Current Athletes

 

	Carla Molinaro. Carla is a self-employed strength coach who seeks out challenges that are slightly harder than the average. She is the current ladies record holder of Land’s End to John O’Groats (874 miles in 12 days) and has also ran across South Africa. She has represented GB at the 100km World Championships and in 2021 ran a 100km P.B. of 8:01 in the Hoka Project Carbon X2. In the last three years she has ran P.B.s over 10km (36’46”), half marathon (77’14”), and marathon (2hrs 38mins). Carla has finished an outstanding 3rd in the 56km Two Oceans Marathon and 3rd in Comrades Marathon in a staggering 6 hours and 23 seconds. In 2023 she won the IAU World 50km Championships in India in 3 hours 18 mins. In 2026 Carla made returned to trail running, where she finished an excellent 10th at the Black Canyon 100k.
	Fiona Pascall. Fiona has been running competitively for 5 years and runs for Adidas Terrex. In that times she has finished 1st in the 100km Fellsman Ultra in 12 hrs 8 mins, 1st in the Wendover Woods 50 in 8hrs 33mins, 1st in the Arc of Attrition 50 in 8hrs 18mins, and set the record on the Lake District 24 Hour Fell Round (68 Peaks in 23 hrs 26 mins)! In her first race overseas, the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Champs in Innsbruck (85km / +6500m), she finished 18th and first British athlete. She won her first 100 miler (the Julian Alps Trail Run) in 24hrs 39mins. Most recently she has won the Mozart 100k, Wildstrubel 100k, North Downs Way 50 miler, the Chianti 120k, and the Lake Sonoma 100k. And has finished 5th and 8th at the Western States 100.
	Eve Moore. Based in the North of England, Eve has competed in a number of disciplines in recent years, including Crossfit and Spartan racing. Her first ultra was the Swiss Engadin Ultra Trail (102km and +5740m) in 2021, which she finished in 17 hours and 30 minutes. In 2022 Eve put in a couple of really great performances. She took the overall win in the 90km Iznik Ultra in Turkey in 10 hours and finished second in her first 100 miler, the Lakeland 100, in an excellent 24 hours and 47 minutes. Recent highlights for Eve have included a commanding win in the prestigious Mozart 100, 4th in the Swiss Canyon Trail 115k, 6th in Ultra Trail Cape Town, a win in the Goat Ultra 70k in UAE, and a stunning victory in the Ultra Trail Australia 100k in 10 hours 55 mins! Eve started 2026 well with 7th in the Chianti 120k.
	Steph McCall. Steph is from London and runs for the same club as Carla, Clapham Chasers. She’s been running competitively on the road and track for nearly 18 years. Her road PBs currently stand at 16’37” for 5km, 35’05” for 10km, 58’37” for 10 miles, 75’41” for the Half Marathon, and 2hrs 44mins for the Marathon. Steph has recently stepped up to racing ultra marathons and in 2024 finished an excellent 10th in the Two Oceans 56km road race in 3hrs 55mins. In 2025 she made her 100km debut in the Anglo Celtic Plate and finished 5th in 8hrs 26mins. She also won and set a CR in the Bondi to Manly 80km in 6hrs 47mins. In 2026 Steph returned to Two Oceans and made her debut in the Comrades Marathon, where she finished 17th in the Up Run in an excellent 6hrs 52mins.
	Jen Holmes. Jen is a self-employed strength and conditioning coach at Embrace Fitness and is based in the Lake District. She has only been running for three years. In that time she has progressed very quickly. In her first race, the 2023 Montane Lakeland 50, she finished 30th in 11hrs 30mins. A year later she won the Lakeland Trails Ultra 100k in 13hrs 47mins. More recently, Jen has finished 3rd in the Lake District Sky Trails St Sunday Sky Race and 5th in the Snowdon Sky Race. Future goals include Lakes In A Day, the Bob Graham Round, the Snowdonia 100k, the Lakeland 100, and the Dragon’s Back Race!
	Emi Dixon. Emi started to train seriously in 2018, when she ran her first trail race in Laos. Since then she has competed at an increasingly high level in many of the world’s finest trail races. In order of appearance: 8th in the Mozart 100 and 11th in Ultra Trail Cape Town in 2019. 2nd in the South Downs Way 100, 7th in Sainte Lyon, and 18th in CCC in 2021. 4th in the MIUT 60k, 2nd in Innsbruck Alpine Trail 65k, and 8th in the Lavaredo Ultra Trail 80k in 2022. 8th in the Istra by UTMB Ultra Trail 68k in 2023. 3rd in the Innsbruck Alpine Trail 65k, 10th in the Lavaredo 80k, and 6th in the Swiss Alps 50k in 2024. She has started 2026 in great form with 2nd in the Penyagolosa 107k!
	Ellen Cheetham. Ellen is based in the Lakes and has been running competitively for about four years. She specializes in trail running, although she has done a fair amount of road running and has a marathon PB of 2:55. Her first big ultra was Ultra X Wales in 2023. In 2024 she ran the Wildstrubel by UTMB 110km and the Centurion Running Autumn 100 miler, where she finished 3rd in 18 hours 26 mins. In 2025 she also finished 3rd in the Ultra Trail Nice cote d’Azur 100 miler in just over 26 hours. In 2026 Ellen finished 2nd in the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 80k. She also ran her first UTMB, where she finished in 28hrs 37mins, placing 44th overall and 4th British woman.
	Rada Bakic. Rada is based in UAE, and has been running competitively for about eight years. In this time she has raced in many of the world’s toughest trail races and ultras. In no particular order these include: UTMB, Marathon des Sables, the Ultra X World Championships (in 2022), the Jahorina 140km Ultra, the Dalmacija 122k Ultra, Doi Inthanon by UTMB 175km, the Urban Ultra Mt. Sana in UAE, Mauritius by UTMB, KAT 100 by UTMB, the Al Hajar Range 114km Ultra in Oman, the 100km G.O.A.T. Ultra Trail race in UAE, Amazean Jungle Thailand by UTMB, the Translantau 80km, and the Julian Alps Trail Run by UTMB! Future plans include more of the same!
	Josh Bakker-Dyos. Josh is an anaesthetist and a Royal Navy Commando. He has been a runner for most of his life and started ultra-running in 2019, finishing 7th in the Glencoe Skyline. In 2020 Josh recorded solo half-marathon (78’43”) and marathon (2hrs 43mins) P.B.s, ran two FKTs (5hrs 12mins for the Pentland 500s and 9hrs 34mins for the Mullardoch Round), won the Lakes Mountain 42 race, and completed an impressive Rigby Round (20hrs 44mins). 2021 and 2022 were great years with a win in the Cairngorms 60km Ultra, 4th in the Lakeland Trails 100km, a win in the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100 miler, and 2nd in the Highland Fling race. In 2023 Josh put in great performances in two of the world’s toughest 100kms – Ultra Pirineu and Ultra Trail Cape Town.
	Matt Elkington. In his 10 years as a competitive runner, Matt has racked up an impressive array of performances in Orienteering and Fell Running. As a member of Ambleside A.C. and the Octavian Droobers, Matt has podiumed in too many races to mention here. Since joining the VO2max Coaching team in 2021 Matt has really upped his game. After a promising first full cross-country season, in which he competed in several national level competitions, he performed excellently with the map and compass, culminating in a historic team win in the prestigious Jan Kjellstrom Orienteering Festival. Matt started the 2022 fell running season with a win in the Coledale Horseshoe, secured 2nd place overall in the British Fell and Hill Champs, and ended his season as English Fell Running Champion!!!
	Harry Jones. Janji and Merrell sponsored Harry ran his first 100km race in Thailand in 2014. Since then he has chalked up an impressive CV. He has won the Translantau 100km, the TNF 100 Thailand, and the Nine Dragons 50. He has also finished 2nd in the Mozart 100 and the TNF Hong Kong 100, 3rd at Ultra Trail Australia, the Cappadocia Ultra and the Tarawera 100k, 4th at Penyagolosa and TGC, 7th at Lavaredo, 8th at CCC, and 15th at UTMB! In 2022 he finished 11th in the World Trail Running Championships. In the past couple of years Harry has ran his quickest race at CCC (11hrs 36mins) and also put in great performances in many big events that include the Istria 110k, Templiers 80k, Swiss Canyons 100k, UTS 50k, and Transvulcania. He most recently won the Translantau 120km race.
	Sam Atkinson. Sam has been running competitively for five years. His main interests – in no particular order – are trail, cross country, road, track, and fell running. Sam started his running career on the trails. He has won the Skyrun Eryri Copper Trail, the Swiss Alps 100 Vertical race, and finished 2nd in the UTS 25k. Sam has also put in some very strong performances in the Golden Trail National Series – the 35km Vuurtoren Trail, 25km KVK in Cornwall, and the 30km King of Spain Trail. In 2025 Sam joined Leeds Athletics Club and decided to focus exclusively on road, cross country and track. After a very successful cross-country season, Sam has started 2026 well with a big Half Marathon PB of 69:29 in Cambridge and a big 10 km PB of 31:50 in Pulford!
	Steven Murphy. A former soccer player, Steven hails from Scotland and took up trail running seriously in 2024. In this short time he has raced only in the UK and enjoys the challenge of the big mountains. In 2024 he raced Ultra X Scotland, the Devil O’ The Highlands, and the Cairngorms Ultra. So far in 2025 he has made very good progress with a 4th place finish in the Glentress Trail Marathon, and a great 2nd in the tough Lake District 50k. For the rest of 2025, Steven is eyeing up some slightly bigger challenges in the UTMB World Series. He ran his first 100km race – Ultra Trail Snowdonia (105km / +6800m) – in an outstanding 17 hours 5 minutes, and followed that up with a great run in the Wildstrubel by UTMB 50km race.
	Jude Wejchert. At 18, Jude is the newest member of the VO2max Coaching team and also the youngest! After two years of self-coaching and experimentation over various distances (including a 70 km mountain ultra!), he’s chosen to stick to short races for now! He won his first IMRA race this week at Sugarloaf (8km/+600m) in 40’40”. In 2026, Jude ran for Ireland in the VK and Trail race in the World Youth Skyrunning Championships in Croatia. Jude also recently won the Irish selection race for the under-20 Home Countries International and finished 11th overall and first Irish athlete in the Junior Home Countries Mountain Running International.
	Harry Kavanagh Finch. Harry is based in Ireland and has been running competitively since 2018. In that time he has ran over a range of distances on the roads and trails from 10km to 100km. His first ultra was the 60km Ambleside Trail Run in 2019. Since then he has raced the Snowdonia by UTMB 50k (in 2021), and the Istria by UTMB 68k in 2022, along with Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100km. Harry has raced many shorter events since then, most recently the Stelvio Trail Run in July 2026 – a half marathon that climbs 2100m to the top of Passo Stelvio in Italy – and the SkyRun Eryri Copper Trail (27km / +2300m).
	Richard James. Richard is based in the North East and runs for Morpeth Harriers. He started running seriously in 2019. In that time he has raced almost exclusively on the roads and has made very good progress. He has reduced his Half Marathon PB down from 86’30” to 75’09”, and his marathon PB down from 2 hrs 54 mins to 2 hrs 41 mins. Richard is currently trying to obtain the London Marathon Championship entry standard of sub-2:40.