IRWIN 16TH AT INAUGURAL EUROPEAN RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS HALF MARATHON

Hannah Irwin (coach: Gavin Pavey, club: Cambridge & Coleridge) was the sole representative for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the half marathon at the inaugural European Running Championships on Saturday morning (12 April) as she finished 16^th in the women’s race.

The Championships, taking place in Brussels – Leuven in Belgium, saw some the continent’s best athletes go toe-to-toe over the 13.1-mile distance.

Irwin started well, establishing herself in the chasing pack behind a group of four who had opened up a 13 second lead after 5km. The Northern Irish athlete maintained her placing in the field going through the 10km checkpoint in eighth place, with a clear top three of Juliette Thomas (BEL), Diane Van Es (NED) and Chloé Herbiet over 30 seconds ahead of the Briton and a pack of eight over athletes.

Over the next 5km, Irwin dropped off the pace of many within this group, going through 15km in 51:31 in 13^th position, having Turkey’s Nersena Çeto for company heading into the final few miles.

As the race reached its conclusion, the Briton came through to cross the line in 16^th place overall in a time of 1:14:50.

Herbiet led home a famous Belgian one-two with compatriot, Thomas, while Sara Nestola (ITA) came through for the bronze.

The action continues in Belgium on Sunday with British interest in the men’s and women’s 10km and marathons. The 10km get underway at 8:30am BST while the marathons start at 9:15am BST.

You can watch the action via the European Athletics media channel here.

Results