A Wirral athlete is blazing a trail in endurance running after winning a half-marathon in America with a record-breaking time.
Emily Kearney, from Prenton, triumphed at the Mortgage Network Half Marathon in Hardeeville, South Carolina on Sunday (December 6) in a remarkable new personal best time of 72.21.
In doing so, the 25-year-old Wirral Athletics Club runner not only set a new South Carolina record but also a new Merseyside record.
Underlining her credentials as the most exciting talent in Merseyside endurance running in a generation, her performance was the fastest time by a Merseyside athlete for almost 40 years.
The previous record was set in 1985, along with other key Merseyside records such as the 5,000m and 10,000m.
The Mortgage Network Half Marathon is a famous race in the States, held on the US Championship course, and carries a top prize of $1,000.
Emily's Wirral AC coach Ronan Kearney said: "Continual progress over the last decade is now leading to Emily breaking records and delivering international standard performances.
"She has set her sights on breaking every Merseyside record from 3,000m to the Marathon, and this incredible run puts her firmly on the path."
Emily has come up through the ranks of the Wirral endurance program, which has been winning praise throughout 2020 as Merseyside's strongest endurance training group.
In the next couple of years she hopes to run in a major International Championship. Recently she was named on the Welsh Commonwealth Games long list, and Birmingham 2022 is firmly in her sights.
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