An overall ninth place for the Novuna Great Britain and Northern Ireland team (GB & NI) at the 2026 World Cross Country Championships in Florida, with the junior men’s team securing a close 5th place in the team event.
The mixed relay team kicked off the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, on a course inspired by Florida terrain and peppered with sand, water, mud, and obstacles.
George Couttie (coach:Ben Thomas, Club:Harrogate) started the mixed relay on the opening leg, finishing his 2K lap in eighth position, working hard to stick with the front pack before handing over to India Weir (Andrew Hobdell, Cambridge), who climbed up to seventh. Both making their senior international debuts.
Adam Fogg (Cory Leslie, Coventry) fought hard on the third leg, running solo around the Florida-themed course, retaining the seventh position as he handed the armband to team captain Alex Millard (Mark Coogan, Invicta East Kent), who brought it home for the team, finishing in a respectable seventh position.
A fantastic performance from David Mullarkey (Andrew Henerson, Leeds City) finishing 26th in the senior men’s race. He secured the best finish by a Brit in the senior men’s race since Mo Farah finished 20th in 2010. Having been based in Florida in recent years, the climate and ground were familiar territory.
“It’s an honour and privilege. I like to thank all the people out there shouting for me, my home away from home.”
“I did a good job of staying calm and collected, and I think that reflected in me moving up, pacing it well to start with and move up the field. I was competing against some of the top guys in the world, so it’s great for where I want to be now, but for the future of moving forward and getting higher and higher.”
Matthew Ramsden (Edmund Finucane, Blackburn) followed in 53rd on his senior international debut, Jacob Cann (Western Tempo) in 71st, and Rory Leonard (Andrew Hobdell, Morpeth), who battled with the elements, finishing in 79th.
A gutsy performance from the senior women’s team, facing over 100 entrants into the event, finishing 7th in the team standings in challenging conditions in the heat of the day.
For the entirety of the race, Megan Keith (Ross Cairns, Inverness) pushed forward, chasing a top 20 position and sitting around 14th for most of the race. Unfortunately, she slipped to finish 25th after the heat took its toll on the last lap. The European silver medalist said she took a chance with her race today. “I wanted to take a risk today, and I am proud that I did. I came a bit undone on the last lap, but I don’t regret giving it a shot.
“It has got to be the hardest race in the world. It is a humbling experience, but you know you’re taking on the best runners in the world and see how you stack up, and it’s all about balancing that line.”
Poppy Tank (City of Plymouth) finished four places behind Keith at 29th after running in a approached manner, she admitted she was careful with how she began the race, “It was very hard, I went out very cautiously and I know from Australia how hot and long it is, it’s the longest cross course route we do and I made sure I felt as good as I could until about three laps to go and then just slowly started picking people off.”
“It means a lot to be on the world stage, I coach myself, I do a lot of things on my own, I train alone and I am very independent to a fault but I am really proud of myself and with the girls, I am really good friends with all three of them and I love competing with them and it’s always a great honour.”
Pheobe Anderson (Laurie Henes, Herne Hill) finished in 35th, and Verity Ockenden (Swansea) in 41st. The squad ran much of the race in close proximity to one another, with Tank noting the importance of camaraderie.
“It is amazing to be on the course with your team and to work together, even if it is an individual sport, and it means a lot to rally each other along, it’s really special.”
An incredible team performance from the Novuna GB & NI men’s junior team, finishing in a close fifth place. It was Norwich’s Michael Clark (Jane Clark, City of Norwich) who finished an impressive 20th. “I’m over the moon, it’s what I’ve been training for a long time. The fact that I could finally have nothing happen to me and go out shows the level of fitness I am in. I am really happy with that.”
At the Europeans, Clark’s result was despite one of his spikes falling off in the first lap, laughing about managing the issue for the Worlds, he said, “I’ve got tape on them [his trainers] so that’s the important thing.”
Luke Dunham (Andrew Hobdell, Herts Phoenix) followed in 24th, with his pacing and level head key factors in his competitive finish.
“It was incredible but so hot, at times I was really struggling out there. You come from 0 °C and snow to 22 °C and 99% humidity. We’re used to running 4/5K; this was 8K, and in this heat, you must set off a lot slower. I just tried to reel everyone in on the last two laps.”
The final two members of the team, Alex Lennon (Nick Hancock, Sutton & District) and Jonson Hughes (Andrew Henderson, Rotherham), crossed the line at 32nd and 35th, respectively. Their consistency across all four performances earned them a 5th place in the team standings.
“To come fifth is bittersweet, we’ve got a young team and next time round we’ll come back on the podium and do Britain proud,” Lennon said.
In the women’s junior race, it was the two runners who were part of the U20 European gold medal-winning team, who crossed the line first, with Eliza Nicholson (Joe Franklin, Blackheath & Bromley) being the first Brit over the line in 35th and Zara Redmond (Sarah Dempsey, Kilbarchan) coming in at 49th.
Maisey Bellwood (Keighley & Craven) crossed at 54th and Kitty Scott (Mick Woods, Aldershot, Farnham & District), the youngest member of the team started strong but struggled in the conditions and didn’t finish.
Nicholson was candid about how difficult the track was, especially with the lengthy season she had. “That was so tough, I don’t think any sort of training can prepare. It’s been a long season for me, I think that prepared me a bit better for today for this race and the temperature.”
“There was no place that you could get into a steady rhythm. But this has been one of the loveliest trips I have ever been on: I am so proud of every single one of the girls here.“
