A pillar to post victory in the @bathhalf has given @abbie.donnelly the first confirmed place in the @teamgb squad for the @worldathletics Road Running Championships half marathon (location TBC) event in September. A new venue for this event is still being sought as original organisers in San Diego have recently pulled out.
The Bath event was the official trial race for the World Championships with the first two athletes across the finish line guaranteed places as long as they had achieved the qualifying standard of 70:00.
Abbie already had that time from her run in @mitjabarcelona last month and she backed that up with 69:54 and a winning margin of over two minutes from 2nd placed Natasha Phillips in the elite field.
The Bath course had been advertised as flat andfast but in fact there were several significant undulations including a stiff uphill drag to the final run in. The demanding circuit coupled with a persistent chilly wind throughout the race made Abbie’s time particularly meritorious. Abbie now has 3 weeks to fine tune her training before she makes her full marathon debut in @marathonrotterdam on April 13th.
Please all congratulate Abbie and wish her well for the World Road Running Champs where she adds another GB vest to her name, as well as for her debut marathon in the Netherlands next month.
#LWAC
📸: @grahamsmith.photos 👌