Preview: 2025 British Athletics 24-Hour Championships
Saturday 13th April. Crawley.
Here we preview the 2025 British Athletics Championship, being held this weeekend, April 12th -13th, at the K2 leisure centre track, in Crawley. Despite some late withdrawals, one of the deepest fields in recent years for a domestic 24-hour race will be on the start line. Not only will championship medals be at stake, but places in the GB team for the IAU. World 24-hour Championships to be held in Albi, France, in October.
A link for live tracking is HERE
Leading male contenders.
Paul Maskell (St Austell Running Club.) A regular member of the GB 24-hour team in recent years, Paul has a PB of 265.302Km. He also comes with much experience over 100 miles on the trails, with previous victories at the 145-mile Grand Union Canal race and Cornwall’s, 100-mile, Arc of Attrition.
Ireland’s Ben Carroll has a 24-hour best of 248.473Km/ set when placing 2nd at Crawley in 2023, and like Maskell has finished the Grand Union Canal race.
Martin Wilson, together with some solid 100-mile performances on the trails has a 24-hour PB of 237.049 km when placing second at the Sri Chinmoy 24-hour at Battersea in 2022.
Luke Ivory has an excellent pedigree in Multi-day events with some credible 6-day races and holds the current Fastest Known Time for Scotland’s popular tourist route, The North Coast 500.
Others to watch could be
Martin Heggie, Nathan Montague, Alex Marshall amd Michael Young
Women to watch
Sarah Webster has a world-class pedigree at 100km, setting a European record of 7:03:48 When winning the GB title at the Sri Chinmoy 100km at Perth in March 2024. She also took the bronze medal at the IAU World 100km in Bengaluru, India, last December. It will be her first attempt at anything beyond 100km.
Caroline Turner also has an excellent pedigree at 100km and like Webster is a GB international at the distance with a PB of 7:41:52.. She has also competed in longer trail races up to 100 miles. It will also be her first foray into 24-hour racing.
Sam Hudson de Figueira has a good previous record at 24 hours with a pB of 223.609 Km. She also holds the current GB 100-mile record of 14:10:41, set in 2022. She has been troubled by injuries in the last 12 months, but is now, hopefully, injury-free. Her previous experience will certainly make her a challenger.
Karen (Kaz) Nicholl comes into the race with a solid background in Back Yard Ultra and other long trail events. Her Backyard ultra PB is 268.240 from 2024 It is her first track 24-hour.
Former 24-hour internationals Jo Newens and Wendy Whearity will also be ones to keep an eye on, as will Sarah Funderburk, winner of the Sri Chinmoy 24-hour track race at Battersea last September with 210.913 Km.
The indefatigable Sandra Brown narrowly missed her masters 48-hour record at a recent race in Spain. With her proven powers of recovery, it remains to be seen if she can challenge any of her shorter FV75 records this weekend. She currently holds the World’s Best 24-hour distance for FV75 with 143.841KM . That was a split time in a 48-hour race.
As always, everyone on the start line will have thier own goals. Whether that is reaching 100 Miles, aiming for the podium and GB qualification, or simply staying on the track as much as possible. For all of them, 24 hours remains a unique challenge in the running world to test both mind and body to the ultimate..
The GB guideline standards
The GB guideline standards for the World 24-hour championships in October are
Men’s individual Standard 254 Km
Men’s Team standard 245 Km
Women’s Individual Standard. 226 Km
Women’s Team Standard 219 Km
Distances must have been achieved between 1st September 2023
and 23:50 on 20th April 2025 in IAU labelled races.
Further details of the Crawley 24 hour race with full start list are HERE
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Adrian Tarit Stott.
The author is a former GB 24-hour ultra international with over 100 ultra race completions. He has also been involved in organising ultra-distance races for over 30 years. Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Running Advisory Group (URAG) and the Mountain and Trail Advisory Group. He also contributes as part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams. A freelance writer in his spare time, he contributes articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
