Shrewsbury Athletic Club's Sara Willhoit rose to world class heights when she competed for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Villa La Angostura, Argentina on Saturday, finishing 11^th on the 42Km course with 2184m of ascent in 4/01/49 in the international field and 2^nd finisher of the GB Women, four places behind the 1^st GB runner, Charlotte Morgan who won the 2018 race.

It was a massive step up for the Shrewsbury athlete, but she rose to the challenge and was in early contention in 3^rd place after 12K. The first part of the course comprised road, dirt track and forest with two fairly high river crossings before the really hard work began with the ascent of Cerro Bayo, a mountain in the Andes range 1782m high, including a section through snow and along a technical ridge section before the long descent to the finish. She is staying a further two weeks in Argentina and will be considering her next venture on the international mountain running scene, with a great chance of selection for Great Britain in the future.

Report compiled by Tony Scales.