England Team impress in Granollers

A seven strong team of athletes represented England at the Granollers Half Marathon on Sunday 6 February.

The team, supported by Allison Benton and Jo Wilkinson, enjoyed warm, calm conditions on the challenging course just outside of Barcelona.

Naomi Mitchell (Reading AC, Nick Anderson) produced a fantastic performance on debut to claim a podium spot finishing 3rd in a new PB of 73:10. 4th place went to Lucy Reid (Tonbridge, Richard Owen) in a time of 73:48, beaten her time from 2020 which saw her claim 2nd spot. Chloe Richardson (Birchfield Harriers/RAF, Peter Stewart) was 5th in 75:20 only a few seconds outside her PB and Sophie Wood (Sale Harriers) completed an excellent team display to finish 6th in 76:25.

Olympian Ross Millington (Stockport, Steve Vernon) led the men finishing 4th in 65:04 with a controlled solo run. Norman Shreeve (Cambridge & Coleridge, Philip O'Dell) enjoyed his first senior England selection finishing 10th in 67:29. Manchester Marathon winner Matt Crehan (St Helen’s Sutton, Ben Bruce and Rory Linkletter) was another England debutant finishing 13th in 68:45.

Team Leader Allison Benton said

"It was a brilliant weekend in terms learning weekend for the athlete. The dynamic in the team was such that there was a constant exchange of ideas and experiences which was wonderful to see. The athletes were all very proud to be representing England and the race organisers loved having us there."