Strong performances for England at Snowdon International Mountain Race
England’s men claimed the Senior Home International title at the 49th Snowdon International Mountain Race, while the women finished just one point behind Scotland in a closely contested competition.
This was the 49th running of this classic mountain race with over 450 runners taking part. Surprisingly, the conditions were cooler than expected, with the cloud coming in over Llanberis and Snowdon in the early morning. This favoured the runners and, with the ground dry, it had the potential for some fast times.
The England team had been selected from the Blencathra Fell Race, which was part of the English Fell Running Championship series, and England Athletics were able to select two very competitive men's and women’s teams. All the Home Countries had teams competing, along with a strong team from Italy.
The race started at 2pm with a furiously fast pace out along the road, passing the Royal Victoria Hotel, the main sponsor of this year's race. Leading the way were two Italian runners, Tiziano Moia and Massimiliano Berti, along with the Scottish athlete Finlay Todd. The English team started a little more cautiously, with Dan Haworth leading the way ahead of Tom Simpson, Edward Corden, Charlie Allmond, Joe Daly and John Battrick, who were all running very close together. In the women’s race Eve Pannone, running for Ambleside AC, Emily McNicol running for Scotland and Hannah Russell, the 2022 winner running for England, led the way, followed by her English team mates Emily Cowper-Coles, Caroline Lambert and Sara Willhoit.
By halfway the two Italian runners, Berti and Moia, had forged ahead and by the summit they were over two minutes clear, having produced fantastic runs. The English team was being led by Edward Corden, who had worked his way into 5th position at the summit, with Tom Simpson 11th, John Battrick 14th, Joe Daly 15th, Charlie Allmond 16th and Dan Haworth 17th. In the women’s race Emily McNicol led over the summit with Hannah Russell only 14 seconds behind. Sara Willhoit was 6th with Emily Cowper-Coles 10th and Caroline Lambert 13th. In the team events Italy were leading the way, with England and Scotland battling for 2nd and 3rd.
On the fast descent the Italian duo kept the pace going and Massimiliano Berti won in one of the fastest times for some years in 1hr 04m 13s. Tiziano Moia was 2nd followed by his team mate Giulio Simonetti, giving the Italians a clean sweep of the individual medals. Edward Corden, making his debut at Snowdon, ran a great race to finish 4th, with the fast finishing Joe Daly, gaining nine places to finish 6th. Tom Simpson also had a good descent and finished 7th. John Battrick was 11th, Charlie Allmond 12th and Dan Haworth 17th. In the women’s race Emily McNicol edged away from Hannah Russell to take the victory for Scotland, with Hannah finishing 42 seconds behind in 2nd place. The fast descending Luna Giovanetti finished 3rd for Italy and Eve Pannone of Ambleside AC finished 4th. Next for England was Sara Willhoit in 8th, followed by Emily Cowper-Coles in 11th and Caroline Lambert in 12th.
In the team competition Italy retained their titles from last year, but in the Home International England comfortably won the men’s team title, while in the women’s competition Scotland pipped England by just one point.
As always a massive thank you to the Fell Runners Association and England Athletics for supporting the England Mountain Running team.
Results
Men
1st Massimiliano Berti (Italy) 1hr 04m 13s
2nd Tiziano Moia (Italy) 1hr 05m 47s
3rd Giulio Simonetti (Italy) 1hr 07m 14s
4th Edward Corden (England) 1hr 09m 12s
5th Max Walker (Milocarian AC) 1hr 09m 59s
6th Joe Daly (England) 1hr 10m 11s
7th Tom Simpson (England) 1hr 10m 34s
8th Kieran Cooper (Scotland) 1hr 11m 04s
9th Alessandro Bianchi (Italy) 1hr 11m 13s
10th Ben Coop (Bury AC) 1hr 11m 21s
11th John Battrick (England) 1hr 11m 34s
12th Charlie Allmond (England) 1hr 11m 44s
17th Dan Haworth (England) 1hr 13m 05s
Women
1st Emily McNicol (Scotland) 1hr 16m 56s
2nd Hannah Russell (England) 1hr 17m 38s
3rd Luna Giovanetti (Italy) 1hr 18m 18s
4th Eve Pannone (Ambleside AC) 1hr 19m 07s
5th Eden O’Dea (Wales) 1hr 19m 51s
6th Axelle Vicari (Italy) 1hr 20m 38s
7th Andrea Schweigkofler (Italy) 1hr 20m 46s
8th Sara Willhoit (England) 1hr 21m 37s
9th Holly Page (Scotland) 1hr 23m 16s
10th Grace Pow (Scotland) 1hr 23m 44s
11th Emily Cowper-Coles (England) 1hr 26m 39s
12th Caroline Lambert (England) 1hr 27m 04s
International team results
Men
1st Italy
2nd England
3rd Scotland
Women
1st Italy
2nd Scotland
3rd England
Senior home international
Men
1st England
2nd Scotland
3rd Wales
Women
1st Scotland
2nd England
3rd Wales