and stay in one piece. As part of her Valencia Marathon, New Balance have kindly supported Ciara by providing training and racing kit, as well as travel for the race.

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- Words by Liam Dee, Photography by Adrian Varzaru

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