NINE ATHLETES SELECTED TO REPRESENT GB & NI AT THE 2023 IAU WORLD 24 HOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Nine athletes will represent the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the 2023 IAU World 24 Hour Championships in Chinese Taipei on the 2-3 December.

A strong men’s team has been selected with the squad targeting a team medal at the end of the year. The individual bronze medallist at the 2015 edition of the Championships, Robbie Britton (coach: Tom Craggs) returns to the GB & NI fold over the distance after a scintillating start to 2023. The North Norfolk athlete 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 team 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 by running together and pushing each other onto a distance of 265.302km to finish in joint seventh place. Damian Carr (Robbie Britton, Coventry) and Alex Whearity (Wendy Whearity) complete the men’s team.

A trio of women have been selected for the Championship including Sophie Power (Edwina Sutton, Guildford & Godalming) who set a lifetime best to qualify, running 235.739km in Crawley earlier this month. This added nearly 17km to her previous PB set last year.

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

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the 2023 IAU World 24 Hour Championships in Chinese Taipei on 2-3 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)