A runner who frequently takes part in Burnham-On-Sea’s Parkruns has won a bronze medal for Team GB at the Paralympics in Tokyo early on Friday.
Hannah Taunton, 30, is a regular runner in the Parkruns held at Apex Park and competed in the women’s 1500m T20 race in Tokyo.
In challenging, wet conditions, Hannah tracked the lead runners in fourth place for much of the race before moving into third on the final lap.
She ran a personal best time of 4:35.34 in challenging conditions in Japan’s Olympic Stadium. Barbara Bieganowska-Zajac of Poland took gold with a time of 4:27.84. Second place went to Ukraine’s Liudmyla Danylina, who crossed the line five seconds later.
Hannah clinched her bronze medal on her first Paralympics and was understandably delighted at the finishing line.
Burnham-On-Sea Harriers running club, which organises Burnham’s Parkruns, congratulated her. The club’s Mark Benton says: “On behalf of Burnham-On-Sea Harriers we would like to send our heartfelt congratulations to Hannah on her Bronze medal achievement in the T20 1500m. Many of us stayed up into the early hours to watch Hannah live and the Harriers Facebook page came alive with excited members watching her achieve a Personal Best with such determination and pride. Congratulations Hannah, you are an inspiration to us all.”
Hannah, who has a speech and language disorder, previously told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I am very excited and proud to be representing my country.”
“I first went to a Burnham Parkrun when some of my friends from Taunton ran there and said what a great course it is. I got to know several of the event’s volunteers really well, who have been so welcoming to me – I have take part there over 20 times.”
She began running after being encouraged to join her local athletics club by a school teacher.
Having started out as a cross-country and half marathon specialist, she more recently successfully switched to the track in order to compete in Tokyo.
However, when the 2020 Paralympics were postponed by a year because of the pandemic, and with Great Britain forced into repeated lockdowns, Taunton had to adapt her training habits and her father helped train her.
The past 18 months still brought success for her, however. In Manchester last September at the British Championships, she broke the T20 world record for 5000m on the track, clocking a time of 17:17.30.
And then after finishing fifth at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019 in the 1500m, she went one better at this June’s WPA European Championships in Poland to finish fourth in the same event.
Hannah credits the running community in Somerset and her club, Taunton Athletic Club, with supporting her progression through the sport.
“It’s been great, I’ve got lots and lots of supporting friends that have been really, really helpful to me.”
She adds: “Running is a passion for me. I never tire of training or racing and I have made some great friends through the sport.”
The race was shown live on Channel 4 at just before 2.30am UK time.
Pictured: Hannah competing at the Paralympics early today (Channel 4)
