Olympic marathoner forms part of 10-strong GB team in Romania

Olympic marathoner Aly Dixon is to step up to ultra running later this year when she races for Great Britain at the IAU 50km World Championships in Brasov, Romania.

The two-time British marathon champion, who has a best of 2:29:06 for 26.2 miles, or 42.195km, forms part of a 10-strong GB team for the event on September 1.

“An extra 8km can’t be that hard, can it?!” Dixon wrote on Twitter.

“Back in November I told a few people I wanted to try for a sixth World Champs team this September,” added the 40-year-old, who competed at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2009, 2014 and 2016, plus the World Championships marathon in 2011 and 2017.

“They said go for it, we believe you can do it. I don’t think they expected that these were the champs I was on about!”

An extra 8km can't be that hard, can it?! ?
Back in November I told a few people I wanted to try for a 6th World Champs team this September. They said go for it, we believe you can do it. I don't think they expected that these were the champs I was on about! ?#NotFinishedYet https://t.co/zAE9stUEdZ

— Aly Dixon (@alydixon262) May 13, 2019

The Brasov event will be the first edition of the 50km championships since 2016, when GB won women’s team gold and men’s team silver.

Hannah Oldroyd was a member of that gold medal-winning team three years ago and returns to the fold in 2019. Dixon and Oldroyd will be joined on the women’s team by Julie Briscoe, Danielle Nimmock and Helen Davies, who revised her marathon personal best to 2:34.08 in Brighton last month.

The men’s team includes Paul Martelletti and Lee Grantham, plus Dan Nash and Alex Milne who are selected after lowering their marathon PBs in recent weeks, posting times of 2:18.51 and 2:20.08 respectively.

Kevin Rojas will also receive his first British vest after the call-up.

GB team

Men

Lee Grantham
Paul Martelletti
Alex Milne
Dan Nash
Kevin Rojas

Women

Julie Briscoe
Helen Davies
Aly Dixon
Danielle Nimmock
Hannah Oldroyd