Emma Clayton stars at European Mountain Running Championships
Emma Clayton (handicap -0.2) claimed individual bronze at the European (Uphill) Mountain Running Championships in Portugal on Saturday, to improve on two sixth place finishes at the last two editions of the event. It came on a day when the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team won three team medals including gold in the senior women’s competition.
Clayton won silver at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2013 on an up and down course but added to her collection in Porto Moniz and was delighted to win her first major medal on an uphill course.
The next best Briton was the experienced Victoria Wilkinson (handicap 20.7) who consolidated sixth spot with Rebecca Robinson (handicap 0.0) using her marathon strength to secure ninth place. Debutant Annie Conway (handicap 2.8) just missed out on a top ten placing as she came home in eleventh to help the team to the gold medal ahead of Austria and France.
The senior men’s squad continued the medal success as the quartet claimed team silver with Robbie Simpson (handicap -4.2) and Andrew Douglas (handicap -3.6) narrowly missing out on the medal places in fourth and fifth respectively.
The duo were supported by Chris Smith (handicap -2.8)who finished in 17th and Nick Swinburn (handicap -5.2) was 19th. They pipped Switzerland for the silver team medal but Italy won the team gold after their top four athletes were inside the top 13.
In the junior men’s race which took place as the heat was rising, Max Nicholls (handicap -2.0) and Jacob Adkin (handicap 3.4) enjoyed the performances of their careers to date to claim fifth and sixth place against the best in Europe. Nicholls beat his compatriot by nine second in 51:18 to guide the team to the rostrum places. Jack Willis (handicap 0.3) performed admirably for 14th whilst Ciaran Lewis (handicap -1.4) improved on the flatter section of the course near the finish to claim 33rd.
The junior women´s race kicked off proceedings with a fast steep start suggesting that getting out well would be crucial for the latter stages. Heidi Davies (handicap 1.9) competed valiantly within the field and paced the race well to finish in ninth just over a minute off the podium positions. Ilkley’s Georgia Malir (handicap 2.7) was next in 22nd with debutant; Lizzie Apsley (handicap 4.9) pleased to finish one place behind in 23rd. Scot Catriona Graves (handicap 6.5) was 33rd as the team finished sixth overall.
Full individual and team standings can be found here: http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-mountain-running-championships/