Tom Evans won a superb individual Bronze medal and led the British men’s team to the silver medal at the IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships in Spain on Saturday.

Evans clocked 8:49:35 for the 85.3km race (53mile) which included challenging 5000 metres worth of ascent.

Evans, was followed over the finish line by team mate Jonathan Albon who recorded 8.53.41 for fourth position.  Ryan Smith’s 16th-place finish in 9:25:50 secured the men team silver.

A clearly delighted Evans said afterwards, “I came here hoping to challenge the podium and I am delighted not just to get the bronze medal, but see us claim the team silver medals too”

Tom Owens, who was fourth in 2015 when he led the team to bronze, placed 25th (9:39:26) in Penyagolosa, while Rob Sinclair was 38th (9:54:26) and Casey Morgan 53rd (10:14:40).

Spain’s Luis Alberto Hernando won his third consecutive title, recording 8:38:35 to win ahead of his team-mate Cristofer Clemente with a time of 8:46:19 as the host nation secured the team title and France finished third

Holly Page was the leading British female athlete. Her time of 10:37:52 placing her ninth, two places ahead of Beth Pascall with a time of 10:40:58. Katie Kaars Sijpesteijn’s time of 11:10:09 for 21st secured the British squad fourth place in the team standings, narrowly outside the podium positions.

Sarah Morwood finished 34th in 11:39:26, while Sally Fawcett’s 12:21:13 saw her finish 53rd. Rachael Campbell had stomach issues and had to withdraw at the 50km checkpoint.

Ragna Debats of Netherlands won the women’s title in 9:55:00, while Spain’s Laia Canes was second in 10:11:11. France’s Claire Mougel with a time of 10:15:23 took bronze. Spain secured the team title ahead of France and USA.

Team Leader Adrian Stott, commented, “The standard of the World Trail championships seems to get stronger year by year. We are all totally delighted the men came home with medals, and although the ladies came so close in fourth, everyone in the team can be proud to have shown Great Britain and Northern Ireland can compete with the best in the world on the ultra distance trail scene.”

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