Shrewsbury runner ready to take on world mountain challenge

Sara Willhoit said she and her running partners inspired each other

A Shropshire athlete has been training on hills near her home to take on the world's best mountain runners.

Sara Willhoit, a landscape architect from Shrewsbury, is set to race at altitudes of more than 1,000 metres (3,280 ft) in the Alps on Wednesday.

She was selected to represent Great Britain in the Uphill Only race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championship (WMTRC) in Austria.

Ms Willhoit, 34, said she loved "the adventure" of mountain running.

She added she also enjoyed "being able to get away" from "the hustle and bustle" and get "into the wilderness" instead.

The championship begins on Tuesday and lasts until 10 June.

The runner, who competes for Shrewsbury Athletic Club and Mercia Fell Runners, said being selected to represent Great Britain was a big moment.

"It's pretty special and to share it with everyone around here as well, everyone who is helping me get to that place in a calm and relaxed state of mind," she explained.

The runner said she had trained for months, including periods when the hills were snow-covered

Her coach Colin Livingstone said the race in Austria was "fierce" and against athletes used to training in continental Europe's mountains.

But he added Ms Willhoit trained overseas as well as regularly on the Shropshire Hills and had a "great chance".

"I think the terrain makes the athlete," he said. "You don't have to run hard up here for you to have huge cardio-vascular, cardio-pulmonary advantages."

Ms Willhoit, who trains with running partners as well as going solo, said winter sessions could be harsh so she was enjoying the lighter evenings.

She added she enjoyed "small encounters" with wildlife on the hills, including seeing deer and wild ponies, adding an owl "swooped" on one run.

"You couldn't hear a thing but you could just feel it go straight past," she said.