Ultra runner Sharon Gayter has failed in a brave bid to qualify for the World 24 Hours Championships in Taiwan. The Guisborough athlete was unable to overcome a stomach problem in a 24-hour race in Hull, as she battled to try to achieve the qualifying distance. Sharon persevered to the finish and completed 198 kilometres, an agonising 17 short of the selection distance laid down by UK Athletics. Sharon said: "I went into this race still on medication for a stomach problem and had to change my feeding strategy. "I could not drink citrus-flavoured drinks, coke and orange juice, and had to switch to things like milkshakes and water and try to eat more food to compensate." She added: "I had a schedule written out to finish with 216km. By halfway I had run exactly 120km and was in second place. "I reached the 100-mile mark leading the race by around six miles at just under 17 hours and by 18 hours was one lap ahead of schedule. "Then serious problems hit. I had taken extra medication during the race to try to control the stomach problems and guess this may have caused the problem." Sharon began to feel dizzy and over a two-hour spell, she covered just 2.5km. She said: "I thought this was the end of the race but after 20 hours I decided to give it one last chance to finish. "I was surprised to see I still had a slender two-mile lead over the first man at 20 hours but unfortunately I was only walking. "After around 20 minutes of walking I tried running again but Jim Rogers was running faster and by 22 hours Jim had overtaken me and was leading by one lap. "My stomach was giving me problems again and so I admitted defeat. "Jim finished first with 203km, I was second with 198km, while third and fourth achieved just over 160km. "On reflection I know I had the 215km in me but the stomach problems just prevented me from achieving my goal." Sharon could still run in the world championships as an individual, but the cost would be oppressive, and instead she is likely to run in a 24-hour race in Athens in early April. | 
