Chris Carver of Otley Athletic Club has been selected to represent England at the Commonwealth 24-hour Running Championships which will take place in Llandudno, Wales on September 23-24.

A minor knee injury in January limited his fitness but since mid February he has really stepped up the training and he is confident of increasing his best again – and running more than 150 miles in a single day for the first time. If he achieves his aim he would be in with a great chance of a medal.

In the build up to this year’s big race Chris has entered a 100 mile road race at Stratford Upon Avon on June 24. The route is a hilly one using mainly country lanes through the Cotswolds and because of that it’s highly unlikely he’ll approach his best time of 15 hours 21 minutes achieved in Perth last year. His target will be to run the 100 miles in 17 to 18 hours.

Before that he has entered the Fountains 10k which is being run on May from Grantley, near Ripon. He plans to run the 22 miles from his home in Otley to the start before the race. The Commonwealth Champion- ships represent his fourth inter- national selection in two years. He first represented England at the inaugural Commonwealth Ultra Distance Championships in Keswick in 2009. In that event he also took part in the 24 hour race and finished in fifth position covering a distance of 231 km/143 miles. He also won a team silver medal and was the leading Englishman.

His second international event was the World 24-hour Champion- ship race in Brive, France last May. In the highest quality field ever assembled for a 24 hour race Chris finished 53rd out of 229 with a distance of 222 km/138 miles. Although he was disappointed with his run in France he was pleased to come away with a team bronze medal from the concurrent European Championships.

In September he ran in his third international 24 hour race. This time it was in Perth, Scotland and the organisers had invited England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy to send teams. Chris definitely redeemed himself after his disappointment from four months earlier as he won the race with a new personal best of 238 km/148 miles.

Over the past four years Chris has firmly established himself as the country’s most consistent elite runner in 24 hour races and as says he is still improving we can look forward to more international appearances and medals in the years to come.