11 March 2015

World 100km champion Ellie Greenwood has been named the 2014 IAU (International Association of Ultra-runners) Athlete of the Year.

The 35 year-old Briton won one of the highest accolades in ultra-running last year when she triumphed at the IAU 100km World Championships in Doha, Qatar. The Scottish athlete won the women’s race in a time of 7:30:44, which put her third on the UK all-time list, and eight minutes clear of her closest rival.

Alongside good performances from Joanna Zakrzewski and Jo Meek, Greenwood was part of the gold medal-winning Great Britain & Northern Ireland team in Doha to add to her individual title.

Speaking after receiving her award, Greenwood commented:

"I am delighted to have been named IAU Female Athlete of the Year. Having achieved some race results in 2014 which I was personally very happy with it is an honour to have this recognised by an organisation such as the IAU. 

"I hope it encourages more British runners to try their hand at ultra running and the award has certainly given me extra motivation going into 2015."

Greenwood notably became the first British woman to win the Comrades Marathon in 2014, adding another achievement to her growing collection. These performances helped her to beat Traci Falbo and Szilvia Lubics to the prestigious IAU award.

The American Max King was also named IAU Athlete of the year after his triumph in Qatar last November. There, he added the World 100km crown to his CV in a time of 6:27.43.

For more details on the awards, visit the IAU website.