And so we welcome in 2021 with something else to divide the sport along partisan lines, whether it be professionalised NGB vs voluntary regional associations; male vs female (I’ll stay binary on this one for the purposes of this debate); and old, perhaps reactionary, guard vs politicised moderniser.

Yep, it’s that oh so visceral matter of the distances of cross country races. Anyone remember them?

Here are a few points, which most definitely aren’t meant to be exhaustive or indeed decisive:

– Cross country is pitched as a test of long distance running. The World Athletics federation (IAAF as was) categorises long distance running, within its Track and Field programme, as 5000m and upwards. Mr Cheptegei has whittled his long distance down to 12 mins 35 seconds – so once, at senior level we are racing for longer, that is in the realms of long distance.

I wonder how many of the supporters of distance equality would actually categorise 10k as ‘middle distance’ but it’s a significant minority, based my own chats and online surfing further down the performance pyramid.

– There is an undeniable case that as women do the same standard distances as men on track and road, equality on cross country has its merits.

– Some of the more vociferous articles have been scribed by runners who probably come more from the recreational camp than the performance camp. Theirs is a valid point of view but it’s certainly no more valid than a Radcliffe, Pieterse or Yamauchi and there’s an argument that it’s a far less rounded and informed viewpoint in terms of the sport ‘ at large’. Particularly as they were in the sport as young female middle distance runners……

– A bit of contextual data – and we will leave out from the mainstream the highly outlying old chestnut about the notorious Southern XC Male Champs being 15k whereas the women do 8km. The typical Male Senior XC Course, in events which haven’t set equalised distances, is about 25 % longer than the Women’s equivalent. Women at elite level race about 12% slower than men at that level. So in terms of racing duration, that’s already gone some way to redress the balance.

Factor in that women’s depth at club level is still a little lighter than the men’s, and the discrepancy in race duration is even more diluted. As a random sample, I checked some Metropolitan League XC results for 100th place in the Men’s 8k race and Women’s 6k races – the times start to become very similar, less than 10% difference.

– An anecdote – about 40 years ago the English Men’s National, always billed at 9 miles seemed to come in at about 7-and-a-bit miles. This was the trial for the World XC Champs when in a bad year the England team might get only a minor medal – so numerous of the best distance runners in the world contested the National.

In the ever-extensive AW coverage of the race, the obvious ‘short’ course had maybe two lines of coverage, with the medallists briefly mentioning that the lap seemed a tad short on warm up. Again – the race did exactly what it was intended to do, and everyone hit the tea queue about ten minutes earlier.

Leading women at the National Cross. Credit: Nigel Bramley

– I’m a coach, I coach and have coached many men and women who do Cross country races at varying levels. Pretty much all these runners fit into the category of long distance runners – that is, they aren’t focusing on middle distance or Ultras. From all the exchanges over the years, no one has expressed any strong views on the matter to me – which perhaps goes back to them understanding the first point above. From a coaching perspective, I don’t care what the distance is, either per se, or by gender. (I expect to know what the purported distance is though!).

If it affects training, it does so only marginally if at all, and nobody has any misguided view that further is better. It’s just further – it’s not a qualitative thing. (Going back to that Southern Champs, I see no athletic need for the leading men to be racing for around 50 minutes – the point of the competition would not be weakened in any way if they chopped 30% off the distance and I doubt results would be affected in any significant way. To support this theory, have you ever heard an athlete who thinks that 5k or 10k doesn’t really suit them and they believe their destiny would be better fulfilled at 7k or 13k?).

Purely from an athlete development angle, I wouldn’t worry if the discrepancies in senior racing distances were reversed so women had the longer races – I don’t expect that to happen but if it did, the nature of what the athletic test was designed to achieve wouldn’t change.

– I haven’t chipped in to the official consultation, partly because I don’t actually care that much; partly because I believe that the decision is only heading one way; and partly because, ever delusional, I think slightly more people may view my musings if posted on Fastrunning. Though they might not read this far.

David Chalfen

The post Sweeten The Distance appeared first on Fast Running.

For me, cross country season is a true test of bodily strength. When there’s hills, thick mud, and driving rain to run through, you can’t hide away from any weaknesses you may have. It is the purest form of running, there is no glamour, no PB times to get, oh, and no toilet roll!

Not always fun and games. 

I’ve had times in the past where I’ve practically walked an entire cross country race because my body was too weak to be able to run it. I remember my dad standing there shouting encouragement at me the entire way, telling me I could do it, but we both knew I couldn’t.

I’d let him down because although he could see how weak and tired I was on the outside, he couldn’t see that I was even weaker on the inside. I didn’t have the strength to even try to run the race, I was exhausted from the start gun. Whilst my physical strength clearly wasn’t there, it wasn’t until I ran a cross country race that I realised the reality of my situation. I was far from the ‘strong’ athlete I needed to be to run, let alone for cross country. 

Reality check in the mud

For this reasons, cross country can be an extremely brutal reality check. Whilst there are the challenges of the mud and hills, the greatest challenge can be posed by yourself. I love cross country, but you can’t hide behind it. Although I was going to other races and not quite running the times I wanted, it wasn’t until I was faced will the added challenges cross country poses, that it was impossible for me to get away from the situation I had put my body in. 

This may seem harsh and torturous, but it was a good thing! Yes, it was torture running cross country with a weak body, but I needed to face the struggle of cross country to be confronted with the reality of my situation. The only way I was able to see the need for change was by shocking myself with how hard cross country had suddenly become. It used to feel nicely tough, but it had become physically impossible. 

After a few races struggling through the mud, I became too scared and intimidated to enter any cross country race, let alone the almighty Cross Challenge Series. To me, being able to run in the series seemed worlds away from the one I was living in.

I believed I wasn’t good enough to run in it. Whilst this isn’t true, and anyone can run in the Cross Challenge, as an individual I was too embarrassed and traumatised by the weak body I had to do it. 

All in the past 

Now, this is all in the past. My past will never leave me, but I don’t want it to because I am a million times stronger for those difficult times. However, this year I have no longer been feeling weak and I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone. If I want to run faster, I need to run again people a lot faster than me, so, I entered the Milton Keynes Cross Challenge to kickstart my cross country season.

I went into the race nervous but also excited, as there was no pressure and I had no expectations of myself other than to enjoy it. My aim for the race was a top 20 finish, but realistically I had no idea where I stood in the field. I felt slightly out of my comfort zone due to the shorter course length, but I was ready to give my all and enjoy the mud and rain, and that I did. 

Throughout the race I had no idea of my positioning except in my head I knew I wanted to keep picking off the people in front of me. It wasn’t until I came into the finish line that I realised I finished 5th!! I was absolutely ecstatic, and as my boyfriend will tell you, that meant I didn’t stop talking for the rest of the day!! Although, I talk a lot the majority of the time! A top 10 finish wasn’t even in my sights, so to finish 5th was more than I ever expected. 

Happiness and health

This truly showed to me that two of the most important things in life are happiness and health. When I lived in an unhealthy and consequently unhappy body, I was struggling within the first 100m of a cross country race because I wasn’t strong enough to get through the thick mud.

However, today I live in a happier and healthier body, and that means I can enjoy cross country because I have the strength and power to stand up to it. I no longer mentally give up before even starting the race, I’m in it till the end. 

Ultimately, you can’t hide behind cross country. If your body is weak, you will soon realise. I learnt the hard way. 

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The post Why you can’t hide behind cross country appeared first on Fast Running.

On Saturday, in the wind and rain, hundreds of runners took to the mud in Mansfield for the Saucony English National Cross Country Relays. This annual competition brings true team spirit and determination to the running world, and in perfect timing, the autumnal sun appeared just as the races were underway. 

In the senior women’s race, the victory title was once again claimed by Aldershot & Farnham District. After pushing away from Lincoln’s Abbie Donnelly, Emily Hosker-Thornhill gave AFD the lead they needed in the first leg.

Hosker-Thornhill then handed on to teammate Niamh Brown who ran the second leg in the 2nd overall fastest time and Lauren Hall with the fastest overall 3rd leg. In keeping with previous years, it was Blackburn’s Jessica Judd, who after a PB in Leeds last weekend ran the fastest time over the 2nd leg. 

The runner’s up at Berry Hill Park were the Leeds City AC team consisting of Bronwen Owen, Stephanie Pennycook, and Jennifer Walsh. The bronze medal went to Cambridge & Coleridge AC’s female team led by Holly Archer, followed by Victoria Knight and Suzie Reid. 

High competition levels hint at an exciting XC season ahead

The competition in the men’s race was incredibly high, with plenty of fast athletes pulling on their spikes and haring through the mud.  The victorious men, retaining their title once again, were Leeds City AC. Despite an early setback as Phil Sesemann took a tumble.

Sesemann did well to get back up and finish strong enough for his team to grab the win. Photo: Stephen Lee

Sesemann achieved a third-place finish over one of the longer legs last year, but his tumble set him back into fifth place this year. The strong team behind him all ran strong legs pushing Leeds back up the ranks.

Matthew Grieve, Graham Rush, and Emile Cairess stormed to a first-place finish with Cairess delivering an impressive anchor leg. 

Jonathon Escalante-Phillips, Joseph Smith, Jack Gray, and Marc Scott had a sensational team performance, landing the Cambridge & Coleridge team to a second-place finish. C&C were followed by Bedford & County AC, made up of Max Bergin, Jack Goodwin, Matt Bray, and Dan Jarvis.  

It was Sam Stabler of Wreake & Soar Valley that took home the ‘winners’ title for the first leg, Aldershot’s Cross the title in the second leg, Leeds’s Graham Rush, and Emile Cairess in the final leg. 

On the roads. 

The success continued on the roads in Tatton Park 10k and Half Marathon. On Saturday the 10k took place with some incredible individual performances. The senior men’s title was secured by Mo Abu-Reezeq in an outstanding 30:18. The sub-30-minute PB boasting athlete had a cracking run in his sixth road 10k of the year. 

Kirsty Longley of Liverpool Pembroke Sefton was the winner of the women’s race. Longley ran 34:59 for first place, followed by Laura Lombard in a time of 37:45. Hannah Price competed the top three women at Tatton Park, stopping at 38:15 on the clock. 

After an astounding run on Saturday, Mo Abu-Reezeq also claimed the title in the half marathon on Sunday! An amazing double performance. The Altrincham athlete ran 67:59 for first place, ahead of Sale Harriers Manchester’s Nicholas Barry who clocked 1:11:18 for a second-place finish. Finishing just 17-seconds outside of his personal best, Paul Jones of Hereford ran 75:07. 

It was V40 athlete, Margaret Beever from Stainland who won the women’s race. Beever ran herself to an impressive time of 01:27:42. 

Swansea and Cardiff share the spoils

This year’s Richard Burton 10k saw a stacked field of high-quality athletes take to the roads of some of Wales’ picturesque villages. Jonathon Hopkins did Swansea Harriers proud with a strong performance and time of 30:36. Hopkins recently dipped significantly under the 30-minute mark, running 29:30 at last weekend’s Leeds Abbey Dash.

James Hunt was next to cross the line as the first of the two Cardiff athletes on the men’s podium. Hunt ran a solid 31:45 and was also amongst those who ran cracking performances in Leeds last weekend, where he clocked 29:12. Just 7 seconds behind Hunt was Tom Marshall, also from Cardiff AAC. 

Cardiff AAC’s success did not stop in the men’s race. Lucy Marland continued the performance glory into the women’s event. Marland ran a cracking 36:43 after a PB performance in Leeds last Sunday. Ashleigh Willis of Swansea and Sioned Howells of Amman Valley Harriers finished off the women’s podium in 39:30 and 40:09 respectively. 

Rush to the finish line

In keeping with the start of the winter festivities, the Bonfire Burn 10k took place. Graham Rush secured himself the position at the top of the podium. Rush added to the success of Leeds City this weekend with his gold medal in a time of 32:26. Following Rush, in 33:54 was Duncan Coombs and Johannes Arens 34:00, for second and third place respectively. 

In the women’s race, the winner was set from the start. Winning by a huge seven minutes, was Georgina Schwiening. The Cambridge athlete clocked 34:37 for first place. 

Over the marginally shorter 5-mile distance, was The Deal Castle 5-mile race. Charlie Brisley was the first male to cross the line and cut the tape in 24:43. Brisley of Invicta East Kent stormed the distance to a 5-mile personal best by 50 seconds!

Harrison Tremain crossed the line in second place with a time 27:04. It was the U20 Ashford AC athlete’s debut over the 5-mile distance. It was Stephen Male that took home the bronze medal in a close finish for third position. Male achieved a solid time of 28:02. 

In the women’s race, Renata Mcdonnell was first across the line, securing first place in a time of 31:10 for Deal Tri Club. Mcdonnell was shortly followed by Elena Jury in 34:27 and Natalie Long in 35:10. 

Highly rated racing in Marlow

Back over the half marathon distance, in what has been consistently rated one of the UK’s best half marathons was the Marlow Half Marathon. The winning titles for the men’s and women’s races went to Stuart MacDougall in 1:18:08 and Bethan Huntley in 1:27:40.

Over the 7-mile distance at the Marlow 7-mile, Nick buckle took home gold. The Belgrave Harrier runner ran 40:02 to secure a minute lead. The women’s title was claimed by Becky Atkinson of Maidenhead in 45:38. 

New York City Marthon

There are still plenty of runners on the streets of New York and we will update the round-up as the results come in. Geoffrey Kamworor and Joyciline Jepkosgei, both half-marathon world record holders, were victorious on the tough course in 2:08:13 and 2:22:38 respectively.

parkrun UK

Gavin Hill and Jacqueline Fairchild ran the fastest parkrun times in the UK this weekend (2nd November). Full rankings here.

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The post AFD & Leeds City victorious at XC Relays – UK round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

The historical Bobby Rea Memorial Cross Country will this year incorporate the Northern Ireland International Cross Country, attracting athletes from the UK, Ireland and across Europe to the Lisburn & Castlereagh Council owned facility.

The event is part of the Athletics NI XC League, so numbers are expected to be high, with local athletes competing to gain points for their club, as well as the newly introduced, International contingent.

Strong fields for men and women

Among those confirmed so far are Ireland’s Sergiu Ciobanu, who finished in 8^th place (2:17.17) in the recent Dublin Marathon and Clonmel AC’s Kevin Maunsell. They will be joined by Irish Olympic Steeplechaser, Michelle Finn and Dublin City Harriers’ Jodie McCann.

GB’s female duo of Iona Lake and Mhairi McLennan, both of whom have previously competed at the Armagh International Road Races will be competing alongside European U23 10,000m Bronze Medallist, Emile Cairess.

From further afield will be Germany’s Thilo Brill and Niles Voight and Italy’s Said El Othmani in the Men’s event. In the Women’s event, Poland’s Sylwia Indenka and Klaudia Kaziemierska will compete.

They will be joined by the NI & Ulster team, which you can see here: https://athleticsni.org/News/Athletics-NI-News/NI-and-Ulster-Team-Announced-for-the-Bobby-Rea-International

More information below

The day’s events will also include the NI & Ulster Uneven Age Group Championships, with junior athletes from across the province competing to qualify through to the All-Ireland Uneven Age Group Championships on 15^th December 2019.

Entries are now closed for the Uneven Age Groups, however, entries will be available on the day for the Bobby Rea XC from 1pm at Registration.

More information on the Bobby Rea International XC and the NI & Ulster Uneven Age Groups can be found here:

Bobby Rea: https://athleticsni.org/Fixtures/Bobby-Rea-International-Cross-Country-2019

Unevens: https://athleticsni.org/Fixtures/NI-And-Ulster-Uneven-Age-Group-Championships-2019

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The post International Stars to Compete at the Bobby Rea XC appeared first on Fast Running.

1. Bradley held back on the opening laps with Liam Brady of Tullamore Harriers AC initially pushing the pace and soon joined in a breakaway group of three by junior athlete Efrem Gidey of Clonliffe Harriers and Yared Derese of Carrick Aces.

On the final lap, Bradley moved to the front, coming home ahead of fast finishing English visitor James Gormley in a time of 22 mins 55 secs. Brady held on for forth while a close fourth was Matt Bergin of Dundrum South Dublin AC. Just 14 seconds separated the top four.

With the races also the trial for next month’s the British and Irish International in Stockport, close to a hundred masters men, aged between 35 and 60, ran. Colm Rooney of Clonliffe Harriers was first M35 in 23.31, Brian Maher of Kilkenny City Harriers first M40 in 23.42, Brian Geraghty of Sli Cualann first M45 in 25.48, Francis Marsh of North Down AC first M50 in 26.58, Tommy Hughes of Rathfarnham WSAF AC first M55 in 26.55, and Martin McDonald of Ballyroan, Abbeyleix and District AC first M60 in 29.11.

In the older age groups, run over a shorter distance, Paul Elliott of Beechmount Harriers was first M65 beating Brian Lynch of North East Runners AC. Liam O’Hare of Barnet and District was first M70 and Joseph Stewart of Jog Lisburn RC first M75.

Gidey clear winner in junior men event

20 October 2019; Efrem Gidey of Clonliffe Harriers A.C., Co. Dublin, crosses the line to win the Junior Men 6000m XC event during the SPAR Autumn Open International Cross Country Festival at the National Sports Campus Abbotstown in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Gidey was a clear winner of the men’s junior race;Keelan Kilreehill of Moy Valley AC was second and Shay McEvoy of Kilkenny City Harriers third.

Dominating the women’s race was English visitor Abbie Donnelly who finished in 20.51. Becky Straw, also from England, was second in 21.21, and Mary Mulhare of Portlaoise AC third in 21.27. In the masters’ categories, Fiona Kehoe of Kilmore AC was first W35 in 22.18 although it was Teresa Doherty of Finn Valley AC, winner of the British and Irish international last year, who was first master home and first W40 in 21.48.

Other winners were Breda Gaffney of Mallow AC W45 in 24.06, Mari Johnston of Sligo AC W50 in 25.04, Niamh O’Sullivan of An Riocht W55 in 24.02, Pauline Moran of Mayo AC W60 in 26.29 and,over a shorter distance, Margaret Glavey of Mayo AC W65 in 21.29 and Joan Coyle of DSD AC W70 in 24.28.

Grace Carson of Mid-Ulster AC was first junior woman in 15.55.

Comber Cup Cross

Mark McKinstry not only won the men’s race in the Comber Cup cross-country at the Billy Neill Playing Fields, in Dundonald on Saturday (October 19), he also led North Belfast Harriers to team victory.

McKinstry finished in 27 mins 59 secs – comfortably clear of Seamus Lynch from Newcastle and District AC who crossed the line in 28:39. Third in 28:53 was Allan Bogle of City of Derry Spartans with James Gracey of Beechmount Harriers first junior. A total of 187 ran in the men’s senior and junior race. Winning the race from men over 60-70 was Norman Mawhinney of Scrabo Striders.

Almost as many turned out for the women’s race won by Rebekah Nixon of Dromore AC in 24:25. Mari Troeng of Newcastle and District AC was second in 27:03 and Katie Moore of North Down AC third in 25:13. Fourth and first master was Karen Wilton of Jog Lisburn AC, while first junior was Emily McLaughlin.

On the roads

Winning the Longwood 10km in Co Meath on Sunday (October 20) was Sean Hehir who has recently transferred to the Metro St Brigid’s club.

Hehir was using the race as a final blow-out before next Sunday’s Dublin Marathon and finished in 30 mins 42 secs. A distant second in 32:26 was Freddy Sittuk, with Colm Turner third in 32:45.

Tallaght athlete Laura McDonnell was first woman in 38:36, with Fiona Gettings second in 40:31. Winners of the 5km race were Andrew Nevin of Mullingar Harriers in 16.21 and Trim junior Ava Costello in 19:16.

At the Rebel Run in Cork, also on Sunday, Denis Coakley was the overall winner of the 10km in 33 mins 28 secs with Grainne O’Neill first woman in 39: 08, while Sheldon Kirkwood and Noreen Mackey were first home in the 5km.

Jonathan Roebuck led home over a thousand finishers at the Gr8 Run in Dundrum, Co Down, on Saturday (October 19) finished over a minute clear of the chasers in 44 mins 7 secs. First woman in 53.50 was Sinead Murtagh of Newcastle AC.

Overseas

At the Pre-National Invitational cross-country, hosted by Indiana State University at Terre Haute on Saturday (October 19), Aoibhe Richardson of Kilkenny City Harriers, representing the University of San Francisco, won the women’s 6km race in 20 mins 32 secs.

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Lindie Naughton is a journalist and writer based in Dublin who joined the athletics club at her college many many years ago and has never quite escaped. You’ll normally find her jogging around some orienteering course somewhere – or down at the Irishtown track coaching kiddies!

The post Final lap surge from Bradley for the win – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

The agreement with the legal firm will run until the end of the 2022-23 season and will conclude with the Lindsays National XC in February 2023 and the presentation of the Lindsays Trophy thereafter.

It’s five years now since scottishathletics entered into partnership with Lindsays for the Lindsays Cross Country Season and it has been a mutually beneficial link-up which will now run to just short of a decade and become one of the longest-running sponsorships in Scottish sport.

The original plan was for three seasons from 2014-15 but that was quickly extended and now, following more discussions, the new four-year agreement to 2023 gives the governing body significant certainty around our XC event-planning and promotion.

Raising the profile of events like the Lindsays National XC and growing participation were clear goals and there’s little doubt those have been achieved.

Photo: Bobby Gavin/scottishathletics

25-year record high for entries

Event entries have been at a 25-year high for the past couple of years and the most recent Lindsays Trophy featured exactly 100 clubs with at least one representative across the three main National XC events in Scotland during the winter programme.

The Lindsays Masters XC Champs in January will now be added to the Lindsays portfolio for each of the next four years to create the following schedule:

October – Lindsays National XC Relays

November – Lindsays Short Course XC Champs

December – Lindsays District XC Champs

January – Lindsays Masters XC Champs

February – Lindsays National XC Champs

May – Presentation of the Lindsays Trophy to winning club

Another four years of support

Ian Beattie, Chief Operating Officer of Lindsays and chair of scottishathletics, said: ‘We’re delighted to be supporting the scottishathletics Cross Country Season for another four years.

‘This is an important sponsorship for Lindsays and we value the opportunity to continue our very successful partnership with scottishathletics.

‘Cross country continues to have a positive impact in local communities across Scotland thanks to the commitment of the clubs, their supporters and members.

‘We’re delighted to continue to play a part in that.’

Helping build a brighter future for Scottish XC runners

Mark Munro, chief executive of scottishathletics, is pleased and feels the partnership over the past few years has helped us as a governing body and the sport itself to advance our Cross Country Season in various ways.

‘We’re really excited to announce this new agreement with Lindsays as our Cross Country Season sponsors,’ said Mark.

‘Sponsorship support is vital for a governing body like ourselves and this new deal means our partnership with Lindsays will run to a minimum of nine years.

‘If you look at recent years, the growth in participation and exposure for events like the National XC Relays at Cumbernauld and the National itself at Falkirk has happened in tandem with the sponsorship from Lindsays. I think the Short Course XC has been a huge success in that time, too.

‘It’s helping us create bigger and better events for our members and grow areas like video coverage, delayed stream and drone footage, which we have had in the past couple of years at Falkirk.

‘The Lindsays Trophy itself challenges clubs to invite athletes to commit to competition and that’s exactly what we want to see.’

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Just six months after giving birth, McCormack was back on the world stage and as good as ever in a loaded field where Helen Obiri (Kenya) completed the grand slam of world titles, indoors, outdoors and now on the country. Sara Treacy (Dunboyne) battled to a 73rd place finish.

Cross country is Fionnuala McCormack’s favourite discipline and it showed coming in second European, home favourite Anna Moller was 15th, with an exceptional display of gritty running. Seeing was believing on the 2km loop in Aarhus with athletes always either going uphill or downhill and having to traverse a mudpit, sandpit and water pit.

The post McCormack delivers magnificent performance in Aarhus appeared first on Fast Running.

The much feted “toughest ever cross country course” at Aarhus in Denmark did not disappoint with the sight of athletes battling up the man-made hill atop the roof of the museum, which two time champion Geoffrey Kamworor after described as the hardest part of the whole course after battling against a Uganda duo throughout.

With mud, sand, hills and water features it was an fantastic event to watch with the five races of the day bringing some great racing. The crowds may have paled in comparison to the huge atmosphere at Kampala last year, but viewing online would have been a large part of the World Cross 2019.

Senior Women

From a British and Irish standpoint the greatest results came in the senior women’s race. With Hellen Obiri becoming the first women to win world championships outdoor, indoor and on the cross country the athlete joked afterwards that it was “the only medal missing from my cupboard”. One can only imagine how big a cupboard that is to hold all of the Kenyan athlete’s trophies.

Fionnuala McCormack of Ireland produced an astounding performance just six months after giving birth to finish 18th and second European of the race, with Anna Moller of Denmark also producing an inspired run in front of her home crowd. McCormack is known for her high-level of cross country running and gave the Aarhus course a good showing. Fellow Irish athlete Sara Treacy finished in 73rd position.

The British senior women, led home by Kate Avery in 30th place, took a brilliant fourth place in the team competition. Avery was closely followed by Mhairi McLennan in 32nd, Jenny Nesbitt in 34th, Jessica Piasecki in 36th with the four athletes producing a solid team performance to take fourth overall. Welsh international Nesbitt said “it was a real ride but we packed really well as a team. I saw the girls ahead of me and thought “I have got to keep grinding this out” for a result like that as a team.”

Emily Hosker-Thornhill finished in 48th and Amelia Quirk in 79th with both commenting afterwards on just how hard the course was. “I think it was the hardest race of my life.” said the young athlete Quirk. “I seriously considered pulling out but you just don’t do that, you keep going and sometimes when you keep going, it gets better.”

Senior Men

In his challenge for a third World Cross Country title Geoffrey Kamworor came up against a Ugandan duo with other ideas. Joshua Chepetege and Jacob Kiplimo were both with the Kenyan on the last lap and did not want to give the twice champion an easy ride. After having an 11-second last lap lead disappear in heartbreaking fashion in Kampala last year, Chepetege wanted the last word this time round.

Both Ugandans really surged on the museum roof climb to push the race and Chepetege was the stronger of the two during the final lap and took a very deserved first World Croos Country title for Uganda, with his compatriot in silver position. Kamworor settled for bronze on the day.

Patrick Dever was the first finisher for Great Britain as the Preston Harrier continues to impress on the cross country and show maturity beyond his young years. “It was a pretty incredible experience. I’m delighted with how it has gone” said the Loughborough student “I think pretty much everyone I went ahead of, I stayed in front of. That really couldn’t have gone any better. I think if I had gone off harder I’d have expended all my energy early on.”

Mahamed Mahamed was the second Brit to cross the line in 44th place and afterwards said “Top 50 is amazing. The aim was to finish there so I’m really happy that I could achieve it”. Adam Hickey was not far behind in 51st and next was Oliver Fox (51st), Ross Millington (65th) and Luke Traynor (107th).

For Ireland there were tough days out for Sean Tobin in 61st and last year’s Fast 10 athlete Kevin Dooney in 105th place.

Tough work for the lads. Sean Tobin 61st and Kevin Dooney 105th in the senior men’s race @Aarhus2019 pic.twitter.com/PX0OrlKS3P

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) March 30, 2019

Ugandan continued to impress with a victory in the senior men’s team event too, the first time since 1980 that a nation other than Ethiopia or Kenyan has won the senior men’s race.

Junior Women

There was some drama at the finish line of the junior women’s race with Kenyan Beatrice Chebet celebrating just before the line and the win actually being given to Ethiopia’s Alemitu Tariku and Tsigie Gebreselama getting the silver. Inspection of the finish line video did however look like Chebet had crossed the line first.

It was not long until a review had been undertaken and the Kenyan was rightly given the victory, with the Ethiopian athletes in second and third. Remember though, celebrate after that line, unless you’re really sure.

Cornish youngster Grace Brock was the first across the line for the British team with a 25th place finish. “Amazing – and the European champion only overtook me on the last bit. To make that jump from 11^th at Europeans and to be second European here is more than I could have asked for. It was am amazing atmosphere all around the course and that really spurred me on in the closing stages.”

Brock was followed home by Amelia Samuels (35th), Becky Briggs (44th), Charlotte Alexander (49th), Eloise Walker (51st) and Olivia Mason (57th).

Junior Mens

At the front Milkesa Mengesha of Ethiopia took the gold medal in line with the East African dominance of the day. Mengesha surged on the penultimate lap and was clear ahead of compatriot Tadese Worku with Uganda’s Oscar Chelimo in the bronze medal position.

Norwegian super talent Jacob Ingebritsen battled with the leaders for most of the race but could barely stand when crossing the line in 12th place and first European. It’s been quite a year already indoors so seeing the world record holder put to the test in such a quality field, and rise to the occasion, was a great sight.

In the same position as Brock in the junior women, Matt Willis was ” just over the moon to finish in 25th”. The U20 Inter-Counties champ said that “the hills were hard but I adored the downhills; I used my strength wisely to make up for my weaknesses on the uphill sections.”

Fellow Brit Rory Leonard was 33rd, Euan Brennan was 50th, Albert parkrun regular Josh Cowperthwaite was 62nd and Zakariya Mahamed was just behind in 65th, setting a mark for his brother in the senior race to follow.

Mixed Relays

The day was started with a competitive mixed relay event, with teams of four taking on loops of the course in turn. It wasn’t until the final lap that any ground appeared between Ethiopia and Kenya at the front, but Fantu Worku absolutely tore apart the race when handed the ‘baton’ (which was actually a wrist band).

The racing of the final lap took such a toll on Kenya’s Mbinthe that the Morocco quartet could sneak silver and Kenya had to settle for Bronze. After the all round dominance of the Kenyans in Kampala 2017, the Ethiopians were hungry for revenge and did so in dramatic last lap fashion.

Not fair behind the Moroccans was the USA’s quartet but it was a little disappointing that only a handful of European teams featured in the newer format mixed relay event.

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The post Kate Avery leads British senior women to fourth at World Cross Champs appeared first on Fast Running.

Southampton AC’s Mahamed Mahamed won an exhilarating sprint finish against Leed City’s Emile Cairess while Aldershot’s Emily Hosker-Thornhill was a clear winner in the senior women’s event at the English National Cross Country Championships on Saturday (February 23).

There was excellent racing across the board, from junior to senior levels, with over 8000 runners entered at the Harewood House Estate hosted championships.

This year’s championships was the 131st edition of the senior men’s event, while the senior women raced for the 86th time.

In the senior women’s race, AFD’s Emily Hosker-Thornhill was eleven seconds clear of Phillipa Woolven of Wycombe Phoenix Harriers and a further 30 seconds in front of Blackburn Harrier Jess Judd.

The Mick Woods coached athlete took 28:17 to cover the eight kilometre distance and builds on a solid cross country season so far with strong performances at Great Stirling Cross and the British Cross Challenge in Northern Ireland.

Pippa Woolven was coming off an excellent victory at the highly competitive Southern cross country championships and was likely the favourite on the startline, while Blackburn’s Judd had a host of impressive performances on road and cross country in recent months.

Sale Harriers’ Georgia Taylor-Brown was next across the finish line ahead of Aldershot’s Louise Small to complete the top five.

Claire Duck in sixth and Lucy Crookes in 10th place led Leeds City to the top team prize ahead of Aldershot and City of Norwich.

Despite getting some excellent sprint finish training against Patrick Dever at the BUCS cross country champs earlier this year, Emile Cairess didn’t have the answers when Mahamed Mahamed surged ahead to the finish line in the senior men’s championship race.

Photo: Pete Brown

The young Southampton AC runner excels on the country and has raced a couple of times overseas before this weekend and focused on some speed at the BUCS indoor 3000m champs.

His winning time was 36:34 for the 12 kilometre distance.

Leeds City’s Cairess has been in prolific form and posted wins at the Northern champs, as well as BUCS and the Yorkshire county championships.

It wasn’t to be on the day and the speedster will have to settle for another fine second position at the English showcase winter event.

Morpeth’s Carl Avery was third on the day, one place behind Cairess as he was at the Northern counties earlier in the year.

Ipswich Harriers’ John Millar finished fourth, while 2018 champion Adam Hickey completed the top five.

Cairess’ performance and Graham Rush in 10th place led Leeds City to team gold ahead of 2018 champions Tonbridge, with Bristol & West securing bronze.

Senior men’s 12km results

1) Mahamed Mahamed, Southampton, 36:34
2) Emile Cairess, Leeds City, 36:35
3) Carl Avery, Morpeth Harriers, 37:04
4) John Millar, Ipswich Harriers, 37:12
5) Adam Hickey, Southend On Sea, 37:15
6) Jack Gray, Cambridge & Coleridge, 37:31
7) Alexander Brecker, City of Stoke, 37:34
8) Omer Ahmed, Birchfield Harriers, 37:36
9) Joe Steward, East Cheshire Harriers & Tameside, 37:38
10) Graham Rush, Leeds City, 37:43

Senior women’s 8km results

1) Emily Hosker-Thornhill, Aldershot Farnham & District, 28:17
2) Philippa Woolven, Wycombe Phoenix Harriers, 28:28
3) Jess Judd, Blackburn Harriers, 28:52
4) Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sale Harriers Manchester, 28:55
5) Louise Small, Aldershot Farnham & District, 28:58
6) Claire Duck, Leeds City, 29:10
7) Naomi Taschimowitz, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, 29:17
8) Katie Holt, City of Stoke, 29:27
9) Eleonor Davis, Preston Harriers, 29:30
10) Lucy Crookes, Leeds City, 29:38

Junior women and men

Photo: Pete Brown

Amelia Quirk continued a great start to 2019 with a win from Jessica Mitchell and Grace Brock. All three runners featured in the top six at the southern championships, where Quirk also came out on top.

Havering’s Mitchell went from sixth at the southern’s to overtaking Cornwall’s youngster Brock for second.

Herne Hill Harriers won a close team competition over Aldershot, while Basingstoke & Mid Hants took bronze.

Morpeth’s Rory Leonard followed on from victory at the Northern counties championships with a national title. The promising youngster also had an excellent outing at the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza at the start of January so his top notch win wasn’t unexpected.

Second place was Nathan Dunn of Preston Harriers and third went to Jeremy Dempsey of Shaftesbury and Barnet.

Photo: Pete Brown

Tonbridge AC won the team gold ahead of Cambridge & Coleridge, with Reading AC taking bronze.

Boys and Girls championships

Samuel Charlton was U17 champion at Harewood House, with the Wallsend Harriers & AC athlete taking the gold in 18:48, 11 seconds clear of AFD’s Will Barnicoat and Henry McLuckie of Shaftesbury & Barnet.

In the U17 women’s race, it was Olivia Grace Mason who finished just under 18 minutes for the 5km distance to take the gold medal. The Border Harrier beat India Pentland of Darlington Harriers & AC, as well as Charlotte Alexander of Herne Hill Harriers.

Vale Royal’s Holly Weedall took the honours ahead of early leader Kiya Dee of Highworth, who finished second, and third-placed Indienne King of Wreake & Soar Valley.

Wharf dale Harrier Alexander Thompson took the honours in the boy’s race, ahead of Louis Small of Ashford AC and Matthew Taylor of Tonbridge AC. The two southern athletes pipped to the post by the northern Wharfdale runner.

Scarlet Livingstone of Exeter Harriers was first across the line in the U13 girls event. Wolverhampton & Bilston’s Zoe Gilbody and Woodford Green AC with Essex Ladies’ Abigail Reid was third.

Ben Peck, William Rabjohns and Alex Adams were the trio at the front of the boys race. Peck, of Thetford AC, was also south of England champion in January this year.

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The post Emily Hosker-Thornhill and Mahamed Mahamed win English cross country gold appeared first on Fast Running.

Laura Muir, Alex Bell, Phillip Sesemann and Jamie Williamson all ran fantastic legs in the mixed relay to take victory for Great Britain in the final event at the Great Stirling XCountry (12 January).

It was a windy day in Stirling as the Scottish city hosted the cross country international between GB, Europe and the USA for the first time after moving on from its long-standing home in Edinburgh. Under the watchful eye of Stirling castle the racing was on a rolling but firm cross country course at city’s King’s Park golf course.

The overall match was won by Europe, but that does not paint the full picture of an exciting day of cross country running with drama in the men’s race, a strong home result in the women’s event and a fine British win on the mixed relay.

Elena Burkard overhauls Charlotte Ater to win women’s event for Europe

The women’s race was the first international event, with four laps of a 1500m loop. Featuring some nice ups and downs, the early pace was set by Kate Avery of Great Britain with the pack tightly bunched.

Photo: Keith McClure

GB’s Charlotte Arter then took charge of proceeding with a break and looked strong before German Elena Burkard, representing Europe fought her way back into contention.

The race between the two was close, but the German steeplechaser pushed on with Arter starting to struggle.

Burkard, who is next heading off for a cross country skiing training camp, looked composed and strong throughout the final stages and finished in 20:01 to take the win, just five seconds clear of Arter. The Danish Anna Emilie Møller added third for the European team in 20:11, chasing Arter hard at the finish.

Britain’s Pippa Woollven was fourth with Verity Ockenden in fifth, both having great performances.

Drama in the men’s race

Photo: Keith McClure

There was drama in the elite men’s race, which was fast from the start with Europe’s Hugo Hay pushing the early pace. In a turn around from the women’s race, the USA team were at the front in force and when the break came it was five men, including two former event winners in Edinburgh, Garrett Heath and Leonard Korir.

As the race progressed, USA’s Hillary Bor, Heath and Korir were in a small group with Sweden’s Napoleon Solomon and Spain’s Adel Mechaal for Europe. Bor looked really comfortable in the front but the format of the race, four 1500m laps, followed by two 1000m laps added some extra excitement towards the end.

A new lap format to tackle when all the runners were pushing and tired from earlier exertions led to Bor and Korir both taking a wrong turn and getting tangled up in the side ropes. Both went from first and second to fourth and fifth and had to chase back to the front. Bor easily got back onto Solomon’s shoulder, but Korir had to work little harder.

Watching fans were asking whether Bor and Korir’s chase back to the front would affect the finishing sprints.

Salomon, who was fifth at the European Cross country last year, showed a downhill push before the final uphill that seriously challenged Bor, but USA’s man was too quick and held on for the victory. 1500m specialist Adel Mechaal came through for third place as Korir seemed to suffer the most after the wrong turn.

Photo: Keith McClure

The British team didn’t have the strongest of performances, but young Patrick Dever ran with the lead group for a lot of the race and was the first British runner home in ninth place. The Preston Harrier is certainly one to watch for the future.

Mixed Relay

The mixed relay race was the final event of the day and it was essentially USA v Great Britain v Spain with a Spanish quartet competing for Team Europe. Meanwhile, Great Britain was represented by three of the quartet from the European Championships along with European 1500m champion Muir.

Blasting off with a men’s leg first, the pace was electric with GB’s Jamie Williamson running strongly. However, it was USA’s Craig Nowak, a 3:39 1500m man, who finished the first lap ahead of the field. Europe were second home, closely followed by Great Britain’s senior and junior teams.

Another error with the course meant that the USA’s runner was reeled in by GB’s Alex Bell, who might well have caught the American regardless as she was running brilliantly on the day.

GB was in the lead at the end leg two with Bell passing the baton to a fellow Andy Henderson coached athlete Phillip Sesemann. It seemed the European team were gaining, but Sesemann finished with a flourish to provide an excellent advantage to his teammate Laura Muir for the final leg.

Home favourite Muir set off on the final leg with a steely, focused look in her eyes, and was resolute as she stormed around the final lap to claim the win for GB.

Interestingly Muir and Bell both clocked the same time of 4:38 around the 1500m loop, while GB’s men also ran the exact same time in 4:10, a stat that highlights just how well the team ran to win the mixed relay with a 17:36 total.

“The team did fantastically, they were unlucky at the European Championships in that they slipped and it was fantastic to see them build up such a strong lead for me, and then I thought ‘well there’s no pressure now!’,” said Muir after winning a fifth consecutive mixed relay title. “All credit to the team, they did a fantastic job of getting me into a good position and it’s as much of a team win as it is an individual win for me.

“When I saw I was quite a bit ahead I thought I had to take it easier on the first half and make sure that I was strong on the finish and I had to judge it so I could be strong on the finish.

“I take the crowd in more than I would on a track, there’s people there from school and Glasgow and running alongside that are all shouting things. It’s nice to run and be so close to the crowd and having little kids running alongside you is really fun. It [the course] was a challenge but it was proper cross country and it was good fun.”

Second place was USA, after a strong last lap, with Europe in third place.

The overall team title went to the Europeans, due to strong and consistent performance across the individual races. Europe finished with 55 points, Great Britain with 84 points and the USA with 90 points.

Inter District Championships

Earlier in the day, the Scottish Inter District Championships saw some cracking cross country running with athletes from far and wide representing their districts.

The men’s senior race was won by Shettleston Harrier Lachlan Oates (25:16), representing West Scotland, ahead of Linton Taylor (25:23) for the North of England and Alastair Hay (25:25) for East Scotland. Preston AC’s Nathan Dunn was first U20 in 25:43 and eighth place overall.

The women’s senior race saw a win for Scottish Students and Mhairi MacLennan (20:40) ahead of North of England’s Lucy Crookes (20:55) with third place going to Morag Miller of Scotland East in 21:08. Eloise Walker of Edinburgh AC was the first U20 in 21:47 for fifth overall.

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The post Laura Muir anchors GB to relay victory at Great Stirling XCountry appeared first on Fast Running.