3 Ryde Harriers athletes have earned England selection for major Home Nations road races after standout performances across distances over the past year.
The trio have been selected to represent England in 2 prestigious road races, where they will compete against athletes from across the Home Nations.
Gary Marshall has been chosen for the Anglo Plate 100km race, which takes place in Limerick, Ireland on Saturday 21st March. Marshall impressed selectors after finishing 6th in last year’s event, where he beat 5 members of the England team on the challenging Mallory Park circuit.
His time of 7hrs 11min on that hilly course, combined with a string of victories in his M45 age category across distances ranging from 10km to 50 miles, underlined his consistency and endurance.
This year’s race will be held on a flat 2km loop at the University of Limerick. While less physically demanding in terms of elevation, the repetitive nature of the course is expected to pose a significant psychological test.
Marshall has also benefited from specialist support provided by England Athletics, including laboratory testing at Liverpool John Moores University, focusing on fuelling strategy and pace judgement ahead of the race.
Competition is expected to be strong, but Marshall lines up as part of a powerful England team, with both individual and team honours at stake.
Over the shorter half marathon distance, Chris Newnham and Carly Scoble have also earned England selection following outstanding performances at the Farnborough Half Marathon.
Newnham produced a superb run to finish 3rd overall and 1st in the M35 category, recording a personal best time of 68min 43sec.
Scoble also delivered an excellent performance in a field of 2,500 runners, finishing 9th female overall and 2nd in the W35 category with a personal best of 82min 12sec.
Both athletes have now been selected to represent England at the Home Nations Masters Half Marathon, which will be staged in 2027.
Ryde Harriers coach Geoff Watkin said:
“All 3 Harriers have worked extremely hard over this past 12 months, all showing tremendous improvements over a variety of distances while representing the club all over the country.”
