Just as Jacob Adkin did in the men’s race, Great Britain’s Morven Goodrum stunned the field with a comfortable and commanding victory at the European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships in Ljubljana-Kamnik, Slovenia on Friday (6).
For some time it looked as if the uphill races would see a gold sweep by the Adkin family.
Just 30 minutes after her brother Jacob Adkin had won gold, 2024 silver medallist Scout Adkin was in the top group but as the race developed, she couldn’t hold the pace of the leaders anymore, reaching the finish-line at Velika Planina in fifth, some 3:13 minutes behind Goodrum.
The 27-year-old rocketed up the Slovenian mountain in 58:00 to win the title by over two minutes ahead of Laura Hottenrott from Germany and France’s Nelie Clement.
"I am a bit shocked to be honest," said the winner. "It was my first international. I am a bit lost for words really."
Running at such an event for the first time, she had no pre-race strategy but it was quite early on in the 8.9km race that she took the lead. "I wasn’t thinking about it. I just decided to go for it and see what happens," she said.
As the race went on conditions got worse and worse. "At the beginning it was dry, but then it got wet and we couldn’t literally see the top. From what we could see, the scenery is amazing," she said.
Hottenrott admitted that she struggled with the conditions but her efforts were still rewarded with an individual silver medal.
"It was very hard, all the mud and you couldn’t see anything. But I am extremely grateful and proud. As a road marathon runner this is still a sprint and normally I like races that last two or more hours," said Hottenrott who has ownership of a 2:24:32 marathon lifetime best and ran for Germany in the marathon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Third-placed Clement from France also found it hard to run in the wet underfoot and foggy conditions. "At the end it was a little slippery, then wind at the end made it even more difficult," she said.
With Goodrum and Adkin finishing first and fifth respectively, Great Britain also finished first in the team competition ahead of France and a strong Swiss team.
The mountain running programme concludes on Sunday with the men's and women's uphill and downhill race which is due to feature some of the protagonists in today's uphill-only races.