Hugh Chatfield led home the men’s team on day three of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc, Spain.

The Long Trail race saw the Novuna GB&NI athletes take on 81.2km race with 5,413m of elevation gain and Chatfield (Tring AC , Doug Stewart) led the way with an excellent 12^th in 9 hours, 30 minutes and 17 seconds.

The race started at 7am with an electric pace to the first trail head and soon headtorches could be seen snaking their way up the first climb.

Chatfield sat around 10th to 12^th place for most of the race, battling with some of the world’s best trail runners throughout, with this breakthrough performance coming on the back of a year dedicated to performing to his best at the World Championships.

The rugged terrain was something that required consistent focus for many hours, with support from Novuna GB&NI staff at two checkpoints key so that runners could pick up their personal nutrition and hydration en route.

Behind Chatfield, it was Luke Grenfell-Shaw (HY AC, David Roche) next across the line in 10:05:16 for 30^th and Andy Symonds (Carnegie/Kendal) in 10:07:52 for 35^th, which was a team performance that took fifth by just 17 seconds.

The descending prowess of the two Brits making the difference on the final drop to the line.

Alastair Graves (Ochil Hill Runners, Lewis Walker) was next home, having worked his way through the field from the start to finish in 73^rd and Keith Wigley (Swaledale, Doug Stewart) (76^th) and Jack Scott (Cannock & Stafford) (90^th) completed the team effort.

The race was won by the USA’s Jim Walmsley, in 8:35:11, but the French team took gold, with defending champion Benjamin Roubiol working with his compatriot Louison Coiffet to finish joint second.

In the women’s race, Lizzie Richardson (Highland Hill Runners, Russell Bentley) was the lone starter for the Novuna GB&NI team, having won the trial race in Snowdonia this summer.

In her team debut, she ran a time of 12:20:41 to return to Canfranc in 37th place, finishing with a strong kick to hold off Barbara Ruiz of Spain.

The race was won by Katie Schide of USA in 9:57:59, but once again it was a European nation who took the gold with Italy finishing in third, seventh and 10^th.