 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Victoria Wilkinson |
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 19 August 1978 |
Victoria Wilkinson (born 19 August 1978 [1] ) is an English runner and cyclo-cross rider who was a world mountain running champion at junior level and who has several times been a national fell running champion as a senior athlete.
Wilkinson displayed significant talent as a junior, winning national fell running titles at under-16 and under-18 level. She also finished second in the English Schools Cross Country Championships in 1996. At that time she was coached by her father Chris who was also a runner and cyclo-cross competitor who had won the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross in 1972. Victoria was also advised by Keith Anderson and others. [2] Her most notable result as a young athlete was victory in the junior race at the World Mountain Running Trophy in 1997. [3]
A knee injury interrupted Wilkinson’s running career and she turned her attention to cyclo-cross, in which she competed at the World Championships. [4] She was a winner of the national cyclo-cross series [5] and had four consecutive second-place finishes in the British National Cyclo-cross Championships between 2002 and 2005. [6] She finished fifth in the World Cup series race at St. Wendel in Germany in 2003. [7] Some years later, despite limited experience on the type of course, she won the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross in 2012. [8]
Around 2006, Wilkinson returned to more frequent racing as a runner. She has represented her country multiple times in both the World Mountain Running Championships and the European Mountain Running Championships. Her results in the global championships include eleventh place in both 2006 [9] and 2016. [10] At the European level, she was fifth in 2008 [11] and sixth in 2015. [12]
Wilkinson won the Šmarna Gora Race in Slovenia in 2007, the victory giving her enough points to finish second overall in the World Mountain Running Association Grand Prix that year. [13] She competed at the Commonwealth Mountain Running Championships in 2009 [14] and 2011, [15] finishing fifth on both occasions.
She also raced cross country, finishing second in the UK Cross Challenge series in 2006-2007 [16] and ninth at Cinque Mulini in 2009. [17] In 2010, Wilkinson was first in the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships, [18] second in the North of England Championships [19] and fifth in the English National Championships. [20]
In the 2010s, Wilkinson has been prominent in fell running. She was the inter-counties champion in 2010. [21] She won the British Fell Running Championships in 2013 (jointly with Helen Fines) [22] and 2014 (jointly with Jackie Lee) [23] and the English Fell Running Championships in 2013 (jointly with Helen Fines), [24] 2014, [25] 2015, [26] 2016 and 2017. [27]
In 2014, Wilkinson won the Three Peaks Race, thereby becoming the first woman to win both the running and cyclo-cross versions of that event. [28] In the running version, she set a new women's course record of 3:09:19 in the 2017 race. [29]
She set a new record at the Tour of Pendle in 2017, taking thirteen minutes off the previous best women's time which had been set by Angela Mudge in 1997. [30]
Wilkinson's victories in 2018 included a new fastest time at the Kentmere Horseshoe in July [31] and a win at Burnsall in August where she broke the long-standing record which had been held by Carol Greenwood since 1983. [32] Wilkinson followed this with a new record of 1:43:01 in the Ben Nevis Race [33] and two weeks later earned the silver medal in the Ring of Steall Skyrace at the Skyrunning World Championships. [34]
In 2022, Wilkinson won the over-40 category at the World Masters Mountain Running Championships. [35]
Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport on the fells of northern Britain, especially those in the Lake District. It has elements of trail running, cross country and mountain running, but is also distinct from those disciplines.
Andrew "Andi" Jones is an English athlete who specialises in road, cross country, and mountain/fell running, and has competed for England and Great Britain. In 2003, he finished fourth in the World Mountain Trophy in Alaska. Closer to home, he competes for Stockport Harriers. Although one of the UK's leading distance runners, Andi chooses to work full-time alongside his running career and was employed as head of Design and Technology at Falinge Park High School, Rochdale. In 2014, Jones emigrated to Qatar.
Robert Jebb is an English fell runner, skyrunner, and cyclo-cross rider. He has won the annual Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross in the Yorkshire Dales a record twelve times since 2000, is a four-time-winner of the Three Peaks Race in the same region and broke Catalan dominance in the Buff Skyrunner World Series when he became champion in 2005.
Ian Holmes is an English fell runner who was the national champion several times in the 1990s and 2000s and represented his country at the World Trophy and European Trophy.
Carol Greenwood is an English former runner who won the World Mountain Running Trophy and was twice a national fell running champion.
Mark Croasdale is an English athlete who was a British fell running champion and competed in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics.
Gavin Bland is a British fell runner who was a British and English champion and represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Mark Kinch is an English former runner who was a national fell running champion and represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy in the mid-1990s.
Andrew Pearson is a British long-distance runner who mainly had success in cross country running. He made eight appearances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and was an individual and team bronze medallist at the 1995 European Cross Country Championships. He also won silver medals at the European Mountain Running Championships in 1998.
Angela Brand-Barker is a British runner who was a national fell running champion and represented her country at the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Simon Roger Arthur Bailey is an English runner who has been a national fell running champion several times and who has represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Robert Hope is an English runner who has been a national fell running champion several times and who has represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Simon Booth is an English runner who was twice the British fell running champion and who has represented his country at the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Jasmin Karina Paris is a British runner who has been a national fell running champion and who has set records for the Bob Graham Round and the Ramsay Round.
The Three Shires Fell Race is an annual Lake District fell race held in September, starting and finishing at the Three Shires Inn in Little Langdale. After an initial run along the valley, the route climbs steeply to Wetherlam, then down to Prison Band and up to the summit of Swirl How. The course then drops to the Three Shire Stone at the top of the Wrynose Pass, the meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. An ascent of Pike of Blisco follows, then the route drops to Blea Tarn before the final climb to Lingmoor Fell and descent to the finish.
Ricky William Lightfoot is a British runner who has been a world champion in trail running and a medallist in the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge.
Mark Alan Rigby is a British runner who was a national hill running champion and who represented Scotland in the World Mountain Running Trophy.
Tracey Brindley is a British runner who has been a medallist at the World Mountain Running Trophy and a national fell running champion.
The Coniston Fell Race is an annual Lake District fell race held in April or May, starting and finishing in the village of Coniston. The route is approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) in length with 1,065 metres (3,494 ft) of ascent and takes in checkpoints on the summits of Wetherlam, Swirl How and the Old Man of Coniston.
Andrew Styan is a British fell runner who was the national champion in 1979.