Brave Harrison runs into trouble in World 100k

Despite never having completed more than 87k, Harrison became the first C&AC senior female to compete for Great Britain at a world championships, facing almost 300 athletes from 34 countries.

The race was held over ten 10k laps around the town of Winschoten, with street parties and barbecues adding to the sense of occasion.

Harrison started well and found herself among the early leaders, going through the first marathon point in 3hr 4min to sit in second place in the women’s race behind Great Britain teammate and 2010 world 100k champion Ellie Greenwood.

Russian Marina Bychkova moved through the field to take the lead at the 60k point and, with Greenwood suffering with stomach problems, Harrison was able to regain the silver medal position at 70k.

However, her early race pace and lack of experience caught up with her and despite clocking 3hr 22min for the second marathon, Harrison was clearly struggling in the 25C heat.

At times reduced to spells of alternate walking and running, an exhausted Harrison finally crossed the line in 8hr 27min 33sec, having covered the last 20k in 2hr 22min.

Bychkova dominated the race to win by 14 minutes in 7:27:19, with Britain’s Jo Zakrzewski coming in second in 7:41:06.

Harrison’s time helped Britain pick up a team silver in the European Championships, with the 40-year-old already rethinking her post-race comment of “never running a 100k race again”.

“With the experience of this race behind me, I could perhaps achieve more next time,” she admitted.