British Championships - The Magnificent Eleven (plus one)
Fantastic day and some fantastic performance from FVO in the Lake District, as they left the British Championships at Grizedale clutching no fewer than five national titles on an 12 medal day – although the 12th one was late in coming.
Whisper it quietly, but James Edward might just be the best M14 in Britain. With the JK title already in his trophy case, he made it a major-event double for the year, as he worked hard to earn the victory by more than five minutes (54.16).
For all her success in other races, Scarlett Kelly had never won a daytime British championship medal, but that ended today, as, on a Scarlett-type course (green and lumpy) she outpaced the W18 field to take victory in 82.06.
Dave Godfree headed all competitors in M50 with a 77.11 win, to claim his first British crown since he was a junior, and Marcus Pinker secured his first British championship medal of any colour (although he already has literally dozens from the Irish Champs), with bronze in 81.32.
Will Hensman now has four British Long titles under his belt, as he came home in 78.20 to secure the M45 title, while James Hammond did what James Hammond does, extending his unbeaten record across the classes to five years at the championship, with a strong win in 77.03.
Graham Gristwood came within 42 seconds of an audacious M21E victory (not to mention the embarrassment of having to select the programme administrator for the World Cup next month) as he claimed the silver medal in 99.58.
Sophie Edward's dream year continues, as she remains in the medals for a seventh straight major race, with W12 bronze (51.28). Dave Coustick was back on the podium again, ten years after his last (and only) British Champs medal, as he picked up the M80 Bronze in 95.59, and Andy Llewellyn took the M35 bronze this year (92.05). Once again, our W60 cohort proved to be a formidable object to the opposition, with four of them in the top seven places, and Vicky Thornton came out best, as she was 3rd in the race (70.50).
The 12th medal was confirmed just before the presentation, as it became apparent that the W16 winner, who had recently relocated from Norway and isn't a British citizen, was technically ineligible, and Esme Kelly moved up from 4th into bronze.
There were Short course wins for both Liz Owen (W45) and Josie Stansfield (W55) and a 2nd for Peter Martin (M70), while Alison Cunningham, Pascal Lardet, Esme Finch, Sean Truswell, Peter Owen, Dom Edward, Marie Clare Shankland and Simon Hunt all beat or equalled their personal bests.