Ultra duo picked by GB; Australia to host 2026 Games; Enter Babcock 10k

Tuesday 12th April 2022

Photos by Steve Adam

British Athletics World 100k team announcement

The Scottish ultra community is celebrating this week following on from that thrilling Anglo Celtic Plate event in Perth late last month.

Jo Murphy and Jason Kelly have been named by British Athletics for the World 100k Champs this summer.

Jo and Jason will be part of an eight-strong British team to compete in the event in Berlin in August.

It’s great news for the Scottish duo and will be a first GB vest at an actual event for both (with Jo having competed previously in a virtual event). Jason’s selection is a nice moment for his club, Metro Aberdeen, too.

Jo of course set a Course Record when winning the British and Scottish 100k titles at Perth while Jason was second that day (in 6:42.23) as England’s Matt Dickinson also set a Course Record.

‘It is totally wonderful news and so well-deserved by these athletes after putting in a lot of hard work over a number of years,’ said Adrian Stott, our ACP event organiser.

‘Across the Scottish ultra community there will be real pride at these selections and in fact there’s a spread across the Home Countries in this British team. There also seems to be real excitement around the 100k distance again and that bodes well for the World Champs.’

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Photo by Bobby Gavin

Victoria named as 2026 hosts (Inside the Games report)

Birmingham 2022 is looming large on the horizon with this year’s Commonwealth event now only just over 100 days away.

But news is breaking this morning that the state of Victoria in Australia will host the NEXT Commonwealths as the 2026 venue was confirmed.

A total of five cities and regions are set to play a role as the event moves away from the tradition of one city as host.

In what will be a first-ever predominantly regional Commonwealth Games, Victoria 2026 will be staged in March of that year in multiple cities including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland

The announcement followed a successful exclusive dialogue period launched in February between the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Commonwealth Games Australia and Victoria, where a proposal to stage the major multi-sport competition across the state was agreed.

And it’s the perfect excuse for us to use this memorable Gold Coast 2018 photo of Eilidh Doyle by Bobby Gavin. Anyone who thinks this photo isn’t deliberate clearly doesn’t know Bobby!

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Fionnuala Ross in action at the Tru Wealth Scottish 10-Mile Champs (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Enter the Babcock 10k Series

Almost 1900 runners have entered the Babcock 10k Series so far, with 700 set to ‘toe the line’ in Helensburgh in the first race on Thursday 5 May.

Defending champion and course record-holder, Annabel Simpson, recently won the Tru Wealth Scottish 10-Mile title at Strathclyde Country Park in an impressive 54:10 for a big Course Record,

Simpson was a remarkable 86 seconds ahead of Babcock Series record-holder, Fionnuala Ross, from Shettleston, who finished second,

Meanwhile Rio Olympian, English athlete Sonia Samuels, finished fourth in the Manchester Marathon on the same day in an impressive 2:32.30 to put herself in line for selection for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham or the European Championships in Munich.

All three are expected to compete in the Babcock Series and entries remain open for Helensburgh on May 5 via the online link

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Tags: Australia, Babcock 10K Series, Berlin, Commonwealth Games, Jason Kelly, Jo Murphy, Ultra running

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