Press Release - London Marathon - 2/11/20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

             Alex Bell among 30 athletes to be offered funding 
                         by London Marathon Events

World Championships semi-finalist Alex Bell is one of 30 British athletes 
who have been offered funding from London Marathon Events (LME) for the 
2020 season as part of LME's extensive and longstanding support of British 
endurance running.

Bell, who reached the semi-finals of the 800m in Doha last year, was one of 
eight athletes on last year's inaugural LME funding programme who 
represented Great Britain at the 2019 World Championships.

Three others – Marc Scott, Ben Connor and Zak Seddon - continue on the LME 
programme for 2020 while another four – Charlotte Purdue, Steph Twell, 
Aimee Pratt and Neil Gourley – have progressed from LME funding to British 
Athletics' Olympic Podium Potential Funding after hugely successful 
performances in 2019.

The athlete programme is part of a larger £350,000 funding commitment from 
LME to British endurance running that includes support of the World Class 
Performance Programme (WCPP) and training camps for British endurance 
athletes.

Bell said: "I am extremely grateful to receive another year of help from 
London Marathon Events. I had a memorable year on the track last year 
reaching the World Championships semi-finals and now I have the Tokyo 
Olympic Games as my big motivation for 2020. This funding will be crucial 
to help and support me in a year that could be the biggest of my career to 
date."

LME has worked with British Athletics to select the nominated individual 
athletes and the funding is designed to provide a bridge for endurance 
runners to the WCPP and to improve the standard of British endurance 
running across all distances.

In addition to the 15 athletes who are continuing on the funding programme, 
15 new names have been added to the list including Rosie Clarke and 
Elizabeth Bird, who both ran the 3000m steeplechase at last year's World 
Championships, Piers Copeland, 1500m silver medallist at the 2019 Under-23 
European Championships, and Stephanie Davis, who last year ran the ninth 
fastest marathon time in history by a British woman.

The athletes were shortlisted by a panel of British Athletics and London 
Marathon Events endurance experts and range from middle-distance runners to 
marathon specialists. No athlete currently funded through the British 
Athletics WCPP is eligible to receive London Marathon Events individual 
funding.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of London Marathon Events, said: "We are 
passionate about effectively supporting British endurance running and the 
first year of this new initiative of funding individual athletes has 
produced good results. Eight of our funded athletes were selected for the 
World Championships and now four of those have progressed onto the British 
Athletics Olympic Podium Potential Programme. The aim of this funding was 
to provide a pathway for talented endurance athletes and these results show 
it is working.

"We wish this year's funded athletes every success and we hope to see a 
number of them in Team GB at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer."

The full list of athletes to be offered London Marathon Events funding is:

- Mohamud Aadan (Thames Valley)
- Charlotte Arter (Cardiff AAC)
- Alexandra Bell (Pudsey & Bramley)
- Elizabeth Bird (Shaftesbury Barnet)
- Emile Cairess (Leeds City)
- Hayley Carruthers (Birchfield Harriers)
- Rosie Clarke (Epsom & Ewell)
- Natasha Cockram (Micky Morris Racing Team)
- Jamaine Coleman (Preston)
- Ben Connor (Derby)
- Piers Copeland (Wimborne)
- Stephanie Davis (Clapham Chasers)
- Nick Goolab (Belgrave Harriers)
- Derek Hawkins (Kilbarchan AAC)
- Jake Heyward (Cardiff AAC)
- Sarah Inglis (Lothian Running Club)
- Tish Jones (Belgrave Harriers)
- Matt Leach (Bedford & County)
- Jonny Mellor (Liverpool Harriers)
- Amy-Eloise Neale (Wakefield District Harriers)
- Jennifer Nesbitt (Cardiff AAC)
- Verity Ockenden (Swansea Harriers)
- Chris O'Hare (Edinburgh AC)
- Lily Partridge (Birchfield Harriers)
- Marc Scott (Cambridge & Coleridge)
- Zak Seddon (Bracknell AC)
- Jake Smith (Cardiff AAC)
- Jenny Spink (Bristol & West)
- Chris Thompson (Aldershot Farnham & District)
- Alice Wright (Worcester AC)

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