Lymington athlete Valeria Sesto picked by England for 2022 Anglo Celtic Plate 100k
LYMINGTON’S Valeria Sesto has been picked by England Athletics to be part of the team contesting the 2022 Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in April.
Sesto, originally from Argentina, won the 50k England Athletics Ultra Championship in 2014 on her ultra-running debut. The Lymington Athletes and Lymington Triathlon Club founder’s winning time of 3:36:48 was among the fastest ever run by a British woman at that distance.
Sesto, who won the 2020 New Forest Marathon, carries extensive 100k experience, including winning two Changa Ford Gobi International 100k in China, and has good form over trail ultras in the past two years.
Sesto said: “I’m so incredibly humbled and proud to have been selected to be part of this talented English team.
“The phone call last week took me completely by surprise.
“Luckily, I’m fit and training cause the race is only a couple of months away.
“It has been hard two years for us all, but when you are a sportsperson getting to the other end of your career, two years mean a lot.”
Sesto’s last ultra-running event of this kind on the road was the 2018 100k World Championship in Croatia, in which she came first in the 40+ age category and 15th overall.
Sesto added: “Being unable to race some of the official races due to the pandemic, I lost all my time standards. So I was selected without a recent qualifying event, meaning the selectors looked at my performance in races throughout last year and my consistency over the 100k distance in the past.
“They believe my experience over the distance, racing strategy, and mindset will enrich the rest of the team, which has some much younger athletes.
“Who would have thought that I would still be qualifying for an international event and that I can still, just about, win a parkrun.”
A member of all three local clubs, Lymington Athletes, Lymington Triathlon and New Forest Runners, Sesto says she hopes to continue inspiring others, particularly girls, to believe in themselves and achieve their dreams.
