Top book award for Doctor Juliet

Dr. Juliet McGrattan has been declared the winner of a first prize in the prestigious British Medical Association Book Awards, the results of which have just been announced.

Her book Sorted: The Active Woman’s Guide to Health took the premier award in the Popular

Medicine category.

Originally from Sevenoaks in Kent, Juliet is married to Portrush-born Dr. Ken McGrattan. She was a GP in a practice in Lancaster for over ten years but is now using her knowledge and experience to help improve the health of women through physical activity.

She works for Public Health England as a Champion for Physical Activity in the North West of

England. Her book was published by Bloomsbury in 2017.

In addition, she is the resident Health Expert for Women’s Running UK magazine, to which she

contributes a regular Questions and Answers column and health features, and is on the Expert Panel for Slim Fit and Healthy magazine

Juliet’s activities also include the position of Women’s Health Lead and Master Coach for the

organisation 261 Fearless and she is a Director of 261 Fearless Club UK. This global network of women runners is not a traditional running club in that the focus is not on time, pace or distance, but on creating communities within which women of all running abilities can socialise and learn healthy female specific running techniques.

261 Fearless was founded by Kathrine Switzer, pioneer runner, sports and social advocate, and

Emmy-winning television commentator. Kathrine was the first woman to officially enter and run in the men-only Boston Marathon, for which event she was given the official number 261. Despite an angry race official trying to physically remove her from the race because of her gender, Kathrine went on to complete the marathon and the number 261 has gone on to become a symbol of being fearless in the face of adversity.

The Club provides opportunities for women runners to connect with women in the 261 network all over the globe and Juliet has competed in marathons on both sides of the Atlantic, including London and Boston. She is also a founding member and coach of her local 261Fearless Club Lune Valley.

Says Juliet: “I wear a lot of different hats, but running helps and inspires me in all that I do. I’m passionate about using exercise for health and wellbeing and trying to get the inactive moving!

“I love to run. I enjoy all distances from 5k to marathon. I’m not a fast or hugely accomplished runner but to me that’s not important. Running and sport in general is all about fun. I want to get as many people as possible up out of their chairs and experiencing the joy and benefit that exercise brings!”

The BMA Book Awards are presented each year to “recognise outstanding contributions to medical literature”. There are 20 categories and a book can be entered in only one category. Sorted was submitted by the publisher Bloomsbury in the Popular Medicine category, which is for clinical books aimed at the general public.

Over 600 books were submitted and there were around 400 reviewers. Those attending the 2018

Awards event at BMA House in London were all short-listed. Top award of Medical Book of the Year went to the Oxford Textbook of Sleep Disorders.

“Writing a book is a challenging process and it was nice to be surrounded by people who had all been on that journey”, said Juliet shortly after the presentation. “I know that getting to that point of publication can’t have been easy for anyone in the room. To be there on a short list was honour enough for me and I was really not expecting to win in what was a category full of important books.”

Author Lisa Jackson, in a review of Sorted, said: “Juliet talks with you, not at you, and her enthusiasm for the joys of an active lifestyle is bound to inspire millions of women of all ages to lead healthier, fitter and much happier lives.”

She described the book as “a friendly, accessible handbook that gives you a top-to-toe MOT to help you stay fit and well” and added: “Juliet’s advice will soon have you sorted and on the road to health.”

Juliet lives with husband Ken, who is a consultant in intensive care and anaesthetics at Royal Preston Hospital, in the village of Wray in the Lune Valley near Lancaster. They have three children, Joseph (15), Thomas (13) and Molly (10).

Running is an activity in which the whole family participate. Ken recently competed in the Causeway Marathon and younger son Thomas is a leading junior with the Lancaster and Morecambe Athletics Club. On their regular visits to Portrush, the whole family take part in the parkrun at the East Strand, an event that attracts scores of runners every Saturday morning.