Harrison comes through to claim European bronze

Sue Harrison held her form while others suffered to claim bronze for Great Britain at the European 100k Championships in Belves, France.

At the 40km mark, MarijaVrajic (Croatia) was already eight minutes ahead of Kajsa Berg (Sweden), with Irina Antropova another two minutes behind.

Harrison, in only her second 100k race, was two minutes further back alongside a group of three Russians.

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The long climb up to the half-way point at Sarlat followed by the long 5k downhill slope split Harrison’s group up and she found herself back in seventh place and suffering her lowest point of the race.

Harrison said: “I went through a bad patch when my quads started to tighten up on the long downhill section.”

The 41-year-old stuck to her pre-race plan and at 75k moved into sixth position when one of the Russian women was forced to walk.

Long-time leader Vrajic also paid for the early pace and Harrison passed her at 85k.

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With just 5k remaining, the Leamington C&AC athlete passed two more Russians to move into fourth place.

The gap to the third-placed runner was at three minutes but by the 98k marker it was down to just 60 seconds.

A steep climb back to the finish in Belves took its toll on the Russian and she was passed by Harrison with just 1,000m to go.

“As I approached the finish line I could hear the announcer saying, ‘troisiemme place...Sue Harrison...Grande Bretagne’. I was elated but both physically and emotionally drained as I crossed the line.”

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Berg won gold in 7hr 38min 52sec with Antropova taking silver in 7:42:52. Harrison’s bronze-medal-winning time of 7.48.12 was 40 minutes faster than her previous 100k and put her sixth on the GB all-time list.

“It was one of the proudest moments of my athletics career to stand on the podium at a European Championship and watch the Union Flag raised in mine and my country’s honour.”

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