British trials at Sefton Park on Saturday for the European Cross Country Champs in Turin feature strong entries
Many of Britain’s leading distance runners will descend on Sefton Park in Liverpool on Saturday (Nov 26) for the British trials for next month’s European Cross Country Championships in Turin, Italy. Olympians Marc Scott and Jess Warner-Judd lead the entries in the senior races with in-form Emile Cairess another stand-out name on the start lists. The junior races will also be hotly contested while the short-course relay trials include 800m talent Max Burgin.
The trials for the Euro Cross and February’s European Clubs Championships aside, the senior races include runners from the Liverpool & District, Red Rose and Mid Lancs cross country leagues. All of which means it is easily the busiest and most competitive domestic cross-country meeting of the winter so far on a relatively flat course that is likely to be greasy in places due to this month’s persistent rain.
Scott the frontrunner in men’s race
Marc Scott has not raced cross-country since the autumn of 2019 when he won the Cardiff Cross Challenge. Since then he has posted 5000m and 10,000m times of 12:57.08 and 27:10.41 that place him No.2 on the UK all-time rankings behind Mo Farah.
Earlier this year he won 3000m bronze at the World Indoor Championships as well and, after being based in the US for many years, he is now back in the UK and warmed up for Liverpool by winning a Tracksmith Surrey League race in Wimbledon this month.
Better known for his track and road exploits (among other things he won the Great North Run in 2021) Scott should have no problem adapting to the ground as he won the English Schools fell running title as a teenager. What’s more he was ninth in the Euro Cross in Tilburg in 2018 and fourth in the under-23 race in Hyères in 2015.
Not only will Scott be aiming to make the team but he will be looking to improve on those positions at the Euro Cross itself on December 11 in Turin.
Cairess is another runner with unfinished business at the Euro Cross. He was 60th at the 2019 event in Lisbon in the under-23 race but has since set a UK 10km record of 27:43 and last month improved his half-marathon PB to 60:32 in Valencia.
Mahamed and Zak Mahamed (Mark Shearman)
The Leeds City runner also began this winter by finishing first Brit home at the Cardiff Cross Challenge where, on that occasion, he finished ahead of Mahamed and Zak Mahamed.
Don’t discount the Mahamed…
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