STROUD & District AC athlete Tom Mortimer and his coach Chris Brown have been selected as one of the 32 British athletes/coaches to receive funding and support from both British Athletics and the London Marathon Events Ltd in a join partnership in 2019.

“Barry Fudge, Head of Endurance at British Athletics, said: “British endurance athletes have proven they’re among the best in the world and it is fantastic to have the support of London Marathon Events Ltd as we strive towards helping these athletes be the best prepared they can be for the biggest competitions. We are delighted to be working in partnership with London Marathon Events Ltd and we look forward to next year’s Virgin Money London Marathon and seeing what British athletes can achieve as we build towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”

It is the first time London Marathon Events 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 World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) and to improve the standard of British endurance running across all distances.

The athletes were short listed by a panel of British Athletics and London Marathon Events endurance experts, with the final decision made by British Athletics, and range from middle-distance runners to marathon specialists.

Coach: Chris Brown, said: “Tom is the only junior selected for this and we are both looking forward to working with British Athletics and the London Marathon Events Ltd in 2019 to continue Tom’s progress, up until now we have self- funded and have been very grateful to the committee of Stroud & District AC for their support.”