Talk to people about Claire Hallissey and a common theme soon emerges of a dedicated and hard-working athlete.

Throw in natural talent and you have the magical alchemy that can lead to success and which, in Hallissey's case, has earned her first Great Britain call-up.

Hallissey's selection for the European Cup 10,000m in Ribeira Brava, Madeira, next Saturday is a milestone for the 26-year-old Bristol & West AC runner and could be the start of an exciting new phase of her career.

Keith Brackstone, who has coached Hallissey since she started a PhD course at Bristol University three years ago, has seen her improvement at first hand and has faith that her debut vest could be the first of many. "Claire has an appetite for hard work and is a very tough competitor," said Brackstone.

"In her first year with me she ran 35mins 45secs for 10k and has improved to 34:54 in 2008 and 34:07 this year and hopefully will get that down further to 33:45 by the end of the summer.

"In the long term, I can see her running for Britain at the World Championships in the half marathon and further ahead I would not be surprised to see her do well in the marathon, maybe in 2012 (the London Olympics) or 2016.

"She is mentally tough and physically very strong. She can keep on running hard forever."

Breaking through on to the international level and mixing it with the best runners in Britain is a big step for Hallissey and will take some getting used to.

"I never expected this at all and it is very exciting," she said. "It is pretty scary as well as there are no places to hide on the track!

"It will be a very good standard in Madeira and hopefully I can get a good time and do myself justice."

Hallissey, who is an ex-Cambridge University Blue, has clearly benefited from working with Brackstone since moving to Bristol, but sadly that relationship looks like coming to a premature end next year.

"My husband Matt, who is a transport planner, has got a job in Washington DC, America and I'll be looking to go over there as well in early 2010," she said.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities over there and I'll keep my running going, especially in the next 12 months or so to see how far I can go.

"But it can take over your life, which is all well and good if you get the rewards and mange to get to the next level, but we'll have to see what happens.

"I don't want to look back in a few years' time and think what I could have done if I had tried so I'll give it my best shot now."