Scots ultras land World, European medals

Monday 13th April 2015

The four Scots in the GB team in Turin – with thanks to Adrian Stott for the photo

World 24-Hour results on the IAU website.

Blog post on Athletics Weekly by bronze medallist Robbie Britton

Great Britain’s ultra runners are heading back from Italy after fine performances at the World 24-Hour Champs in Turin.

And four Scots are bringing home medals with the men’s team featuring Marco Consani taking gold and the women placing fourth in the Worlds and earning bronze medals in the European Champs (which were incorporated into the event).

Debbie Martin-Consani and Sharon Law placed superbly at 12^th and 13^th in the World race to come home as the second and third counter for a six-strong GB team led by Izzy Wykes.

The event was held on a 2km loop in the Parco Ruffini, a suburban park in Turin. In a 24-hour event every lap is logged to give the distance covered in the 24 hour time span.

Conditions were warm through the Saturday, and it seemed those who made a more cautious start benefitted as the race wore on.

Garscube Harrier Debbie ran 221.714k over the 24 hours in Turin for 8^th place in the European race and Sharon was at 219.501k for 9^th in Europe.

Fionna Ross was another Scot in the GB team and the Harmeny AC athlete reached 212.253k for 36^th place in the overall World race (31^st in Europe).

It was a PB by a kilometre for Debbie and she said: ‘I had to work really hard for that and to get a PB and help the girls to a European medal felt fantastic.’

Sharon was just short of her PB and summed up her performance thus: ‘Gutsy. My quads were trashed from halfway but this was such a great team that I was never going to let them down. It is not my best 24-hour distance, but probably the hardest one I have had to work for.’

And Fionna tweeted later: ‘One of those races where things don’t go to plan. Still immensely proud to be part of such an inspirational squad.’

The GB men’s team excelled with Robbie Britton taking an individual bronze and his third place contributed to the overall team golds as they headed Australia and Germany.

Pat Robbins and 7^th and Steve Hollyoak at 9^th were the other counters for the team while Garscube’s Marco finished fifth of the GB men at 63rd place overall (49^th in Europe) in a race where 179 athletes finished.

Marco ran 212.253k in his first World 24-Hour Champs and comes home with a team gold medal to add to wife Debbie’s European bronze!

‘I am obviously disappointed I didn’t perform to my best but glad to be part of the GB team and finish on the podium,’ said Marco. ‘ It was very hot early in the day and that affected a lot of the runners.’

British Athletics website report

Marco takes in fluid during Saturday

*Adrian Stott, of Run and Become in Edinburgh, was part of the GB team management in Italy – playing an important role with the athletes before, during and after their 24-Hour effort. Congratulations to Adrian on his involvement in a highly successful event for GB and thanks for help in compiling this report.

Tags: Debbie Martin-Consani, Fionna Ross, Garscube Harriers, Harmeny, Marco Consani, Sharon Law, World 24-Hour Champs