27 May 2016

The European Mountain Running Championships trials take place at the Whinlatter Forest on Saturday as some of the country’s best athletes over the terrain take on the mountains of the Lake District.

Last year’s trials winner Andrew Douglas (coach: Sophie Dunnett) takes part in the 2016 edition after a successful 2015. Winner of the WMRA World Cup and sixth at the World Mountain Running Championships in Wales last year, the Scot was one of the leading Brits in the discipline. He will face a strong senior men’s field in the Lakes with Inter-Counties champion Ben Mounsey leading the challenge. Ricky Lightfoot and Andrew Davies (Steve Vernon) will warm-up for the world long distance championships next month offering more competition at the top end of the race.

In the senior women’s contest, Sarah Tunstall will be one to watch in the Lakes. Similarly to Douglas, she won the women’s equivalent of the WMRA World Cup at the back end of 2015 and was part of the senior women’s team who won gold at the 2015 world championships. However, Ambleside’s Annie Conway and Hatti Archer (Bud Baldaro) will be among the challengers over the up & down course.

There will be a junior men’s and women’s race, the latter kicking off the action at 4:30 on Saturday. Full event information can be found via this link: http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/competitions/mountain-running/