Lymington runner Valeria Sesto and Hampshire teammates to take on Inter-County National 20-mile Championships

LYMINGTON Athletes founder Valeria Sesto has earned the right to represent Hampshire with three other talented athletes at the Inter-County National 20-mile Championships in Essex.

The four-woman team includes Lymington Athletes, Lymington Triathlon Club (LTC) and New Forest Runners member Sesto, Ryde Harriers’ Holly Newton and Charlie Metcalfe, and Southampton AC’s Ellie Monks.

The last time Hampshire had a team was in 2020, just before the country entered the nationwide lockdown. However, the event is now back up and running, and the ladies have achieved qualifying times to make up a powerful team.

Two team members produced their qualifying times at the Gosport Half Marathon. Metcalfe crossed the line as the third woman in 1:23:06, with Sesto in fifth in 1:24:32.

The team is managed by former local international athlete Kathryn Bailey, who lived in New Milton and began her running career as a New Forest Runner before moving to Winchester.

Bailey and Sesto had a period competing together as one’s competitive time ended and the other’s started. Similarly, the experienced Sesto’s years overlap Metcalfe and Monks’ beginnings.

Sesto and Metcalfe first competed in the elite team at the Brighton Marathon in 2018. Meanwhile, Monks is a fast cross-country and track runner who recently transitioned to long-distance running.

Hampshire Athletics supports the team’s travel and pre-race accommodation, allowing the ladies to focus on racing together.

The Inter-County National 20-mile Championships is this Sunday, 5th March, at 9am.