The Great Britain and Northern Ireland senior women’s team claimed a superb silver medal in the uphill only race on day one of the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

As the women reached the podium positions, the senior men’s team finished the race in fifth place overall.

It was a fantastic team effort from the women as they battled for every place which ultimately meant the difference between a team silver and a bronze.

European medallist, Scout Adkin (Angela Mudge, Ambleside), was the top finisher for the GB & NI team as she ended the race just outside the top ten in 11^th place overall. Ruth Jones (Duncan Mason, Salford), making her debut in a British vest, ran one of the races of her life as she came home in 14^th, while a sprint finish from Holly Page (Lewis Walker, Dartford) made all the difference to the team standings in the end.

Coming into the final stretch, Page outsprinted Slovakia’s Silvia Schwaiger to snatch 16^th position which drew the team level on points with Switzerland. As Page, the third counter, and the Swiss team’s counterpart crossed the line in 25^th, the British team secured the second spot on the podium.

Kate Avery (Shildon) completed the quartet’s placings in 20^th position overall. USA’s Allie McLaughlin won by 26 seconds from Austria’s Andrea Mayr as the Americans also secured the team gold.

Adkin commented post-race, “I’m really happy with the team result. It is great to get a silver at the Worlds. But I am disappointed in my own performance. I just struggled with the heat and humidity, and a lot of travel. I had a very bad stitch the whole way as well. But I am pleased that we have all come inside the top 20. There were some great performances from the other girls. We are all really supportive of each other out here, so it is great to get that reward for it.”

Page added, “I think I had a really good run. I went off quite conservatively and just picked people off right until the end. The GB team spirit was really good with Dan and Joe shouting for me as we came to the finish. I managed to then outkick a girl which won us the silver medal.”

The senior men’s team were fifth overall with Chris Richards (Duncan Richards, Helm Hill) the first GB & NI finisher across the line in 15^th position. Only two seconds back was his teammate Joe Steward (Salford) who battled humidity of 65% in Thailand.

Steward said, “It went really well on a personal level. I think it was one of my best performances at Championships level. The conditions were always going to be tough with the warm weather and the humidity but coming out early definitely helped. I picked my way through and had a fairly strong run through to the end.

“Overall, it was very positive for us, and I’m really happy for the girls who are now world silver medallists.”

Jacob Adkin (Robbie Simpson, Keswick) was the third counter for GB & NI in 22^nd place, while Dan Haworth (Matlock) was 41^st overall in the individual standings.

Italy won the gold, while Switzerland and Spain rounded out the over team medal places. Kenya’s Patrick Kipngeno was a comfortable winner ahead of his compatriot Philemon Kiriago.

Results