Victoria Wilkinson (born 19 August 1978) is an English runner and

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

rider who was a world mountain running champion at junior level and who has several times been a national

fell running Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

champion as a senior athlete.

Biography

Wilkinson displayed significant talent as a junior, winning national fell running titles at under-16 and under-18 level. She also finished second in the English Schools Cross Country Championships in 1996. At that time she was coached by her father Chris who was also a runner and cyclo-cross competitor who had won the

Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross The Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross is an annual cyclo-cross event over the Yorkshire three peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent, in Yorkshire, England. It is organised by Bradford Racing Cycling Club on the last weekend of September. Ov ...

in 1972. Victoria was also advised by Keith Anderson and others. Her most notable result as a young athlete was victory in the junior race at the World Mountain Running Trophy in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. A knee injury interrupted Wilkinson’s running career and she turned her attention to cyclo-cross, in which she competed at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. She was a winner of the national cyclo-cross series and had four consecutive second-place finishes in the

British National Cyclo-cross Championships The British National Cyclo-cross Championships are held annually. The winners of each event are awarded with a symbolic white cycling jersey featuring blue and red stripes, which can be worn by the rider at other cyclo-cross events in the countr ...

between 2002 and 2005. She finished fifth in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

series race at St. Wendel in Germany in 2003. Some years later, despite limited experience on the type of course, she won the

in 2012. Around 2006, Wilkinson returned to more frequent racing as a runner. She has represented her country multiple times in both the

World Mountain Running Championships The World Mountain Running Championships (''World Mountain Running Trophy'' until 2008), is an international mountain running competition contested by athletes of the members of WMRA, World Mountain Running Association, the sport's global governi ...

and the European Mountain Running Championships. Her results in the global championships include eleventh place in both 2006 and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. At the European level, she was fifth in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and sixth in 2015. Wilkinson won the Šmarna Gora Race in Slovenia in 2007, the victory giving her enough points to finish second overall in the World Mountain Running Association Grand Prix that year. She competed at the Commonwealth Mountain Running Championships in 2009 and 2011, finishing fifth on both occasions. She also raced cross country, finishing second in the UK Cross Challenge series in 2006-2007 and ninth at Cinque Mulini in 2009. In 2010, Wilkinson was first in the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships, second in the North of England Championships and fifth in the English National Championships. In the 2010s, Wilkinson has been prominent in fell running. She was the inter-counties champion in 2010. She won the

British Fell Running Championships The first British Fell Running Championships, then known as Fell Runner of the Year, were held in 1972 and the scoring was based on results in all fell running, fell races. In 1976 this was changed to the runner's best ten category A races and furt ...

in 2013 (jointly with Helen Fines) and 2014 (jointly with Jackie Lee) and the English Fell Running Championships in 2013 (jointly with Helen Fines), 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2014, Wilkinson won the Three Peaks Race, thereby becoming the first woman to win both the running and cyclo-cross versions of that event. In the running version, she set a new women's course record of 3:09:19 in the 2017 race. She set a new record at the Tour of Pendle in 2017, taking thirteen minutes off the previous best women's time which had been set by Angela Mudge in 1997. Wilkinson's victories in 2018 included a new fastest time at the Kentmere Horseshoe in July and a win at

Burnsall Burnsall is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, and is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The village is approximately south-east from Grassington. It has ...

in August where she broke the long-standing record which had been held by Carol Greenwood since 1983. Wilkinson followed this with a new record of 1:43:01 in the Ben Nevis Race and two weeks later earned the silver medal in the Ring of Steall Skyrace at the Skyrunning World Championships. In 2022, Wilkinson won the over-40 category at the World Masters Mountain Running Championships.iRunFar: This Week In Running: September 5, 2022.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Victoria 1978 births Living people English female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners British female mountain runners British fell runners British cyclo-cross cyclists English female cyclists British female cyclists Place of birth missing (living people)