Belgrave road and cross country captain Sam Amend has been selected again for Team GB after running a 7:48:39 PB at the British 100K champs in Perth, Scotland.

Sam writes:

It was a well executed race with better nutrition than in my past ultras and it helped to be well supported by the England Management. I was fortunate enough to be aided by Mike Stocks, fellow ultra GB teammate and also founder of Teamhour7, the new ultra team on the block.

The goal for this 100km race was to get a PB and GB selection. A bonus would be to win the event, although I knew there would be some stiff competition.

What was lovely for me was seeing friends I’d made over the years from the other home nations, having spent many hours on long races with them.

Onto the race itself, and a 5am wake up call. It was frosty at the start and really cold so the headband/mittens and arm guards were on for roughly a marathon, then the sun came out with still a chilly wind.

The weather, despite being cold and windy, could have been much worse. I lead for a fair bit of the race but just didn’t have enough kick in the last few miles; fatigue kicked in and I needed too many toilet breaks. What did work well was the nutrition, although I need to supplement some sugary treats for savoury ones. Having Mike Stocks (London Heathside), his wife and Teamhour7 at the event also helped with the psychological part and also not giving me a chance to go near the race tent.

I was very pleased to come in well under the qualification standard, bag a PB and second place. Having met the GB24hr criteria for the European Champs three weeks later, I made a decision to focus on the World Champs this year which will possibly be the strongest team GB send.

I was delighted to receive the news that “ you’ve made the team!” At nearly 43 years old, never would I have expected to be in this shape and still improving… age is just a number!

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