Fell Running - World Championship tickets for Lakes fell runners

1:45pm Saturday 22nd August 2009

By Gazette Sports

SIXTEEN-year-old Melanie Hyder will represent Great Britain at the forthcoming World Mountain Running Championships in Italy next month.

The Helm Hill runner beat some of the best young fell runners in the country to win the junior ladies’ race at the trials held in Keswick on Sunday, completing the six kilometre race on Latrigg in a time of 28 minutes 29 seconds.

Melanie’s coach Billy Procter was full of praise for the young athlete saying: “ What Melanie has done really is a tremendous achievement. It was a tough course and she was running against older girls so it ranks as one of her best wins.

” The Helm Hill coach added: “ This is the result of a lot of hard work in which Melaine has really applied herself.

We’ve worked on her descending and that has really paid off as she must have put 100 yards between her and the chasing pack on the last descent, so we’re delighted it all came together on race day for her and naturally very proud too.

” “I was very surprised to win because I was in the under 20s race,” said Melanie, who is about to start sixth form at Sedbergh School. “I thought I might come about fourth or fifth at best.”

Junior doctor Joe Symonds will also represent Great Britain’s mens’ team at Campodolcino in Italy on September 6 after finishing fourth following three gruelling laps of Latrigg. Joe, who used to live in Sedbergh and now works in the neo natal unit of the Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh, said he set off steadily and was amazed to pull through the field and qualify.

“I was totally surprised to be there (4th),” said Joe, 26. “The whole race was a complete shock to me because I have not been in any kind of form recently because I have been working long hours.”

The race was won by Leeds City’s Adam Grice who overtook team mate and early pace setter Adam Osborne on the third lap.

As the Gazette went to press Helm Hill’s Tom Addison and his cousin Mark Addison were awaiting confirmation on whether they will represent England’s under 23 development squad in Slovenia next month.

They were battling out in the 20s in the senior race and gained good race experience in competing in what was described as being the best quality mountain trial field ever assembled in this country.