There was joy all around for the British team at the IAU 24-hour European championships as every member of the squad won a medal due to success in the overall team competition. The men’s team secured an excellent silver whilst the women also made the podium with a bronze medal.

Two years ago, Dan Lawson won the European title and it took another battling display to finish fifth on this occasion. Leading the team to the silver medal, he covered 253.43km in 24 hours at an average pace of 5:40 per kilometre. He showed all his experience to make his way through the field in the latter stages of the race.

With James Stewart securing 11^th (244.35km) and Steven Holyoak 17^th (237.36km) – the next two scorers for the British team – the total combined distance of 735.15km saw the British team finish ten kilometres ahead of the Germans for silver, with France winning overall with a combined tally of 754.62km.

Craig Holgate was 40^th (205.45km), James Elson 67^th (166.33km) and Pat Robbins 81^st (125.99km). The race was won by Poland’s Andrzej Radzikowski who covered a staggering 265.41km.

With three counters needed to be eligible for a team prize, it was a huge effort by the trio of women competing for the British squad. Tracy Dean had a British debut to remember, making her way up the leader board over the 24 hours to eventually finish in seventh place, completing 224.61km.

She was followed by Alison Young – part of the British team two years ago – who was 14^th (214.46km), and Wendy Shaw 19^th, also over the 200km distance, finishing the endurance challenge with a total of 205.98km.

It was a remarkable achievement by the trio, securing bronze with a cumulative total distance of 645.06km, to finish clear in bronze. Poland took the gold medal ahead of the German team, the former aided by Patrycja Bereznowska winning the race overall.

Full results can be found here.