Robbie Britton is a professional endurance coach, specialising in ultra-distance events within running and cycling, since 2013.
.jpeg)
Photo by Geoff Lowe
He has represented Great Britain & Northern Ireland multiple times in IAU 24hr European & World Championships. He finished in 3rd place at the IAU 24hrWorld & European Championships in 2015, leading GB&NI to team gold. He is currently part of the team management responsible for the British Athletics 24hr team.
This year (2025) Robbie will once again travel to the IAU 24hr World Championships to be held in Albi, France where he will once again toe the start line as a runner with the GBR Team
Q: Robbie, let’s start with the upcoming 24-hour World Championships in Albi 2025. How does it feel to be returning as a runner rather than part of the coaching or support team?
It feels really special. Albi has a lot of meaning for me. 2016 was actually my first time there as a runner, but I injured my knee in the lead-up to it. I went back in 2019 as part of the crew, in more of a management role. So returning now, it really feels like a full-circle moment.
Back in 2016, I felt like I was going in as one of the contenders—not necessarily the favourite, but definitely in the mix. I'd had a strong run in 2015, and I knew I had it in me to win that year. But I had a terrible race. I’m glad it was my friend Dan Lawson who won though, who I coach now as well.
So to get a second shot, nearly a decade later, is rare. We don’t often get the chance to do things over in this sport.
The sport has moved on since then, and I’m probably less of a favourite now, but I still believe I have a chance. Albi is such a well-organised event too. I’m just excited to be back on the start line and maybe I can visit the cathedral this time.
Q: You ran your first 24-hour race in 2012 and hit 222.578 km. Do you remember when you first heard about 24-hour races?
Yeah, I remember exactly where I was—I was in a friend’s apartment in Liverpool. I got an email from Richard Brown, who’s still the GB men’s 48-hour record holder and was the 24-hour team manager at the time. He asked if I’d like to run for England at a race in Basel.
I’d just run 16:02 for 100 miles at the Thames Path—Craig Holgate won that one and I was second. I think they invited both of us to run for England, and I didn’t hesitate. I mean, I was 26 years old, and someone had just asked me to run for my country. I’d have run through broken glass if it meant wearing that England vest.
I’d already done long races like the Grand Union Canal Race, so the distance didn’t scare me. But looking back, I definitely underestimated how tough the format is—running for a set time rather than distance is a different beast.
Q: That race in Basel was your first 24-hour, but it wasn’t your last that year?
No, far from it. I ran three in pretty quick succession. Basel was the first one—I managed 222.5 km before my knee swelled up around hour 20. I’d been dealing with a climbing injury earlier that year—messed up my toe doing a toe hook on a ceiling route—and that lingered through Thames Path and into Basel.
But I was hooked. I went back again that same year and ran 209 km in the second one. I made the classic mistake of chasing everyone—guys doing 50K, 100K, 100 miles—and they all stopped while I had to keep going.
Then in December, I went to Barcelona and ran 231 km. So yeah, three 24-hour races in a year, plus a 100-miler and UTMB. It was a wild, packed year.
Q: When you got that email from Richard Brown, you didn’t need any convincing?
None at all. It was a no-brainer. I was already on the hunt for new challenges, doing multiple 100-milers a year. That email just lit a fire in me. It was surreal, sitting on my mate’s sofa in Liverpool, reading that invitation. That was the start of it all.
Q: And then you qualified for the IAU 24-hour World and European Championships in Steenbergen in 2013. Was that a surprise to you?
Not really, because I was aiming for it. The qualifying standard was a bit more accessible back then—230Km was the target. I hit that in Barcelona, running 231 km. Mick Seymour and I went out there with a small group—John Pares was there again, Richard Brown too.
Oliver Leu from Germany won that race, and I think I was fourth. I remember the last lap being my fastest, the last hour being my strongest. Me, John, and Matt Moreau were working together in a little train, and it just clicked. I loved that sense of teamwork—coming from a team sport background, that really resonated with me.
It wasn’t a surprise, but it was definitely a joy. I knew I had the potential after that first race in Basel, and to actually hit the standard and make the team was something really special. That was a rainy one in Steenbergen. You were there, right?
Q: Yeah, I was. It was very wet—cold and wet, all the way through. You have a really impressive collection of personal bests for the 50k, 100k, and 24-hour distances. Do you have a favourite?
You can’t have a favourite child, John—but I do! I’ve taken a less traditional path. I started with the 24-hour and then worked down to the shorter stuff. Usually, it's the other way around. I still think I’m improving at the shorter distances—my marathon PB definitely needs some work. But the 24-hour is an easy decision for me. I absolutely love it.
There’s just something about it. Yannis Kouros once said that you can run 100k on guts alone, but it's only after 100 miles that you reach a real ultra. You can be marathon-fit and run a strong 50k. In fact, my 50k PB came off marathon training—it was a last-minute decision to try and qualify for the British team.
The 100k? I used it as part of my 24-hour training, to build speed between 2023 and now. It was part of a broader project. The 100k is fun—up to a point. It's easy until it's not, and then it really isn’t. But with the 24-hour, you know from the start that it’s not going to be easy.
That’s the mistake people make. They see the distance and pace and think, "That looks manageable." But it’s not. Lots of people could run a strong 24-hour, but doing it on the day is tough. I love that about it—it’s a leveller. You don’t have to be the strongest or the fastest. You just have to be the one who keeps going. I need that leveller. It gives me a chance.
Q: In 2023, you ran 277.439 km at the 24-hour in Torino, setting a new British record that had stood for 41 years. Was that always a goal for you?
Absolutely. After medalling at the 2015 Worlds, that record became the long-term goal. I ran 261 km in 2015, and every year after that, I was trying to close that 16 km gap. It took me eight years to get another PB.
In 2022, I went to Gloucester—the same track where David Dowdle set the record in '81—for my first real attempt. It was 34°C, and I was on pace for 15 hours, but the heat got me. Still, there was something poetic about trying for the record on the same track.
Later that year, I tried again in Vaxjö, Sweden, at an indoor race. Bonus: the indoor world record was slightly lower. But I caught COVID eight days before. I tested negative, but four hours in, I had a higher heart rate and was running slower than in Gloucester. So we stopped.
Torino was my third attempt—this time purely for the record. I wasn’t trying to qualify or do anything else. That singular goal is a double-edged sword. When things get tough, and your only objective is slipping away, it’s harder to hang in. From hours 12 to 18, it felt like it might slip, but we kept it just within reach.
.jpeg)
Photo by Geoff Lowe
Q: Records are made to be broken, though. Did you think yours would last as long as the one before it?
No, I hoped it would last longer than it did! Matt Field took it back at Gloucester the following summer—the same track again! It’s like the track wasn’t having any of this "record lives elsewhere" stuff. Matt was just the vassal the track used.
But honestly, my Torino run was good, not great. I knew I could go further—and if I can, others can too. Gloucester was the first time I wasn’t stressed about someone else chasing it. I slept well. Woke up—record gone. Brilliant.
Matt’s a great guy. I was England team manager for ACP this year, and he was in the team. We’ll be teammates in Albi. I stepped back from competing after 2017 partly to help build a strong British team. We won gold in 2015 and silver in 2016. I want another gold, and to get that, we need strong runners. And we have them—Matt, Chris Kelly, Dan Lawson, Paul Maskell, Ben Wernick.
And yes, I 100% want my record back. I don’t want Matt to make it easy. He’s capable of going further. Ideally, we both run PBs—but mine's a few metres longer!
Q: You’ve also had great results on the trails. What makes you so adaptable across road and trail?
I started on trails. My first ultra was London to Brighton—56 miles on trail. I enjoy it, and I practice. Technical trail running is brutal on the body if you're not efficient, so I work at it.
I'm not the most elegant downhill runner. I was out with two Italians recently, and they waited at the bottom of a rough section to laugh at me—but I’ll take that. I train with people who are better at the technical stuff, and I pick races that suit me.
I go for more runnable trails—Wicklow Way, West Highland Way, South Downs Way. Even UTMB is quite a groomed trail, so I'd call that non-technical. Leadville, for example, is runnable enough that I wore road shoes for 80% of it.
And the longer the race, the better for me. Endurance is my strength. Even when I’m training for road races, the roads around me are hilly. I think that builds strength for the back half of a 24-hour or 100k.
Q: In 2024, you focused more on trails—like your 6th-place finish at Leadville. How do you transition back to roads so seamlessly?
It’s all about picking the right races. I had a UTMB place but went with Leadville instead because it suited my style better—more running, less hiking.
UTMB would’ve required more power-focused mountain training. That takes you away from what makes you good at 100k or 24-hour. Leadville let me keep running in my training.
We went to Tignes for altitude adaptation. I live on a steep mountainside anyway—my wife uses the 1,500m climb on the doorstep more than I do! She's the mountain goat; I’m on the roads mostly.
Even if my next three races are on trail, most of my running is still road-focused. I do one hill and one flatter session a week, keep my eye in for technical skills, and always think long-term about 24-hour fitness.
Q: What advice would you give to athletes running for their national team for the first time in Albi this year?
Enjoy it. That’s the big one.
Remember, you’re there because of what you’ve already done—not because they expect you to suddenly be better. That’s a common trap. Don’t try to "level up" just because it’s a world championship. You've earned that vest already.
If you go out and run a small PB in tough conditions, that's still incredible. Focus on delivering what you're capable of. And if the occasion or the team lifts you even higher—great. But know that you already belong on that start line.
Q: What’s your go-to 24-hour specific training session?
Tough one—my athletes are all different. But if I had to pick one, probably something like three sets of 20 minutes at controlled pace in the second half of a long run. Start at 50k effort, build to marathon effort. Or 3x8k if you want to go by distance.
It’s not about smashing it. It’s about volume, control, fuelling properly, and finishing feeling like you could’ve done more. Not sexy, but it works.
Q: What’s your favourite IAU Championship memory?
Easy—the 2015 World Championships. I didn’t know what position I was in until the 23rd hour. I just knew we were in the fight for team gold. They finally told me we had it wrapped up, and I could push.
I’d been running with Paddy Robbins for hours. They let me off the leash, told me who was ahead, and I gave it everything. I think I was in sixth going into the final hour. It was special—racing for your country, for your teammates. That memory drives a lot of what I still do.
Robbie is also the author of ‘1001 Running Tips: The essential runners guide’
Personal Bests;
- 50K – 2:57:17
- 100K 6:48:38
- 24hr – 277.439Km (GBR Record 26.02.23 – 25.08.24)
Interview by John O’Regan
IAU Communication Committee
