TWO West Fife runners are set to don Scotland vests later this year after being selected for an ultra-running event.

Jo Murphy, from Crossgates, and John Hammond, who has joined Dunfermline's PH Racing Club recently, are two of nine athletes chosen by Scottish Athletics to run in April's Anglo Celtic Plate competition.

The event, which returns to Perth having been held there in 2019, is a 100K international race that features competitors from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland and England.

It will take place over a 2.381-kilometre loop course at North Inch Park, and four women and five men have been selected to take part.

In 2019, Jo, 34, made her debut in a Scottish vest at the Anglo Celtic Plate, in Perth, in which she finished third in the women's race in a time of eight hours, 28 minutes and one second.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event returned in August – also doubling as both the Scottish and British championships – last year in Ireland, where Jo again ran for Scotland and claimed second place in the women's race.

Finishing only behind Ireland's Catriona Jennings, who ran in the marathon at the London 2012 Olympic Games, her time of 7:50.58 was 38 minutes quicker than her previous effort, moving her to fourth place in the all-time Scottish women's list over the distance.

Following that event, Jo also took on the Gloucester 24-hour elite track race, in which athletes look to run as large a distance as they can within that time period.

Thanks to a distance of 143 miles – which elevated her to third in the all-time Scottish list, and eighth in the British women's standings for 24-hour runs – she won the women's race and finished third overall.

Speaking to Press Sport afterwards, she outlined her main ambition for this year, commenting: "The Anglo Celtic Plate, which is on April 3 in Perth, is my first goal if selected.

"That's something to look forward to; I had no home support in Ireland (which hosted this year's event), and it's so accessible for family and friends. We'll see what happens."

The event in Perth will also include the British and Scottish 100K championships, while an open 50K race will double up as the Scottish Championships.

The full Scotland teams are: Women – Jo Murphy, Jo Newens (Road Running Club), Alison McGill (Fife AC), and Lynne Allen (Kirkintilloch Olympians).

Men – Chris Richardson, Jason Kelly, Kyle Greig (Metro Aberdeen), Rob Turner (Musselburgh and District AC), and John Hammond (PH Racing).