Silver for men's and women's mountain running teams on Snowdon
This year's Snowdon International Mountain Race took place on 19 July and was held in surprisingly good conditions considering the heat wave and recent weather warnings. Either way it wouldn’t have stopped over 400 runners setting off from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon mountain - an ascent of nearly 1000m - on a 16km out and back route.
The England team was a mix of experience; with Eve Pannone who was 2nd last year, and five athletes making their England debuts.
Men's race
Straight to the front were the Italian, English and Welsh athletes. Early in the men’s race Luca Magri (Italy) and his team mate Michael Galassi were running together and pushing the pace. The English athletes Felix McGrath, Nathan Edmondson and Lawrence McCourt, along with the third Italian athlete Roberto Giacomotti were not far behind. The fourth English athlete John Battrick set off at a steadier pace and was just outside the top ten.
At the top there were no changes as the leader Luca Magri moved away from his team mate and had one of the fastest descents to open up a 47 second lead to win in 1hr 06m 11s. For the first time ever, a team took the top three places - it was an Italian one, two, three! The English athletes didn’t give up and Felix McGrath came in a fantastic 4th position improving on his 9th place last year. He was closely followed by his team mate Lawrence McCourt who had a superb debut finishing 5th. John Battrick was also making his England debut and had a good run working his way into 10th position. Nathan Edmondson struggled on the top half and finished a disappointing 20th, especially as he has finished as high as 3rd in the past.
The England team finished 2nd behind a very impressive Italian team.
Women's race
England had three athletes all making their debuts for England - only Eve Pannone had run before and having finished 2nd last year was again looking for another good run. Nancy Scott, one of the English athletes running at Snowdon for the first time was leading the early pace, which was no surprise as Nancy has run a half marathon in 1hr 12mins this season. She was shadowed by Hannah Russell who won in 2022 when running for England. These two were closely followed by Anna Hofer (Italy), Eve Pannone (England), and Eden O’Dea (Wales). After a small gap the next English athlete Abbie Pearse was in 6th position. The fourth English athlete, Rose Mather was in 11th.
At the top Nancy Scott had opened up a big lead and was having a brilliant race. Eden O’Dea was also climbing well and was 2nd at the top, closely followed by Eve Pannone. On the descent there were quite a lot of changes, but not at the front as Nancy Scott had a good descent to win in an impressive 1hr 20m 31s. Though things might have been different if the course was any longer as the Italian athlete, Beatrice Bianchi had an amazing descent in 25m 16s to go from 10th at the top to 2nd at the finish.
Eve Pannone wasn’t to be outdone and had the 2nd fastest descent of the day to finish 3rd for England. Abbie Pearse had a fall on the descent and lost a few places, but still finished a credible 10th position, just ahead of her team mate Rose Mather who’d been struggling with a cold in the lead up to the race, but dug in and finished 11th. The team were edged out by the Italians and finished 2nd team.
Results
Men
1st: Luca Magri (Italy) 1hr 06mins 11
2nd: Michael Galassi (Italy) 1hr 06mins 58
3rd: Robert Giacomotti (Italy) 1hr 07mins 39
4th: Felix McGrath (England) 1hr 08mins 33
5th: Lawrence McCourt (England) 1hr 09mins 50
6th: Grant Cunliffe (Rossendale) 1hr 10mins 58
7th: Matthew McConnell (Ireland) 1hr 12mins 06
8th: George Foster (Keswick AC) 1hr 12mins 22
9th: Tom Crudington (N Ireland) 1hr 12mins 53
10th: John Battrick (England) 1hr 12mins 57
20th: Nathan Edmondson (England) 1hr 18mins 22
Men's team (aggregate time)
1st: Italy - 3hrs 20mins 48
2nd: England - 3hrs 31mins 20
3rd: Northern Ireland - 3hrs 47mins 49
Women
1st: Nancy Scott (England) 1hr 20mins 31
2nd: Beatrice Bianchi (Italy) 1hr 21mins 58
3rd: Eve Pannone (England) 1hr 22mins 13
4th: Anna Hofer (Italy) 1hr 23mins 17
5th: Hannah Russell (Helm Hill) 1hr 23mins 42
6th: Kirsty Oldham (Scotland) 1hr 24mins 10
7th: Luna Giovanetti (Italy) 1hr 24mins 42
8th: Eden O’dea (Wales) 1hr 26mins 22
9th: Catriona McDonald (Scotland) 1hr 27mins 30
10th: Helen Leigh (Scotland) 1hr 28mins 09
11th: Abbie Pearse (England) 1hr 30mins 24
12th: Rose Mather (England) 1hr 31mins 00
Women's team (aggregate time)
1st: Italy - 4hrs 09mins 57
2nd: England - 4hrs 13mins 08
3rd: Scotland - 4hrs 19mins 49