Laura Muir will step-up her preparations for the Euro Cross trial at Bellahouston Park on Sunday.
The GB international plans to race the 4k distance in a revamped scottishathletics Short Course XC Champs which have attracted a record number of entries – with 735 names on the lists.
New races are included at U15 and U17 level with the youngsters to run 2k and 3k before the senior men’s and senior women’s races, which include U20 athletes.
Muir turned out for Glasgow University Hares and Hounds in the National Relays at Cumbernauld (pictured above) and clocked the fastest lap with an impressive second leg surge which took her team from 51st place to 13th.
Laura will represent Dundee Hawkhill Harriers this time around and will have an eye on the Euro Trial event in Liverpool a fortnight later which has attracted significant interest from Scottish athletes chasing U20 and U23 places with Team GB.
The Euro Cross event is in Belgrade on Sunday 8 December and Sunday’s event at Bellahouston should be a decent marker on those with ambitions to wear international vests next month.
Muir first represented GB in the Euro Cross two years ago in Slovenia when she finished 31st on her international debut in the U20 race and is squeezing in cross country as well as university commitments ahead of the Glasgow International indoors on January 25.
Of course, domestic medals – both individual and team – are up for grabs as well with Central AC at the top of both men’s and women’s tables in the Short Course Team Challenge with this the third of three races.
And, just to add even further interest, this weekend’s event is the first in the 2013-2014 Cross Country Grand Prix series for senior athletes which carries £4000 prize-money.
In individual terms, Muir looks certain to face a challenge from the likes of Rhona Auckland and Elspeth Curran while last year’s men’s champion, Mark Mitchell, will return after a lengthy injury absence for the Forres Harrier.
Robbie Simpson, silver medallist at the National Cross Country in February, will be at Bellahouston and there will doubtless be contenders from the likes of Central, Shettleston, VP-Glasgow, Ronhill Cambuslang and Inverclyde.
There were 300 entries last year for the Men’s and Women’s races over 4k but this time the lists show 146 women have entered and 302 men for the best figures since these champs began 16 years ago.
It is another remarkable rise, and another real boost for the sport. There’s no doubt that clubs are experiencing rise in memberships following London 2012 and ahead of the Commonwealth Games with more athletes getting out and competing.
‘We’ve renamed the event now as the Short Course Cross Country Champs and it is great to get another very good response from the clubs,’ said Ron Morrison, Convenor of the Road Running and Cross Country Commission.
‘All of the Champs have been held in Glasgow and Bellahouston has been the venue since the first two were held in Pollok Park. It is the start of the 2013-14 Cross Counry Grand Prix which will culminate at the National in Falkirk in February – with points on offer on Sunday.
‘We had very good entry numbers for the National Relays at Cumbernauld and it was good to see that the numbers of teams finishing showed increases across all the various races and age-groups.’
