24 HOUR ATHLETES SET FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CHINESE TAIPEI

Ten athletes will represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2023 IAU World 24 Hour Championships in Chinese Taipei on the 1 December.

A strong men’s squad has been selected with the sextet targeting a team medal. The individual bronze medallist at the 2015 edition of the Championships, Robbie Britton (coach: Tom Craggs, Club: North Norfolk BR) enjoyed a scintillating start to 2023 as he broke the British record in February after running 277.439km in 24 hours at a race in Turin. This added almost 3km to the previous record which had been held by Dave Dowdle since 1982.

Joining Britton in the men’s race is Dan Lawson (Robbie Britton) – the 2016 European champion – who was fifth in the 2022 edition of the continental championships, where he set a PB of 273.003km.

Daniel Hawkins (Wendy Whearity, Newbury AC) and Paul Maskell (Robbie Britton, St Austell Athletes Running Club) both set personal bests at last year’s European Championships pushing each other to cover 265.302km to finish in joint seventh place. Damian Carr (Robbie Britton, Coventry) and Alex Whearity (Wendy Whearity) complete the men’s team.

Four athletes will go in the women’s race with Sophie Power (Edwina Sutton, Guildford & Godalming) leading the way after setting a lifetime best to qualify for the Championships as she ran 235.739km in Crawley earlier this year. This added nearly 17km to her previous PB set in 2022.

Three GB & NI internationals Sam Amend (Andy Walling, Belgrave), Jen Coleman (Rory Coleman / Robbie Britton, Les Croupiers) and Eloise Eccles (Damian Hall, West Cheshire) will join Power at the Championships. Amend has competed at previous 100km World Championships, while Coleman and Eccles represented the British team at the Europeans in 2022.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the IAU 24 Hour World Championships in Chinese Taipei on Friday 1 December.

Men

Robbie Britton (Tom Craggs, North Norfolk BR)

Damian Carr (Robbie Britton, Coventry)

Daniel Hawkins (Wendy Whearity, Newbury AC)

Dan Lawson (Robbie Britton)

Paul Maskell (Robbie Britton, St Austell Athletes Running Club)

Alex Whearity (Wendy Whearity)

Women

Sam Amend (Andy Walling, Belgrave)

Jen Coleman (Rory Coleman / Robbie Britton, Les Croupiers)

Sophie Power (Edwina Sutton, Guildford & Godalming)

Eloise Eccles (Damian Hall, West Cheshire)