A total of six medals for the Novuna Great Britain and Northern Ireland team (GB & NI) at the 2026 European Cross Country Championships in Portugal. Megan Keith (coach:Ross Cairns, club:Inverness) won a brilliant silver in the senior women’s, as Innes FitzGerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter) won her third consecutive individual title in the U20.
It was gold for the U20 women’s team, a sensational silver for the senior women’s team, a dramatic second place for the U20 men’s team and a brilliant bronze in the mixed relay.
Kicking off the day in Lagoa was a dominant performance from FitzGerald to be crowned the U20 European Champion, an incredible third consecutive individual title.
It was a team gold for the young Novuna GB & NI women’s team, with 16-year-old Beth Lewis (Andrew Railton, City of York) pacing herself well to move through the top 20 placings, finishing with a sprint for 12th place, 55 seconds behind FitzGerald. Isabel Holt (Andrew Henderson, Blackburn Harriers) finished strong in the last lap, crossing the line in a photo finish for 20th.
FitzGerald said: “This medal is incredible. It is so nice to come back every year. The atmosphere at this event is amazing and that is what I love about cross country.
“There is the team element as well, so there is always girls behind you supporting you and that is what brings me back every year. And I look forward to coming back again.”
“I wanted to progress it as the laps went on, because I knew that it was a bit of a hilly course that was going to make it a bit tough, and especially being quite soft under the foot. The start was faster than I thought it was going to be. I worked my way up to the front and then just laid it on, tried to progress it from there.”
In the senior women’s race, Megan Keith came back from an early fall to win a superb silver medal, and the senior women’s team delivered a solid performance to secure team silver.
Keith did not panic after the runner in front of her went down, tripping her up in the opening 100m and made her way up to the front of the pack in the opening lap.
The lead group, including Keith, pulled ahead with Battocletti (ITA), Can (TUR) and Lahti (SWE). After a stumble, Lahti dropped off the front three, whilst further back GB athletes Cari Hughes (Cardiff) and Pheobe Anderson (Laurie Henes, Herne Hill) gradually worked their way through the pack into the top twenty.
As the final bell rang, Battocletti pulled away to take the lead, whilst Keith continued to run calmly and pull away from Can to finish second, 15 seconds behind the Italian to win the silver medal.
A great team performance from the senior women, showcasing the incredible depth in the women’s side as Anderson was the second Brit home in 16th, an excellent run for the Scot who was making her senior debut. Followed by Verity Ockenden (Swansea) in 21st, Poppy Tank (City of Plymouth) in 22nd, closely followed by Hughes and overall team captain, Izzy Fry (Sonia McGeorge, Newbury) in 31st to claim the team silver medal.
Keith said; “The race was a bit of a mental test for me because the strategy we (British team) were following was to be aggressive but patient.
“That is what they told us yesterday in the team meeting, so that was in the top of my head during the whole race but after ten seconds I fell flat on my face. I got up in around last place, so I was trying to be patient, but it was hard; I did not want to be at the back. The whole time I was trying to measure my effort, and it paid off because I could have easily overdone it.
“My training has gone very well, I was in Tokyo in the middle of September so by the time I started training again and thinking about cross country it was until October. It has been a shorter winter to build than what I can usually do before getting into cross, but we measured it well to get here in good shape without rushing anything.
“The course was really hard, when I looked it a first I thought it was not a cross course but more of a Mario Kart video game. I even skipped the lap yesterday so today it was the first time I actually run the whole course and with so many hills and jumps I had to measure myself out. It was a fun challenge.”
In the men’s senior race, it was a close call for Scott Beattie (Andrew Hobdell, Morpeth), who, despite finishing the same time as Dominic Lobalu (SUI), just missed out on the bronze medal in a photo finish.
Morpeth teammates Beattie and Rory Leonard (Andrew Hobdell, Morpeth) moved into a congested lead group in a fast opening lap. As they hit the second lap, Beattie was comfortably in sixth as Jimmy Gressier (FRA) and Thierry Ndikumwenayo (SPA) pulled away up front, stretching the gap to five seconds between them and the chasing pack.
Beattie held his own against a Spanish trio, Aaron Las Heras, Illias Fifa, Abdessamad Oukhelfen, and Lobalu (SUI), as he pushed the pace, putting him into third position. Whilst slightly further back, Leonard maintained his position within the top twenty.
Beattie went back and forth with Lobalu in the last lap, and in the final 100m it was a sprint up the hill, both crossing the finish line with a photo finish. Unfortunately, Beattie just missed out on third place, finishing in a very respectable fourth.
Leonard crossed the line in 17th, then Jacob Cann (Western Tempo) in 29TH, resulting in fourth place for the Novuna GB & NI senior men’s team, just behind Ireland in third.
Beattie said: “I felt very up and down in the race, the way the course was pretty impossible to get into any sort of rhythm. So I went into a lot stages of not feeling great and then feeling good again. I would say it felt very mixed in the race but I was just trying to cover moves and stay relaxed early doors.
“I took the lead with 600m to go, and I tried to make my move then and put the pressure on, as I know what Lobablu has done on the track, winning a few European medals, and I know he has a good kick. I thought if I can drag it out of him a little bit from further out I thought I may have a chance than a 100m sprint which it turned out to be in the end.
“I gave it everything I had to line and ran the race I thought I should. It is validation to me that I can compete at this level and get it done on the day, hopefully that can translate next year.”
A fantastic team performance from Ava Lloyd, Jack Higgins, Holly Dixon and Callum Elson in the mixed relay in an exciting race for Novuna GB & NI to take home the bronze medal.
It was only Turkey that put a male on the opening leg, who ran away at the front. Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District) ran a great first leg of 1300m, keeping with the front of the pack. She handed the wristband over to Jack Higgins (Mark Hookway, Tonbridge) in fifth place, putting him in a good position. He ran a confident second leg, working behind the lead Italian alongside the France and Ireland runners.
Higgins passed over the band to Holly Dixon (Cambridge) in second, who set off sitting on Italy’s shoulder, working in the gaps where she could, pushing the pace at the front to give Callum Elson (Andrew Hobdell, Cambridge & Coleridge) the best possible position on the final lap.
Elson went off behind the Italian, finding himself running solo with France a few seconds behind as the 1500m world champion and home favourite, Isaac Nader (POR), made serious progress through the ranks, overtaking Elson for second. This did not faze Elson, who held strong for the bronze with a sprint finish.
Elson said; “I have had more comfortable runs. It was good from an atmosphere perspective, as he is the home favourite. Even though I could hear the crowd getting louder and louder as he was catching me up I would try and use it myself. It is an exciting way to run.
“I knew he was going to come flying past, and whoever he brought with him, they would have to be working quite hard to be with him too. It was just about staying as calm as possible and not panicking and not thinking I have blown it. It was about digging in and doing what needed to be done.”
In the men’s U20 race, the Novuna GB & NI team won a silver medal by a single point just ahead of Spain in third.
Alex Lennon (Nick Hancock, Sutton & District) began the race in the front ten runners as the group weaved through the twists and turns of the first lap, with teammate Will Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole AC) a few paces behind, whilst the rest of the Great Britain team held firm in the middle.
Lennon and Rabjohns held on well in the Portuguese sun on the final lap, maintaining 14th and 15th positions. Rabjohns surged on to finish 12th as the first Brit home, 22 seconds behind the Belgian winner. Lennon closely followed him in 15th whilst teammate Michael Clark (Jane Clark, City of Norwich) faced drama early in the race, losing his spike in the first lap, but came home in 18th to help his team finish second on the podium.
Alex Lennon said; “I am happy with the run today. I went out hard, I relaxed into it and I kept with the pack. At the end I still had a lot to give and was able to pluck off a few places which I am really happy with.”
In the women’s U23 race, the women’s team finished in fifth after a gutsy performance.
Emily Parker (Kyle Bennett, Poole AC) was the first British athlete over the line in 13th after pacing herself well throughout, gradually working her way through the top twenty in the pack as the race went on. Megan Harris (Hayley Hemmings, Chelmsford) held on well to finish 19th, and a strong finish from Rebecca Flaherty in 21st and India Barwell in 22nd.
Parker said; “I am really happy, I was focusing on the top 15 in the race. Start was so pushy, which was a bit of a shock, then I spent the first lap working my way up and holding myself up, as it was hot! It helped having shorter laps.”
In the U23 men’s race, Matt Ramsden (Edmund Finucane, Blackburn) ran a solid race, holding his own in the lead group, finishing sixth as the first Brit home on debut.
As the pack stretched out, Ramsden maintained his spot in the top eight as reigning champion Will Barnicoat (Aldershot, Farnham & District) sat a few seconds behind, his preparation for these championships being disrupted by a slight Achilles injury.
Ireland and France pushed on at the front to create a gap between the group as they hit the bell, with Ramsden holding comfortably a few seconds behind.
Following Ramsden in sixth, Will Barnicoat finished in 14th, followed by Finley Proffitt (Dean Miller, Trafford) in 31st, as the third Brit home, making it a close fourth place in the team standings.
Ramsden said, “It was unbelievable, the aim was about using the momentum from Liverpool and having a good run today and over the moon to get it done.
“It was tough, it was like a BMX track, it is hard to keep up the pace and changing all the time. Up hills and down hills all the time, and the little BMX jumps that we had to get over. The lactic hits you with the change of pace, and it’s hard to gain any distance on anyone, so I was just happy to stay up there for as long as I could, and to come sixth, I am over the moon.”
Results: https://live.european-athletics.com/lagoa-2025/timetable
Novuna Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal tally:
Gold: Innes FitzGerald (U20 women), U20 women
Silver: Megan Keith (senior women), senior women, U20 men
Bronze: Mixed Relay
