Endurance coach backs Britton’s marathon bid

The shock announcement on Sunday that Fionnuala Britton will run in the marathon at the European Championships on August 16 is a high-risk strategy which has raised eyebrows in the athletics community.

Britton has never run a half-marathon, let alone a marathon, and is also planning on running the 10,000m at the championships on August 12.

The Kilcoole athlete is a last-minute addition alongside DSD’s Sarah Mulligan, both coached by national endurance coach Chris Jones, to compete in The Marathon Cup, a team competition run in conjunction with the European Championships Marathon, with results based on the national team’s three fastest finishers.