Browse content similar to 2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome to Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, and beautiful setting | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
for a sporting event. Once again the capital plays host to R plates | :00:54. | :00:57. | |
from round-the-world in the traditional start to the Latics | :00:57. | :01:04. | |
year. The Great Edinburgh Cross Country. -- the of tactics. The | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
action is sure to be explosive as through the years this place has | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
been a happy hunting ground for some of the world's greatest | :01:10. | :01:20. | |
:01:20. | :01:23. | ||
Kenenisa Bekele, winning in Edinburgh. The best in the world. | :01:23. | :01:30. | |
Winning by a long way, Tirunesh Dibaba. Linet Masai, wins easily | :01:30. | :01:40. | |
:01:40. | :01:41. | ||
here in Edinburgh. Asbel Kiprop, finishing like a champion. The | :01:41. | :01:49. | |
surprise winner in Edinburgh! Another victory for Eliud Kipchoge, | :01:49. | :01:59. | |
:01:59. | :02:10. | ||
Mo Farah begins 2011 in winning Once again, this afternoon's time | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
table is full of champions with the double Olympic gold medallist | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
Meseret Defar taking on Vivian Cheruiyot, and the athlete she beat | :02:19. | :02:28. | |
into second place in the Olympic Games. And there is that highly | :02:28. | :02:34. | |
competitive team event. But in taking on Europe and the USA. The | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
junior races took place earlier on this afternoon. And then there was | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
live races, won 20 5:00pm, then men's eight kilometres team event | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
and then the women's team event. Britain are the defending champions | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
so let us see how they do. The first race is that stand-alone 3000 | :02:53. | :03:03. | |
:03:03. | :03:12. | ||
metres. That is a tantalising the home straight. And it shall be | :03:12. | :03:18. | |
Meseret Defar. After winning eight years ago, she comes back to retake | :03:19. | :03:28. | |
:03:29. | :03:31. | ||
the Olympic title. London was big for me. It felt like a marathon. | :03:31. | :03:40. | |
And the people, the crowd... They were very close in the competition | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
but if there is no competition, we are fence. That is something that | :03:44. | :03:51. | |
is natural in athletics but tomorrow, I don't know... I don't | :03:51. | :04:00. | |
know how she is or how I am. But I will try my best tomorrow. I know | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
who I am in the cross-country because I have run on many tracks | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
but cross country is also very nice. For the track preparation. I like | :04:10. | :04:17. | |
cross-country because it is for people who do track and field. And | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
then doing cross-country, you are preparing for the track and field. | :04:24. | :04:31. | |
It makes me quicker on the track. From the track of the Olympic | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
Stadium to Edinburgh, the athletes lined up behind me so good | :04:35. | :04:45. | |
afternoon to Brendan Foster and traditional, we kick off here with | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
three cracking races. This one is perhaps the cream of the crop in | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
terms of international competitors. You have seen Meseret Defar and | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
Vivian Cheruiyot but there are others who will have a good chance. | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
Lisa Dobriskey, good to see her. The silver medallist in the World | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
Championships. The finalist in the Olympics last year. And fit and | :05:07. | :05:14. | |
healthy during the winter. Good to see her here. 2011 was a brilliant | :05:14. | :05:20. | |
year for Vivian Cheruiyot. Twice the world champion, three times | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
including the cross country. Did not quite get what she wanted from | :05:24. | :05:31. | |
the Olympics but silver and bronze. That was some consolation for her. | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
And that is a judgment of her very high standards. The gold medal in | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
the 5000 pictures went to Meseret Defar, repeating that victory from | :05:42. | :05:52. | |
:05:52. | :05:52. | ||
2004. Not somebody who competes that often on the country. It is | :05:52. | :06:02. | |
:06:02. | :06:02. | ||
great to see both of them here. Look out for Genzebe Dibaba, she is | :06:02. | :06:08. | |
just on the right of the group. She will also be a big threat. Other | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
British athletes running well this year... Emily Stewart, you can see. | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
Further back. Blonde hair. She has started the season pretty well. And | :06:19. | :06:25. | |
Lisa Dobriskey and Emily Stewart, they will be taking on the might of | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
Meseret Defar, Vivian Cheruiyot and Genzebe Dibaba. And happy New Year | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
to Brendan Foster... Thank you. Great to see Lisa Dobriskey here, | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
she was very disappointed with 10th place in the Olympics and lots of | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
us had to down as an athlete to have a chance to win a medal, even | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
gold. She was so close to being the world champion at few years ago but | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
sadly, 2012 did not go her way and she settled just for being in the | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
race, happy to be there and she said it was one of the greatest | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
experiences of her life but she would have been happier if she was | :07:00. | :07:09. | |
fully fit. Charlene Thomas on the inside. And Genzebe Dibaba, she was | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
injured in 2012, she was one of the favourites going into the Olympic | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
Games. Her sister one of the 10,000 metres. She was unable to get | :07:18. | :07:24. | |
through to the final. She had some fantastic races earlier in the year | :07:24. | :07:33. | |
and I thought she would win the Olympics 1500 metres. Behind her, | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
Meseret Defar, she did win that race. And in marvellous style. One | :07:38. | :07:45. | |
of the great races. Others to mention, you might have spotted | :07:45. | :07:52. | |
that tall figure, Linet Masai, further back. And, of course, Sofia | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
Assefa, she was the bronze medallist over the steeplechase. | :07:57. | :08:05. | |
Another Ethiopian to watch out for. Three kilometres, very much a mix | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
of the good track specialists such as Charlene Thomas and Lisa | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
Dobriskey and then the Kenyans and Ethiopians mixing up with great | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
cross-country talent. 300kilometre collapse, there are longer laps to | :08:22. | :08:28. | |
come but they basically stayed on the bottom field. Three laps and | :08:28. | :08:33. | |
the first one looks fairly content just to stay together. Amy Campbell, | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
the leader at the moment. The bigger names happy to sit towards | :08:37. | :08:44. | |
the back. Meseret Defar in the blue vest at the back, running like it | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
is a track race. Settling into the pace. On the inside, Vivian | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
Cheruiyot. Look at the year she had in 2011, the world cross-country | :08:56. | :09:00. | |
champion, the world 5000 metres champion and 10,000 metres champion | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
and she came to the Olympic Games as a big favourite for the distance | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
races but she met her match with two with the audience, Tirunesh | :09:08. | :09:18. | |
Dibaba and then with Meseret Defar in the 5000 metres. After team-mate, | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
Linet Masai, leading them a long through one lap. The first | :09:23. | :09:31. | |
kilometre behind them. Now, Linet Masai, more pronounced over long | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
distance, knows she has to put on the pace and t8 macro decides to go | :09:35. | :09:45. | |
:09:45. | :09:48. | ||
with her. -- Genzebe Dibaba. was a long way behind in 10,000 | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
metres in Spain recently. That would suggest that maybe she isn't | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
quite as fit as she would like to be. She has decided she isn't going | :09:59. | :10:04. | |
to leave this for the big sprint finish. She is such a graceful | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
runner but is a great cross country runner as well. The conditions | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
under foot are pretty good, given the wet weather that every word has | :10:12. | :10:18. | |
had. As good as you could have expected. Mice, warm January day | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
with some muddy patches but generally, the conditions are | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
pretty good. I am amazed, I thought it would be saturated but the | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
weather has been drying off and we have had such a wet winter, such a | :10:31. | :10:37. | |
wet here, I thought this would be treacherous but it isn't too bad. | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
Linet Masai, not having much difficulty, we are looking at real | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
talent. Genzebe Dibaba, she came here and won the junior cross- | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
country championships in 2008, and since then she has moved into the | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
senior ranks, the world indoor champion and one of her best | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
performances. We will see some outstanding performances in the | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
future from the younger sister of Tirunesh Dibaba. There she is. | :11:04. | :11:11. | |
Stretching along in second place. Behind Linet Masai. Meseret Defar | :11:11. | :11:20. | |
moving into third place. And Lisa Dobriskey moving well. Just behind | :11:20. | :11:27. | |
the big names, Emily Stewart is having a very good winter. She is | :11:27. | :11:37. | |
:11:37. | :11:37. | ||
at Newcastle University. She has been getting lots of local support. | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
And then three days ago she ran her personal best indoors at 3000 | :11:41. | :11:47. | |
metres. She is doing well and she will have her eyes very much set on | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
Lisa Dobriskey, just coming off the group. Three of them pulling away, | :11:51. | :11:58. | |
Vivian Cheruiyot will have to try to close that gap and bring that | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
group of four runners closer. As they come towards the end of the | :12:02. | :12:08. | |
second lap. Genzebe Dibaba looks very comfortable. Meseret Defar | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
working to stay with them. Linet Masai trying to stretch them out. | :12:14. | :12:20. | |
But Genzebe Dibaba, really good transition into the senior ranks, | :12:20. | :12:26. | |
the world junior champion on the country and the track. In 2010, | :12:26. | :12:33. | |
over 5000 metres. She was top ranked. She can run below four | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
minutes in 1500 metres. The world indoor champion, Genzebe Dibaba, | :12:38. | :12:46. | |
takes over. Linet Masai and then the Olympic 5000 metres champion, | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
Meseret Defar, the three of them together and that was a reasonably | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
quick first lap and Ulster were second lap but then, Genzebe Dibaba | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
takes over. Linet Masai, who has made her work, and then Meseret | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
Defar, who we don't see very often in the country. The first time was | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
in the world junior cross country championships back into 1002. And | :13:11. | :13:21. | |
:13:21. | :13:22. | ||
we also saw Vivian Cheruiyot them. But young Genzebe Dibaba, she | :13:22. | :13:29. | |
promised such a lot last year. And her favourite position for the | :13:29. | :13:36. | |
Olympics but she was unable to do that. Meseret Defar ticking very | :13:36. | :13:42. | |
close order and both Ethiopians will be very competitive, here. | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
Meseret Defar on the track possesses such great pace, she | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
talked about changing her training and she chose not to run in the | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
10,000 metres against Tirunesh Dibaba and concentrated just on | :13:54. | :13:59. | |
5000. Ulster people did not reckon on her being as good as she was. | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
She has such pace to burn and Genzebe Dibaba will know that, | :14:04. | :14:10. | |
pushing on, she won't want to have her on her shoulder. Linet Masai | :14:10. | :14:17. | |
has also gone, now. And that looks like 4th place. She has to put the | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
pressure on. Has to get that gap and she will want more than 10 | :14:22. | :14:29. | |
metres. She is doing her best. will be a very good race. Genzebe | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
Dibaba, the speed behind her. The renowned speed of Meseret Defar in | :14:34. | :14:42. | |
second place. Once again, taking on the talented sister. This time, the | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
younger one, the world cross country champion. Genzebe Dibaba, | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
stretching out like a true 1500 metres runner. Meseret Defar coming | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
under pressure and this will be a very strong finish from both it the | :14:57. | :15:03. | |
Oddbins. Has t8 macro done enough? Once you start looking behind, you | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
except that the lead is the way. And that gap is one which Meseret | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
Defar, even have your best, we struggle with. Genzebe Dibaba in | :15:13. | :15:23. | |
:15:23. | :15:28. | ||
talk of moving up to the marathon. But this could well be the new name | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
over the next two or three years, Genzebe Dibaba. She looks really | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
strong, really comfortable, and it is a final victory here in | :15:38. | :15:45. | |
Edinburgh, for Genzebe Dibaba. 9.46 the winning time. Defar takes | :15:45. | :15:52. | |
second. Masai hangs on for third, ahead of Assefa. Emily Stewart runs | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
well, she might get fifth. They will be close on the line. There is | :15:56. | :16:03. | |
your top four there. Cheruiyot just ahead of Stewart and Lisa Dobriskey. | :16:03. | :16:11. | |
That got quicker and quicker, they ran 3.32, 3.12 and 3.03. Gradual | :16:11. | :16:16. | |
pressure applied all the bay. She is strong, quick enough, she has | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
run 3.57 for it and you have a great athlete on your hands. He is | :16:22. | :16:28. | |
great. Her sister the greatest female dis tans runner of all times. | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
Three times Olympic champion. This young lady, 1500 metres is her | :16:32. | :16:39. | |
future. Here they go. -- distance. A class field overall. Linet Masai, | :16:39. | :16:44. | |
happy to lead in the early stage, but she knows she has to do it like | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
this, she knows she has to try and run the finish out of the talented | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
Ethopians round her. Vivian Cheruiyot in a bad patch. We are | :16:53. | :16:58. | |
down do the world indoor champion against the Olympic 5,000 metre | :16:58. | :17:05. | |
champion, Meseret Defar.. Genzebe Dibaba stretching, looking like a | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
true sprinter. Powerful, strong, comfortable on that course, there | :17:10. | :17:16. | |
she goes. Another victory 234 Edinburgh -- in Edinburgh for | :17:16. | :17:24. | |
Genzebe Dibaba. The world June yon yor champion from 2008, she beats | :17:24. | :17:34. | |
:17:34. | :17:40. | ||
Dibaba's winning time five seconds ahead of Meseret Defar. She will be | :17:40. | :17:50. | |
:17:50. | :18:00. | ||
happy with that. Linet Masai takes Defar and Genzebe Dibaba. We have | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
two more live race, both part of the team challenge, Great Britain | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
and Northern Ireland taking on the USA, taking on Europe, Britain won | :18:07. | :18:13. | |
this title last year, I think they have a handful this year. It is the | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
men's 8k race up first. There have been a couple of junior races which | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
have formed part of that challenge. Well, the men's or junior men's | :18:24. | :18:32. | |
race was held at 6 kilometre, a lot of the pace from the middle was set | :18:32. | :18:38. | |
by one of the American new talents, he couldn't get away from the group | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
and Jonathan Davis was doing well for the British team. Hanging on in | :18:42. | :18:47. | |
there. Gradually though, after Davis tried to pull away, we got | :18:47. | :18:53. | |
down to a group of four as they came into the latter stages. It | :18:53. | :19:03. | |
:19:03. | :19:11. | ||
Jonathan Davis in fourth place, the first of the British athletes to | :19:11. | :19:17. | |
cross the line. Really really good race, very competitive. Europe | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
getting off to a good start. The team race all-important though. | :19:22. | :19:32. | |
:19:32. | :19:39. | ||
Individually, one and two for His dad is watching him here. | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
Britain having to settle for third place. Those points will be crucial. | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
It is the overall points tote that will will determine the winning | :19:46. | :19:56. | |
:19:56. | :20:00. | ||
team. Europe getting off to a good junior women's race. A course Great | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
Britain's junior women among the best in the world, they have | :20:06. | :20:15. | |
dominated European cross-country running in the junior age group. | :20:15. | :20:24. | |
Jess Judd showing her capabilities on the country and well backed up | :20:24. | :20:34. | |
:20:34. | :20:37. | ||
Judd who hung on for second. But Great Britain, as Rebecca Weston | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
finished in third finished in top six positions, showing their | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
dominance in this age group, of course that was very good news for | :20:43. | :20:50. | |
the team race. Clarify the individual positions first. This is | :20:50. | :21:00. | |
:21:00. | :21:11. | ||
events so that mean's Britain's total was ten points, that made up | :21:11. | :21:18. | |
for a slightly disappointing performance in the junior men's. | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
Well, a great performance from the junior women, we can see what that | :21:22. | :21:28. | |
means for the team's standings overall. Ath add the points | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
together and that means a ten point gap between Britain and Europe, | :21:33. | :21:42. | |
:21:43. | :21:43. | ||
first place to second place with USA somewhat adrift. That was quite | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
a performance from the whole team. It was fantastic. I mean it was | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
great to turn round and see the girls behind me. It's a very young | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
team, so it means great prospect for the future. In ters of your | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
performance, you won here last year, happy hunting ground? Yes, it is a | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
fantastic course. I love the terrain, it is a great set up to | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
start 2013 for me. I felt strong today and I am happy. What are the | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
rest of your plans? I would love to go to the World Cross. It is my | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
final year as a junior girl. The main aim would be to challenge the | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
Africans there. I got a taste of that last year, I would love to go | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
out and see what I can do and face that challenge again. Terms of | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
strength and depth, we look back to the European cross-country in | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
Budapest. Things look good on the women's side. Yes goodbye is | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
getting strong and it is fantastic to be part of such a strong team | :22:40. | :22:45. | |
and hopefully great thing also come. What about the men's and women's, | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
do you fancy your chances of holding on the overall title? | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
think so. People are telling us what the scores are, so everyone | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
going into the next race knows how we are standing. Hopefully we will | :22:58. | :23:04. | |
hang on to it this year. Well done. Last year as a junior so good luck | :23:04. | :23:11. | |
for it. What a great performance there. The next race is the men's 8 | :23:11. | :23:20. | |
k. Let us hear from the respective k. Let us hear from the respective | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
team captains, starting with Bobby Mack. We don't get a lot of | :23:24. | :23:30. | |
opportunities to run cross-country in the US. I prefer the European | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
cross-country courses more, they are more challenging than the US | :23:33. | :23:38. | |
ones, so happy to be here. I hope as a team, that we can go out and | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
run as well as we did in the European Championships. If we do, | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
we can come away with a win, we have a strong USA team, a strong | :23:45. | :23:52. | |
European team, there is no reason, if we pack well, we can win it. | :23:52. | :23:59. | |
am happy, I am captain, and I prepare the team for a win tomorrow. | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
It is not unrealistic to say I would love to be on the podium. I | :24:03. | :24:10. | |
knowly have to run well. If I am one or two percent off, it could be | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
tenth place, it would be solid but there won't be anything between us, | :24:13. | :24:21. | |
I want to run well, but I want to run well for the team The US US | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
team, the European team, the British team, perfect race. We have | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
a good group, most guys were selected for this team came on a | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
course that was muddy and challenging, I think they, this | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
course will cater to them better course will cater to them better | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
than in the past. So Bobby Mack second here last year. I wonder | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
what he will do this year. The team challenge is interestingly poised. | :24:47. | :24:55. | |
Ten points in it. Let us see how this event goes. Yes, I think the | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
men are going to have to do particularly well. I think the | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
senior women have a good strong squad, but the men will have to | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
stand up here and run well against some stiff European opposition, in | :25:07. | :25:16. | |
particular, you can see last year's winner on the left, Sergiy Lebid, | :25:16. | :25:26. | |
:25:26. | :25:26. | ||
they have Ayad Lamdassem of Spain. He was 15th in the recent edition | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
and the different conditions of Hungary they face. Bobby Mack, by | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
far the most experienced of the American team. The rest of the team | :25:36. | :25:42. | |
are inexperienced, so I am not sure they will have high hopes here. And | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
it is great to see Steve Vernon leading the British team. He has | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
had a good come back. He has half an eye on world mountain running | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
Championships later in the year. He wants to run well here. Andy Vernon | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
will be alongside him. Jonathan Taylor, they are the three top | :26:02. | :26:12. | |
:26:12. | :26:13. | ||
names here. An intriguing race here, we have eight kilometre, which will | :26:13. | :26:21. | |
be four two kilometre laps. added spice, if you like, of a log | :26:21. | :26:30. | |
to be negotiated, or more than one, two-and-a-half foot high. We were | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
deciding whether we would put our foot on it, and stream to negotiate, | :26:34. | :26:41. | |
so as Macwas saying, a nice good cross-country test. One or two | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
muddy patch, one or two obstacles to overcome. The team race, I think | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
the most intreesing part, individually a good few of the guys | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
will want to finish the top three. Andy Vernon sh is the first to show | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
at the front. -- is the first to show at the front. He was aiming | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
for the Olympic games for the 10,000 metres last years got | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
injured. Now he is on his way back, he has promised well, I have been | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
impressed with him on occasion, he is setting off quickly, there is a | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
talented field, particularly some of the Europeans. Steve verning | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
behind him and Jonathan Taylor alongside him too. So the three | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
British athletes who we figureed will be close to the front are in | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
there and close up to the front. I am looking at Sergiy Lebid, who was | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
disappointing in the European Cross-Country Championships where | :27:31. | :27:36. | |
he has won it nine times. There he is in the blue vest. Just inside | :27:36. | :27:43. | |
there. Looking at that he is in the middle. He has a race in, over New | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
Year and Spain, it was a real return to form for Sergiy Lebid, so | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
he has come here, full of confidence. That is good to see. | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
The British team are in position in good position, packing well, being | :27:55. | :28:00. | |
led by Andy Vernon, who likes to run at the front. A strong runner, | :28:00. | :28:05. | |
more distinguished over the country than on the track, but one day he | :28:05. | :28:11. | |
will run a good track race, I think. Sergiy Lebid was third in that race, | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
as you said a return to form Brendan. I just, the European, he | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
never got involved. A few of the athletes struggled with the | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
underfoot conditions. It was very very cold, and although there was | :28:23. | :28:29. | |
lots of snow on the ground, it was hard icy conditions, and some ran | :28:29. | :28:35. | |
very well. It is interesting some of the results since then. | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
Lamdassem went in as the favourite. He is in fourth place on the ropes. | :28:40. | :28:47. | |
Even was saying this is going to be his race, it wasn't to be. The | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
winner looked incredibly comfortable. He ran across that | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
ground. That is what cross-country is about. You have different | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
courses, different conditions under foot and different people rise to | :28:57. | :29:03. | |
the top. Today is different to that one. The results we have here, from | :29:03. | :29:06. | |
the European cross-country championships. Freezing cold, very | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
difficult, frozen ground under foot, today we have ten degrees out there, | :29:10. | :29:18. | |
as we look at Sergiy Lebid. The British athletes alongside him. | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
There is Lamdassem. He looks impressive, some of them aren't too | :29:22. | :29:28. | |
happy about it. But Andy Vernon, the leader, alongside him, Tom | :29:28. | :29:34. | |
Humphries on the inside. Jonathan Taylor, in third place. It will be | :29:34. | :29:40. | |
interesting to see how he goes. Coached by Gordon Surtees who has | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
good athletes and Jonathan Taylor's ambition is to run well over the | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
steeplechase, and I am sure he will one day, he is in good hands with | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
Gordon who knows about distance running, winter running and | :29:53. | :30:03. | |
:30:03. | :30:10. | ||
USA, where he is based. Hoping to come back. Hoping to go to the | :30:10. | :30:14. | |
world championships later in the year. The World cross-country | :30:14. | :30:23. | |
Championships are only held every two years. It'll be interesting to | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
see how many of the better British athletes will want to be part of | :30:27. | :30:33. | |
that team. Good to see Tom Humphries, Jonathan Taylor, Andy | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
Vernon, Steve Vernon tucked in as well. Doing very well at the moment | :30:37. | :30:44. | |
and I suspect the Americans might struggle. Most of the American team | :30:44. | :30:47. | |
were picked from the National Club Championships, club athletics isn't | :30:47. | :30:54. | |
their normal strong. And it was a very muddy course, it was | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
apparently very muddy that day and it was more like a European course. | :30:59. | :31:06. | |
Bobby Mack moving through. The winner that day, Ripley. We might | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
see them moving through the field. Generally, that standard in the USA | :31:11. | :31:17. | |
isn't the same as some of the events where it is about collegiate | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
teams and the athletes who are running for some of the huge | :31:20. | :31:26. | |
companies. It is pretty wide open, some very good at the Ritz. Not | :31:26. | :31:32. | |
much better than the general group. You will have to position yourself | :31:32. | :31:39. | |
as they come towards the end of the first lap. They will run for two, | :31:39. | :31:44. | |
to laps and Tom Humphries from Great Britain is leading. This race | :31:44. | :31:50. | |
will change in the later part. Reasonably quick, so far. They are | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
really stretched out and they aren't really running comfortably | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
but the point of this race is really to try to gauge the effort. | :31:57. | :32:07. | |
:32:07. | :32:09. | ||
Andy Vernon running well in second place. Sergiy Lebid. 6.01, pretty | :32:09. | :32:17. | |
swift. No big spent so far. Tom Humphries is stretching along. | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
Jonathan Taylor in that group, running well in that small gap that | :32:21. | :32:31. | |
:32:31. | :32:33. | ||
is appearing behind them. The Great Britain men doing well. Looking at | :32:33. | :32:42. | |
the standings, Great Britain and very much to the fore. We have got | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
five, 7th, 9th and 10th. Easily winning the team race at the moment. | :32:47. | :32:54. | |
Europe have got their big guns at the front. Carles Castillejo. I am | :32:54. | :32:58. | |
looking for Hassan Chahdi, I was looking for him to be closer up. | :32:58. | :33:03. | |
Tom Humphries has kept a very good, hard place on the slap so they are | :33:03. | :33:10. | |
breaking up. I thought there would be a bigger group for the first | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
four kilometres but Tom is going out with real intent, really | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
stretching and giving them something to think about. He needs | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
to settle down, he has got a group clear, there is a good bunch and | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
some good athletes around him. Some athletes that would normally beat | :33:26. | :33:31. | |
Tom Humphries so he does not be to be exposed, he needs to settle down. | :33:31. | :33:37. | |
I am looking at Sergiy Lebid, he looks altogether different today | :33:37. | :33:40. | |
than from the European cross country championships. Looking down | :33:40. | :33:45. | |
the team, the Americans are moving through. The younger athletes | :33:45. | :33:53. | |
running strongly, and there goes Tom Humphries with a few yards | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
ahead of Sergiy Lebid. Jonathan Taylor, who won the trials for the | :33:58. | :34:08. | |
:34:08. | :34:10. | ||
European Championships. Andy Vernon. 5th place. And there they go. | :34:10. | :34:15. | |
Stretching it out, moving along nicely. Tom Humphries, is he trying | :34:15. | :34:20. | |
to win this at this early stage? is very early and the quality of | :34:20. | :34:25. | |
the men behind would suggest that it would be a brave effort but if | :34:25. | :34:28. | |
you are feeling good on the day, you have to run the way that you | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
feel. He knows where he sits in terms of the other British athletes | :34:32. | :34:38. | |
and he has finished behind Jonathan Taylor and Steve Vernon this year. | :34:38. | :34:40. | |
He is an are feeling very good today, thinking this is the right | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
pace. This is the sort of course I like moving on. He looks | :34:45. | :34:51. | |
comfortable enough. And that gap is starting to form. I just saw Carles | :34:51. | :34:54. | |
Castillejo coming to the front of that group, he was feeling like he | :34:54. | :35:01. | |
might want to close that gap. Nobody else was interested. So, | :35:01. | :35:06. | |
there is a lead of about him metres for Tom Humphries as he goes | :35:06. | :35:10. | |
through three kilometres and another five kilometres to go. | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
Humphries looks relaxed, he looks comfortable but he has never found | :35:14. | :35:19. | |
himself in a race of this colour. He is as bad as me over the | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
hurdles! He has never found himself in a race of this calendar with a | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
lead like this. He has to contain himself and settled in his mind. He | :35:29. | :35:34. | |
is thinking before the halfway point, he has got this one, but | :35:34. | :35:40. | |
there is a lot of running to come. It is now about mental control, he | :35:40. | :35:45. | |
looks comfortable, the course isn't doing him any disservice as he | :35:45. | :35:51. | |
comes off the main field and on to the hilly part. Andy Vernon moving | :35:51. | :36:01. | |
:36:01. | :36:05. | ||
into second place. See hymn coming into third place. -- Ayad Lamdassem. | :36:05. | :36:10. | |
Bobby Mack has gone through, the other American, Jacob Riley, the | :36:10. | :36:16. | |
winner of the club championships, taking closer order, closing down | :36:16. | :36:22. | |
on the Danish athlete, representing Europe, the Abdi Hakin Ulad. But | :36:22. | :36:28. | |
Tom Humphries leading. Breaking up as far as the team race goes and | :36:28. | :36:37. | |
the Americans doing much better. Just looking for Hassan Chahdi, he | :36:37. | :36:43. | |
was the 19th place and he is now in about him days. The French man who | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
won the silver medal at the European cross country started very | :36:47. | :36:53. | |
slowly. He has picked up about nine places in the last kilometre. In | :36:53. | :36:59. | |
the old days at Edinburgh they went all the way to the top of haggis | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
hold but you can see in the background, that Rocky crop, | :37:04. | :37:11. | |
looking dangerous, it has been worn away. And they come back down on | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
this, this can be a tricky section. The ground is falling away to the | :37:15. | :37:20. | |
right and you have to negotiate a bend. You need good balance. Thomas | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
doing pretty well. They have to jump across the stream on the way | :37:25. | :37:35. | |
out and on the way back again. Good grounds as well. Plenty of races, | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
Junior and local events, people have been taking part all morning. | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
Look at Bobby Mack, really my thing through. Sergiy Lebid started to | :37:44. | :37:51. | |
struggle just a little bit. Britain won, too. Europe in third, Europe, | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
4th place and you have 5th and 6th place. That was a good performance | :37:56. | :38:03. | |
to the halfway point. Two laps to go for Tom Humphries. Andy Vernon | :38:03. | :38:11. | |
looking strong and second place. Another consistent six minutes, two | :38:11. | :38:18. | |
kilometres. Andy Vernon in second place. C Tywydd, Bobby Mack. | :38:18. | :38:22. | |
Jonathan Taylor just struggling a little bit. This is a surprise so | :38:22. | :38:26. | |
far from Tom Humphries, this is a real opportunity for him to grab | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
the headlines, grab a position and the American brothers running | :38:30. | :38:38. | |
through. Elliot Krause, Jonathan Peterson. And now, what is Andy | :38:38. | :38:42. | |
Vernon going to do in second place? Will he worked hard to close the | :38:42. | :38:48. | |
gap or will he settle with the athletes around him? Some big gaps | :38:48. | :38:57. | |
appearing. Anyone any further back, Jacob Riley, behind that second | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
group, is too far off, Charlie might have moved up but he is a | :39:02. | :39:07. | |
long way behind the leader. In fact, the chasing group. The European | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
silver medallist, like Sergiy Lebid, starting to struggle. Carles | :39:12. | :39:17. | |
Castillejo going OK. And second place last year, Bobby Mack, right | :39:17. | :39:24. | |
in the next. With Steve Vernon, further back and Andy Vernon. He | :39:24. | :39:29. | |
looks in a good position. That is very close. Great Britain just | :39:29. | :39:34. | |
kidding. But those positions are changing, this is half-way. It is a | :39:34. | :39:39. | |
total points in the junior races, this race and the women's race, and | :39:39. | :39:46. | |
that will determine the team challenge. Bobby Mack leading the | :39:46. | :39:54. | |
chasing group. Jacob Riley from the USA, who won the trials in this | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
from the USA, finding himself in a good position. Steve Vernon coming | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
through with Tom Humphries, now he must settle down and try to win the | :40:02. | :40:10. | |
race. He has a gap, it is decent. Now, how strong is he? Can he last? | :40:10. | :40:16. | |
This is a real test on his penultimate lap. Sergiy Lebid, | :40:16. | :40:26. | |
drifting from the chasing group. Ayad Lamdassem looking promising. | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
The difficulty for the likes of Ayad Lamdassem and Sergiy Lebid and | :40:30. | :40:36. | |
even Bobby Mack, Andy Vernon knows about Tom Humphries but they do not, | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
they will be wondering what to do, whether they should close this, | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
will this man come back? The gap has stayed the same. It has | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
extended just a little bit from this time on the last lap. But they | :40:48. | :40:54. | |
cannot keep letting him go away. If he has that 50 metres lead in the | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
last lap, and he is still strong, that becomes very difficult to | :40:58. | :41:04. | |
close down. They have to think, this next, to, somebody in the | :41:04. | :41:08. | |
script has got to take a risk and push on. Bobby Mack looks like the | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
one thinking of doing that, that second group is itself being | :41:12. | :41:18. | |
stretched so perhaps Bobby Mack and Ayad Lamdassem are trying to close | :41:18. | :41:26. | |
this. Tom Humphries has run well. He will want to see some more yards, | :41:26. | :41:35. | |
hurdling better, that was pretty good! The gap is just closing a | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
little bit, coming under pressure. This is the tough part of the race, | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
when he has led the race as much as he has, he will want more of a gap. | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
Bobby Mack is in that group but there is a good shot other leader, | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
Tom Humphries. Running some good 1500 metres races in his time and | :41:54. | :42:00. | |
he comes down on to the far side of the course and that suggests, to me, | :42:00. | :42:05. | |
that there is a race happening behind him. Five athletes behind | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
them and you don't want to have to pick which one of them will finish. | :42:09. | :42:14. | |
The second American, just behind that, Bobby Mack, second last year, | :42:14. | :42:21. | |
can he do better? Now, I can sense that the chase is on. It is but | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
they are not willing him in. This is a good part of the course for | :42:26. | :42:33. | |
Tom Humphries, you can see him negotiating the stream and up and | :42:33. | :42:39. | |
then back down the other side. Not so easy to run quickly. You can see | :42:39. | :42:46. | |
how he is bouncing across the ground, doing very well. And if he | :42:46. | :42:51. | |
gets to the beginning of the last lap, East Kilbride boys... Cheering | :42:51. | :43:01. | |
:43:01. | :43:02. | ||
them on. If he gets to the start of the last lap and he has 40 metres, | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
yes, Ayad Lamdassem is good and he did not run well in the European | :43:06. | :43:16. | |
:43:16. | :43:20. | ||
Championships but that was a very good second place, but am surprised | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
that they have not wanted to close that gap before. To really get in | :43:24. | :43:28. | |
there. Tom Humphries with that 20- metre gap coming towards the end of | :43:28. | :43:33. | |
the third lap and it will not be long before he hears that bell. | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
they work together they can close those gaps quickly. Ayad Lamdassem | :43:37. | :43:43. | |
looks like a danger to me. Let's look closely at Tom Humphries, see | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
how much he is blowing up the hill. Just a little bit of a lack of | :43:48. | :43:55. | |
momentum as he comes over the water. Bobby Mack closing. Ayad Lamdassem | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
looking dangerous. But this is a very good performance from Tom | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
Humphries. Whatever happens, he has made his stamp on this. He has | :44:03. | :44:07. | |
really made an impression on this international performers, the best | :44:07. | :44:11. | |
we have seen him running internationally. He still has a | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
chance, he has that opportunity, he has been in the lead long enough | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
and he has settled and there is now this group coming from behind. Andy | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
Vernon, Sergiy Lebid, Bobby Mack leading that group. And as they | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
come through this final lap, five of them together, Tom Humphries has | :44:29. | :44:34. | |
the lead, if he was an athlete we have seen winning lots of races, | :44:34. | :44:40. | |
you would bet on him. But will they start racing behind? Sergiy Lebid | :44:40. | :44:50. | |
:44:50. | :44:59. | ||
nine times European Cross-Country champion. Bobby Mack leading the | :44:59. | :45:05. | |
chase. That gap hasn't changed. When he comes off that section, he | :45:05. | :45:13. | |
seems to settle nicely. That is what, a 25 metre gap. Somebody, you | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
know they are looking at each other a bit, if you are going to win the | :45:17. | :45:22. | |
race, you can't beat that group, you have to catch the leader, the | :45:22. | :45:28. | |
more they look at each other, the more difficult that will be become, | :45:28. | :45:34. | |
with every stride the distance to the finishing line is lessoning. He | :45:34. | :45:38. | |
needs to get his head down and try and keep that gap for as long as he | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
can. He has done well. He hasn't been look over his shoulder. He is | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
concentrating on trying to win the race. You feel as though he is | :45:47. | :45:51. | |
going to deserve this one. Lamdassem hasn't made a move yet. | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
Sergiy Lebid is dropping off a little. Andy Vernon's race seems to | :45:55. | :46:00. | |
be over and Tom Humphries, who has led for a lot of this race, in his | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
most significant performance we have seen from him, has he done | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
enough, can he keep going? Can he keep the power on? Has Bobby Mack | :46:09. | :46:14. | |
got anything left? I am impressed with the way Tom Humphries has run. | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
I am impressed with the way his concentration has been going. He | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
hasn't been looking over his shoulder. I hope he doesn't do it | :46:21. | :46:24. | |
now. There he is, Tom Humphries, with an opportunity to win this | :46:24. | :46:29. | |
race, but the group are racing one another. Will they be fast enough? | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
Less than a kilometre remaining for Tom Humphries, he has tried to win | :46:33. | :46:40. | |
this, can he win it? I remember watching Tom running very well a | :46:40. | :46:47. | |
few years back, at the intercounties Championship, the | :46:47. | :46:53. | |
trials that are held normally for the worlds, etc in February, in | :46:53. | :46:59. | |
Nottingham, looked as though... He would have more days like this, he | :46:59. | :47:04. | |
hasn't been able to win a big event like this, and huge opportunity for | :47:04. | :47:10. | |
him now, he is at the furthest part of the course, this is a new bit | :47:10. | :47:14. | |
added on, to take them to the far end of the park. Almost to the old | :47:14. | :47:21. | |
meadow bank stadium at the far end. The Commonwealth game there's in 86, | :47:21. | :47:26. | |
in Scotland and Glasgow next year, the focus, in Scotland very much | :47:26. | :47:32. | |
for the nextle months or so. Today, it is about Cross-Country here in | :47:32. | :47:36. | |
Edinburgh. Tom Humphries with a clock ter to go. Still a -- | :47:36. | :47:39. | |
kilometre to go. They are chasing, and somebody in that group has to | :47:39. | :47:44. | |
break out of the group and try and catch him. The last time over the | :47:44. | :47:50. | |
log. Negotiates it reasonably well. Bobby Mack, Lamdassem. Can anybody | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
out of that chasing group close this gap? How tired is Tom | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
Humphries? How much is the pressure of leading catching up with him? | :47:59. | :48:03. | |
There is a big group. You wouldn't know which one is going to lead | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
that group but Tom Humphries is renewed. Less than a kilometre | :48:06. | :48:09. | |
remaining. You have been in this position, Tom, you are trying to | :48:09. | :48:14. | |
win it. Can he win it? There he go, down the hill, here comes the | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
chasing group. Bobby Mack leads the chasing group, the athlete who ran | :48:17. | :48:22. | |
so well last year, last year's first and second, in second and | :48:22. | :48:26. | |
sthird, so in would be a fantastic victory for Tom Humphries, Bobby | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
Mack second, Lamdassem in third last year, and there Alexander | :48:31. | :48:35. | |
Lebedev -- Sergiy Lebid behind him. Now, it is all about Tom Humphries. | :48:35. | :48:41. | |
Can he carry on? Has any one of them got a fin snish I am not sure | :48:41. | :48:47. | |
they are going to be quick enough. Has he done enough? Let us find out. | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
Andy Vernon struggling to stay where the surge that is coming from | :48:50. | :48:56. | |
that group. And Sergiy Lebid himself looks tired now. Big effort | :48:56. | :49:02. | |
to get back to that group, so Castillejo of Spain and Bobby Mack | :49:02. | :49:11. | |
of the US -- USA are in second and third. That gap is still a good | :49:11. | :49:17. | |
enough one and it is still a winning gap, if he can hold it | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
until 300, 400 metres to go. It will be down hill. Look at vern | :49:21. | :49:25. | |
rern coming back in to it. There we go. 400 metres to go. He is tiring | :49:25. | :49:29. | |
here up the hill. Tom Humphries, he is bending into the hill. Bobby | :49:29. | :49:34. | |
Mack is closing the gap. Lamdassem is poised behind him. Has he saved | :49:34. | :49:37. | |
himself for the sprint fin snish is he going to get closer. Tom | :49:37. | :49:42. | |
Humphries working so hard, he will come along the top. Here comed | :49:42. | :49:45. | |
Lamdassem. Last year's champion is letting it go. He is running and | :49:45. | :49:50. | |
stretching and closing the gap to Humphreys. Well, has he left it too | :49:50. | :49:59. | |
late or has Humphreys got anything left Now the top two from last year | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
take over. That is a shame for Tom Humphries. He has been in the lead | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
for so long. Andy Vernon is close enough. Look at Lamdassem. He don't | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
want to leave it to the last 100 metres. He is using all of his | :50:13. | :50:17. | |
experience here, he has finished second in plenty of big race, he | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
won here last year he wants to make it two in a row. Bobby Mack can he | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
change the result from last year. He is coming strongly, the American | :50:24. | :50:30. | |
cap tairpbgs Bobby Mack is going to take it. Bobby Mack finishing in | :50:30. | :50:36. | |
superb style. -- captain. Lamdassem and then Andy Vernon ahead of the | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
plucky Tom Humphries. Then Lebid, Castillejo comes in next. What a | :50:40. | :50:44. | |
finish from the American captain Bobby Mack. He didn't run the trial | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
race, he was chosen to come here. Because of his performance last | :50:48. | :50:53. | |
year, you heard his interview at the beginning saying the this is | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
the sort of course likes. That is Riley coming in in seventh place, | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
who won their trial. The Americans are packing reasonably well behind | :51:01. | :51:06. | |
their captain, so they have three in now, as Craig forest crosses the | :51:06. | :51:10. | |
line ahead of Steve Vernon. The Americans are looking good. THAT | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
this is going to be about the American, the British team has | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
collapsed a bit on the second two laps of this. The likes of Jonathan | :51:18. | :51:23. | |
Taylor coming, heading to the finish now. Leading from the front, | :51:23. | :51:30. | |
the American captain Bobby Mack gets a fine victory, but poor Tom | :51:30. | :51:35. | |
Humphries, led until 250 metres to go. Maybe 300 metres to go. It was | :51:35. | :51:41. | |
a brave effort, one of his best performance, Andy Vernon got him in | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
the end, but I guess at the end, the two men who came first and | :51:46. | :51:51. | |
second last year were always a threat, and it is good to see, I | :51:51. | :51:54. | |
think Bobby Mack coming and reversing the positions from last | :51:54. | :52:01. | |
year. Tom Humphries leading from Andy Vernon, Sergiy Lebid, the nine | :52:01. | :52:04. | |
times champion, and Tom Humphries opening the gap here, Lamdassem | :52:04. | :52:11. | |
poised in third place, last year's champion, Castillejo, Bobby Mack of | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
the United States, who finished second here hast year says he | :52:15. | :52:18. | |
enjoys the race. Lamdassem the first to go. Stretching them now, | :52:18. | :52:24. | |
up that slight hill, 200 metres remaining. Lamdassem as he was last | :52:24. | :52:27. | |
year hits the front but Bobby Mack is not waiting. He is coming, | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
striding, he is printing, he is opening it up. He really is coming | :52:31. | :52:36. | |
through for a great victory, for Bobby Mack, who says he enjoys the | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
course, well, he enjoyed it today. Lamdassem in second. Andy Vernon in | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
third place, Tom Humphries, a terrific performance ahead of | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
Sergiy Lebid, but that was an excellent race, and an amazing | :52:48. | :52:58. | |
:52:58. | :52:59. | ||
result for the American. One second the Vic industry in the end. | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
Lamdassem came second. Andy Vernon good finish from him to pip the | :53:04. | :53:14. | |
:53:14. | :53:15. | ||
brave Tom Humphries. Lebid solid The Americans packing well behind | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
their team captain. What a great race that was. That is what we love | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
about Edinburgh. It throws up great results. Macis along side me, the | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
American team dairpbgs won the race, second last year, that was all | :53:27. | :53:32. | |
about timing in the end. Yes, last year was about timing and this year | :53:32. | :53:36. | |
as well, last year I got caught off guard. This year I wanted to be up | :53:36. | :53:42. | |
in the mix, with 2k to go and 3k to go. This year I made shire I was | :53:42. | :53:46. | |
ready to finish with the leaders. Talk about Tom Humphries, what did | :53:46. | :53:51. | |
you think when he was out 20, 30 metres ahead? That is a tough spot | :53:51. | :53:55. | |
to be in. He kuz cutting that wind himself, you know, that takes a lot | :53:55. | :53:59. | |
of guts to get up there and do that. I found myself in a similar | :53:59. | :54:04. | |
situation when I was too far back from him, but some guys behind were | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
drafting. Sometimes in a muddy course like that, if you get it | :54:07. | :54:12. | |
like that, you come up with the wind, so pretty honourable move he | :54:12. | :54:16. | |
made. In terms of Lamdassem, a great heritage in Cross-Country | :54:16. | :54:20. | |
running, you must be pleased with that finish to take it away from | :54:20. | :54:24. | |
him? Yes, coming round the last quarter, he moved about the same | :54:24. | :54:29. | |
spot as last year. I was like, oh, here is a repeat of last year, but | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
I stuck it out up that hill, and I like the challenging course, with | :54:33. | :54:39. | |
the mud and tough course, I was able to finish hard and find my | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
rhythms. That was a good performance from your wois there. | :54:43. | :54:48. | |
Yes, our qualifiers was on a mudier course than usual, I feel they were | :54:48. | :54:53. | |
mow prepared than in past year, having run a difficult qualifier in | :54:53. | :54:58. | |
the States. World Cross-Country for you as well? Yes, I was in Poland | :54:58. | :55:04. | |
in 2010, so I would like to go back. Well done. We will look at the team | :55:04. | :55:14. | |
:55:14. | :55:15. | ||
standings. The British team 44 I am not sure that is the right | :55:15. | :55:20. | |
overall team standings, we will come back to that when we get the | :55:20. | :55:23. | |
right ones. I am delighted to say Tom Humphries is going to come and | :55:23. | :55:27. | |
join me. Tom, come in, after that brilliant performance, just, in the | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
end didn't quite hang on. Were your surprised to be out front for so | :55:32. | :55:37. | |
long. Training has been going well. I struggled at Europeans and the | :55:38. | :55:42. | |
trials because, because of my hip, trying to get back in to racing | :55:42. | :55:45. | |
again, I had pneumonia over the summer which destroyed my season, I | :55:45. | :55:51. | |
was running before the summer season, I was running 46.50 feeling | :55:51. | :55:55. | |
comfortable, and I was in such good shape, and coming down with | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
pneumonia, I was doing my degree and a part-time job and training | :55:59. | :56:04. | |
hard, I got a cold and got an overload, was training has been | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
going well, I wanted to run hard from the start, this is going, I am | :56:09. | :56:12. | |
not going to go for world cross this years I am going to get more | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
rehabilitation on my hip to strengthen that hip up, and see how | :56:15. | :56:20. | |
the track season gos this year. must have given you a great deal of | :56:20. | :56:25. | |
ep couragement to feel like you are back to your best. Yes, we a field | :56:25. | :56:29. | |
like this, Sergiy Lebid, it is an encouragement, hopefully it will | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
platform me to the next level. That is where I want to be, challenging | :56:33. | :56:38. | |
the top athletes. What will you look forward to? Track. Track. I | :56:38. | :56:46. | |
want to get, run a strong 5k and get under that 13.15. I want to | :56:46. | :56:50. | |
break that barrier. That was great to watch and congratulations. | :56:50. | :56:55. | |
you. A great run from Tom Humphries. We will go to the women's race, the | :56:55. | :57:02. | |
6k race. Let us hear from the team captains including Fionnuala | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
Britton.. It is hard in a way to be considered a favourite, but I think, | :57:07. | :57:13. | |
like after European cross, a month ago, we were close at the finish, | :57:13. | :57:18. | |
all the same girs are here and some other girls like Julia Bleasdale | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
who has been training. I know it is going to be a tough race. It could | :57:22. | :57:27. | |
be tougher an the Europeans. I am excited. I think I will like this. | :57:27. | :57:31. | |
It brings out the strength runners and you have to have fun out there. | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
I would like to build on my performances at the Olympic Games | :57:35. | :57:40. | |
and keep improving, bettering my times and getting stronger. The | :57:40. | :57:47. | |
focus is the world Cross-Country Championship. Everyone wants to do | :57:47. | :57:52. | |
their best and improve on last year.. I feel honoured to be the | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
women's captain. We have a great group of British women, and many of | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
us are really relishing the opportunity of a tough Cross- | :58:01. | :58:04. | |
Country course. If we work well as a team and take inspiration from | :58:04. | :58:10. | |
each other, then we can get the right results. I want to compete | :58:10. | :58:14. | |
and put myself to place in the top ten, see what I can do from there, | :58:14. | :58:19. | |
as a too team, we will get out and work together, see how we can do. | :58:19. | :58:23. | |
When you win you want to come back and win again. I like the course, | :58:23. | :58:27. | |
like the weather is good at the moment, so it is set up to be a | :58:27. | :58:32. | |
good race. I don't think it is going to be tougher than last year. | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
So wha one more race to go in the team standings. These are the | :58:36. | :58:45. | |
current standings. This is correct. -- so one more race to go. Just yst | :58:45. | :58:53. | |
-- USA are pulling back. If you fancy doing some running there are | :58:53. | :59:02. | |
entrys available for the Great Manchester Run. And also the Great | :59:02. | :59:11. | |
north Run September 15th. So, one north Run September 15th. So, one | :59:11. | :59:16. | |
more race to go, the women's 6k. Thank you Jonathan. And it is | :59:16. | :59:19. | |
perfect e-- pr effectly poised. Great Britain still ahead inform | :59:19. | :59:29. | |
:59:29. | :59:35. | ||
the team race, but they finished Britton. And the rather than | :59:36. | :59:41. | |
experienced American team, Mattie Suver, a leading them. In the men's | :59:41. | :59:48. | |
race, they came at as the top dog, can the women matched the men? I | :59:48. | :59:52. | |
suspect the British women will perform perhaps a little bit better | :59:52. | :59:57. | |
than the men. Julia Bleasdale, leading them. She was in eighth | :59:58. | :00:02. | |
place at the Olympics. It said 10th place on the caption, sorry about | :00:02. | :00:12. | |
:00:12. | :00:25. | ||
the under 23 champion. The British team full of experience. Freya Ross, | :00:25. | :00:32. | |
of course, recently married at the back end of the summer. Plenty of | :00:32. | :00:37. | |
local support for her. And Beth Potter as well. There are a couple | :00:37. | :00:43. | |
of Scots in the team. Rosie Smith ran well at the championships. Elle | :00:43. | :00:50. | |
Baker, Lily Partridge. Stephanie Twell, Emily Wicks. It is a team | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
that we would expect to win the team race but they will have to run | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
well because the European team, not all the talk names are here, but | :00:58. | :01:04. | |
Fionnuala Britton and Adrienne Herzog, she finished third in the | :01:04. | :01:14. | |
:01:14. | :01:15. | ||
rather bright pink socks. Three laps. I guess, Fionnuala Britton | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
was trying to play this down but she is starting this as the | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
favourite? The typical Irish think of saying I am not the favourite, | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
but I am the favourite. The blue colours, right in the late. The | :01:29. | :01:31. | |
first three in the European Championships are together, | :01:31. | :01:41. | |
Fionnuala Britton, just ahead of Adrienne Herzog. And Ana Dulce | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
Felix. She was training in Ethiopia, training outside and as above. That | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
has been going really well. She has real enthusiasm after finishing in | :01:52. | :01:58. | |
eighth place in the Olympic Games. Terrific performances, personal | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
best in the 50101000, you cannot get better than that. Julia | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
Bleasdale, in amongst the best. I hope she gets along with the course, | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
it is a lot further than I thought, I thought it was going to be very | :02:12. | :02:18. | |
difficult today, but it has stood up well, the athletes seem to be on | :02:18. | :02:28. | |
:02:28. | :02:29. | ||
hampered. 6 K, Fionnuala Britton, she is the in form athlete, just | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
outside, Julia Bleasdale, she beat them in a Britain at the Olympics | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
in the 10,000 metres. She knows she has the upper hand when it comes to | :02:40. | :02:48. | |
pure distance. This will be interesting. Behind that group, | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
tucked in his Ana Dulce Felix from Portugal, she almost caught them | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
and a Briton in the closing stages, finishing very quickly, she came | :02:59. | :03:04. | |
from a fair way back, just slipping, there. She is working hard, 4th | :03:04. | :03:11. | |
place. She will be a threat. But Fionnuala Britton is in great form. | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
She comes to this off the back of not only good performances in the | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
European Championships but then she went to Brussels to the big meeting | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
two days before Christmas. She finished second behind the new | :03:27. | :03:33. | |
Ethiopian girl. That was a good performance. That was a race that | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
Jess Coulson did not quite run so well in. And after a brilliant | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
championship, we were talking about this, about whether under 23 and | :03:42. | :03:52. | |
:03:52. | :03:52. | ||
the senior race should be merged. 1 R two others having a real problem | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
getting over that blog. This will be a good indicator of just where | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
Jess Coulson is at because winning that under 23 title, I think we | :04:03. | :04:09. | |
both think that should just be one race. It will be interesting. | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
the age of 23, the athletes are really developed than they should | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
be able to compete at the very top level. Jess Coulson took the | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
opportunity of winning that title so let us see how she will do today | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
against Fionnuala Britton, the senior champion. And Julia | :04:27. | :04:37. | |
:04:37. | :04:37. | ||
Bleasdale, in second place. Freya Ross, finished first British in the | :04:37. | :04:42. | |
Olympic marathon. Back to Scotland and she is training full-time and | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
wants to run in the World Championships. That was great for | :04:45. | :04:55. | |
:04:55. | :04:58. | ||
Freya Ross. She only knew about that one week before the Olympics. | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
Fionnuala Britton, happy to be at the front. She knows she is in form | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
and is the athlete to beat. But she also knows that Ana Dulce Felix, | :05:08. | :05:15. | |
Adrienne Herzog and she also will notice Julia Bleasdale. She did not | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
mention her in the interview. You have to be concerned about her. And | :05:23. | :05:32. | |
she has been a training in Ethiopia, training really well. Training very | :05:32. | :05:38. | |
much a part of any distance athlete's preparations. Freya Ross | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
is heading off to Colorado in her preparations for the London | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
Marathon and hopefully the World Championships later in the year. A | :05:46. | :05:53. | |
lot of British R plates are actually in Kenya at the moment for | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
that pre-Christmas and post- Christmas training, middle and | :05:58. | :06:07. | |
long-distance athletes. It has been a big part of the development of | :06:07. | :06:14. | |
the success of British athletes. And the Americans follow the same | :06:14. | :06:21. | |
pattern, they have various training venues that they go to as well. And | :06:21. | :06:28. | |
the new head of insurance is out in Kenya and that is his normal place. | :06:28. | :06:34. | |
He has to get used to the flat lands these days! But he is out | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
there in Kenya with a lot of the British squad. Julia Bleasdale and | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
Jess Coulson seeing the danger that Fionnuala Britton, even in this | :06:44. | :06:54. | |
:06:54. | :06:56. | ||
early stage, presents. Just talking in nicely behind the Irish runner. | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
That was a big day in the history of Irish running. Winning the team | :07:01. | :07:05. | |
race and the European cross-country championships. Ana Dulce Felix | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
moving through. The British team living well, Freya Ross. But the | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
leader, Fionnuala Britton, there is some talent at the front with her. | :07:13. | :07:21. | |
She has company from the Under 23 champion, Freya Ross coming through, | :07:21. | :07:27. | |
Julia Bleasdale on the outside also. Jess Coulson, the under 23 European | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
cross-country champion and then the bronze medallist from the European | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
cross country championships, three of them, two britons, being pulled | :07:35. | :07:42. | |
away from the field by the happy front runner, Fionnuala Britton. | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
The question is, without a race, has Julia Bleasdale got the | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
opportunity to be competitive today? Jess Coulson has had some | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
good races. The other 23 European champion against the senior | :07:55. | :08:04. | |
European champion from December. Julia Bleasdale, who is out there | :08:04. | :08:10. | |
in Ethiopia, observing, she has settled into third place. Looking | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
further down in terms of the British team, it is important they | :08:14. | :08:21. | |
go well. Stephanie Twell, Rosie Smith. Stephanie Twell tried to get | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
back to her prominence from a couple of years ago, after that | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
horrible broken ankle. That was in Belgium, she broke her ankle in a | :08:29. | :08:34. | |
cross-country race. Still trying to rediscover some of that great form | :08:34. | :08:39. | |
she used to have. It is important, we saw the standings, Europe are | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
leading this race but the point Standings means they would win the | :08:43. | :08:51. | |
overall prize and go past Great Britain. Beth Potter coming through. | :08:51. | :08:58. | |
Julia Bleasdale, we also have Jess Coulson and Beth Potter. And we | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
have got Stephanie Twell, Rosie Smith and Lauren Howarth. Packing | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
well but Europe are doing better. They have to get ahead of some of | :09:10. | :09:16. | |
these European athletes to win the overall prize. I say this because | :09:16. | :09:23. | |
with the individual race, the overall points, you might catch | :09:23. | :09:25. | |
that person and you are really concentrating on your own | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
individual effort rather than the team prize. These two are really | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
concentrating on their own efforts. Jess Coulson following the twice | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
European Senior champion, Fionnuala Britton. Fionnuala Britton very | :09:40. | :09:50. | |
:09:50. | :09:51. | ||
happy in the late. Halfway point, now. The second of three laps. Six | :09:51. | :09:53. | |
kilometres, Fionnuala Britton really trying to run away from Jess | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
Coulson. If you are challenged by the under 23 champion, you feel | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
like you want to run away from her and showed her to the bosses and | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
she is trying to do that. She is becoming more renowned as a cross- | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
country runner and I think she will eventually run a great marathon | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
eventually. She looks like a true Irish distance runner and | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
eventually they can run well in the country and on the track and on the | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
road but on the road, often in a Britain looks comfortable. She | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
looks comfortable on the road and over the country, she is good on | :10:27. | :10:36. | |
the track. She was a steeplechase runner and she was very good over | :10:36. | :10:44. | |
that barrier, and Ana Dulce Felix moves through. Julia Bleasdale, and | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
Ana Dulce Felix just behind you. Both champions from those European | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
cross-country championships in December, they are locked in battle. | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
The more experience, the senior, Fionnuala Britton from Ireland, | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
running powerfully. At the front, she does not care what is going on | :11:02. | :11:08. | |
behind you, she is applying the pressure, running hard. Jess | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
Coulson doesn't even want to be on terms with their but in a race like | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
this, you want to, just let her know that you are there. Letter | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
know that she has company, otherwise your confidence will grow. | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
Adrienne Herzog in third place, running strongly. Lauren Howarth, | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
then Julia Bleasdale. And then the European team, Ana Dulce Felix, | :11:31. | :11:38. | |
coming through. Lauren Howarth moving through very nicely. At the | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
University of Birmingham. Having a very good winter. She is only 10 | :11:42. | :11:49. | |
metres behind the third place. These two pulling away. If you have | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
not seen Jess Coulson running before, we were commenting on her | :11:53. | :12:03. | |
:12:03. | :12:08. | ||
action. She has this uneven action, but it works for her. Fionnuala | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
Britton is more balanced, and you have to have an economical style, | :12:13. | :12:19. | |
Jess Coulson on that very hard ground, cold conditions in Hungary, | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
and although her action isn't classic, it suited her very well | :12:23. | :12:28. | |
and she is moving across the ground pretty well. She did not run so | :12:28. | :12:37. | |
well in her most recent race, she was in Twelfth place. She was not | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
standing up with that performance in Hungary. And it is about horses | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
for courses. That is a big gap to third place, Adrienne Herzog. | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
Lauren Howarth and Julia Bleasdale trying to hang on a the moment. But | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
they are well ahead of the others. The first American, Mattie Suver, | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
just coming through the picture. The big names from Europe. Just | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
tucked in. These athletes have to do well for Britain, Elle Baker, | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
Beth Potter, Rosie Smith, Stephanie Twell not looking quite so | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
comfortable. Freya Ross will keep going, her strength will tell in | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
the latter stages. If Britain are to win this overall prize, four of | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
those women from Rosie Smith and behind have to pick up some of the | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
athletes ahead. This is the crucial point in the race for Fionnuala | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
Britton from Ireland. Just opening a couple of yards on that hill, | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
stretching out, coming down the street. She will receive support | :13:34. | :13:41. | |
from the crowd. She came here last year and she won it comfortably. | :13:41. | :13:44. | |
She said it looks tougher this year but it does not look like that to | :13:44. | :13:50. | |
me. Well on her way to retaining the cross country title in | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
Edinburgh, just like the European title. Three seconds ahead of Jess | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
Coulson and they are both well clear are of Adrienne Herzog and | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
the European team. 12 seconds behind. If anything will happen, it | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
will be with first and second. Julia Bleasdale, 18 seconds behind | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
Fionnuala Britton. Ana Dulce Felix just gone through. And the team | :14:12. | :14:19. | |
race looks like it is heading the way of the Europeans. Linda Byrne, | :14:19. | :14:23. | |
representing the European team, but from Ireland. The experience | :14:23. | :14:28. | |
Fionnuala Britton. Looking good and comfortable. Looking perfectly at | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
ease on this course. It was frozen last year and she did not have any | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
problem with that. Softer this year. She does not look as if she is | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
having any problem with that. The only problem is she is in a blue | :14:41. | :14:51. | |
:14:51. | :14:54. | ||
one is Europe are leading this particular race, that is fairly | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
obvious. But it means that gap is enough for them to take the overall | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
title. They were eight points behind Great Britain at the moment, | :15:04. | :15:11. | |
after the three races we have had. So they need to ensure that not too | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
many positions change on this last lap. Not going to change at the | :15:15. | :15:22. | |
front. Britain is going away. Coulson is safe in second, even | :15:22. | :15:28. | |
though she is looking tired, but a big gap behind her to Herzog who | :15:28. | :15:38. | |
:15:38. | :15:56. | ||
was hanging on the to third the Ireland, to run in Antrim next | :15:56. | :16:03. | |
weekend. As Brendan was saying, I guess who knows, really, you talk | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
about the dominance she has here, Julia Bleasdale obviously moving | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
back through the field here, but when it dopbls the track, she has | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
to be able to convert that into better performances on the track. | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
There is our third placed athlete Herzog who is moving well and has a | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
gap, enough of a gap not to worry too much; but they will come | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
charging behind her. The Americans seem to be moving through the field | :16:27. | :16:34. | |
nicely in the latter stages. But this is a procession for Britain | :16:34. | :16:41. | |
now. Such good form. It was a closer victory for her at the | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
European Cross than the year before. Ana Dulce Felix came with a real | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
barnstorming last three or 400 metres, and looked for a while as | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
if she might catch the Irish champion, but it wasn't to be the | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
case. Those arms are working well, staying nice and balanced. The head | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
is hardly moving at all. Really good economical style. Producing | :17:07. | :17:13. | |
enough power through the legs, keep pushing on, pushing on. This | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
endurance base shi is -- she is building, she has to find way to | :17:18. | :17:24. | |
convert, whether it on the track, he has to convert it into | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
performances away from the country. Of course, something which Sonia | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
O'Sullivan managed to do. Probably the Grease greatest name in Irish | :17:33. | :17:40. | |
athletic, she did it going from the world Cross and on to track World | :17:40. | :17:48. | |
Championships as well. I know Jess, I am not going to say that the log | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
isn't to everybody's liking, we would step over it the same way but | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
it stands you up when you retired and you have to climb over it like | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
that, it is, it is a bit of a throw back to the old days. It's a | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
nuisance is what you were trying to say I think. Doesn't Fionnuala | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
Britton look really good? She looks so strong now, she is renowned over | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
the country, I think she will run a great marathon, she has been some | :18:16. | :18:26. | |
great Irish athletes and she is fulling in the footsteps of. Jess | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
Coulson in second, she should be happy with this performance, if she | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
hangs on ahead of Herzog, who was third in the European Cross country, | :18:34. | :18:40. | |
that puts the form in good stead, look at Fionnuala Britton. In the | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
famous blue vest of Europe, as oppose to, oh my goodness. That is | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
what happens when you start taking the mickey out of somebody by | :18:47. | :18:54. | |
talking about running in a blue vest. That was a bit of a slip. | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
don't think she landed well, but she is fine, up and running, that | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
shows you an athlete who has a lot in the tank, she got up and | :19:03. | :19:08. | |
straight back in to her running. Doesn't look as if she has had a | :19:08. | :19:13. | |
fall. She has even had time for a sit down! When she come thos the | :19:13. | :19:20. | |
water again on the top part of the course and Herzog overtaking Jess | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
Coulson, a slight climb and Fionnuala Britton not seeing to be | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
bothered by that as she approaches the 400 metres to go. Looks over | :19:29. | :19:35. | |
her shoulder, she nose she has a comfortable winning margin. She | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
knows unless she wants to be embarrassed she has to go over the | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
water jump with a bit more success. Let us see if she is hurdle. She | :19:43. | :19:49. | |
was a steeplechaser, she should be able to jump over things and land. | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
There is the other athletes going the other way. I am going to be | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
watching closely, as she approaches the 200 metres to go point, there | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
is a big sign up saying 200 metres to go. There is Jess Coulson in | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
third. The first American, Suver, the American team captain ahead of | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
Ana Dulce Felix. Here she come, can she jump this one? Not a problem. | :20:13. | :20:20. | |
Well done Fionnuala. One great hurdling performance today. Despite | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
that minor slip, Fionnuala Britton has been foot perfect all the way | :20:26. | :20:34. | |
round here. The first woman to retain the European cross-country | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
title. She has gone for a mirror image of last winter, coming here | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
to repeat her victory. I am sure he will do the same at Antrim next | :20:44. | :20:50. | |
week. Fionnuala Britton is our champion once more. Irish eyes | :20:50. | :20:56. | |
smiling, and Fionnuala Britton almost wins at a canter, that was | :20:56. | :21:01. | |
as comfortable a win from Fionnuala. Herzog, who was the bronze | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
medallist behind her in Hungary, coming through in second, after | :21:07. | :21:13. | |
running down the under 23 champion Jess Coulson, who will finish | :21:13. | :21:23. | |
:21:23. | :21:25. | ||
further back, as Suver finishes third. She hangs on to fourth. We | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
will watch for the next. I think Elle Baker will be the next to come | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
in for Great Britain. That looks like her crossing the line. Perhaps | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
Rosie Smith next in. This is something will dispoint the British | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
team. They would be hoping Stephanie Twell, finishing well, I | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
don't think it is going to be enough to hang on the the team race. | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
We will keep you posted. No doubt about the winner, one-two for | :21:53. | :22:00. | |
Europe. It is a win for Europe's top cross-country competitor at the | :22:00. | :22:07. | |
moment, Fionnuala Britton of Ireland. Well, Jess, I think, just | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
in the picture ran well, just got caught to tend. Our point about the | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
under 23s, does it stack up. That shows it should. If the winner can | :22:16. | :22:24. | |
come here and she is beating the likes of Duarte, and Felix, and | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
Jess Coulson performed well to come in fourth place there. The last | :22:28. | :22:34. | |
right of the day, the team race, could the British team hang on to | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
the first place team or would the Europeans overtake them? Fionnuala | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
Britton last year's champion. Julia Bleasdale finished eight in the | :22:43. | :22:49. | |
Olympic Games behind her. And now, she sets off real intent, hoping -- | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
opening the gap on jes Coulson and Fionnuala Britton running strongly. | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
Herzog in second. There is Julia Bleasdale coming through, the first | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
American Suver and Ana Dulce Felix, representing the European team, a | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
strong European team, but Fionnuala Britton stretching out and Coulson | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
unable to hang on the second place there. Herzog working hard, working | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
through the field, Lauren Howarth running very excel today, in the | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
early stages. Julia Bleasdale going through a bad patch, but now on the | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
last lap Fionnuala Britton in all her glory, relaxing, running | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
comfortable, oops, my goodness there. I knew that was going to | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
happen, we saw it first time round! But no problems for fuen la, she | :23:35. | :23:41. | |
will have to explain herself with a wry smile, terrific performance, | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
another good victory, and this is Europeans -- European's top cross- | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
country runner, showing her way round the course. Only one problem | :23:52. | :24:02. | |
:24:02. | :24:03. | ||
today and that was the water jump. Herzog in second place. Then Suver | :24:03. | :24:13. | |
:24:13. | :24:17. | ||
then Lauren Howarth fading in the captain to come in ahead of Jess | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
Coulson. A good performance from her. Felix, Linda Byrne meaning | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
that Europe will win this race because they did pack six in better | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
than Great Britain did. Julia Bleasdale, perhaps a bit | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
disappointed with her eighth place there, but we can clear up the | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
there, but we can clear up the whole thing with Jonathan. | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
Fionnuala Britton is beside me. She could be contender for Dancing on | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
Ice after that. A very dominant performance first of all. I didn't | :24:47. | :24:51. | |
think it would be like that, but when we started off, and even was | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
hoeding back and even was waiting for someone to take the lead. I | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
thought first of all, I was OK, I am happy to sit here until after | :24:59. | :25:04. | |
the first log. You want to see them and no-one came up so I had to push | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
on from there. When I knew the group was breaking down, I thought | :25:08. | :25:14. | |
there is no point sitting back now. How do you assess your chances for | :25:14. | :25:19. | |
world cross-country? There are big names to follow in the footsteps of. | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
Yes, it is an effort. We can try and I suppose having a good team at | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
the European Cross, and there is a group of up, Linda here today, it | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
would be good if we could have a team going and when there is a team | :25:33. | :25:39. | |
behind you it boosts you as a individual. This is the overall | :25:39. | :25:45. | |
team result. Which means as we will see here, your captain for the | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
winning team. That is brilliant Last night we had a team meeting. I | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
said I wanted to put the pressure on the men, they were before us and | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
we didn't want to have, I suppose, it was, we did it in the end. I | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
know we weren't in first place in the last race, so it is nice to | :26:02. | :26:09. | |
come out of it. Good luck for The Word cross. Alongside me is Neil | :26:09. | :26:16. | |
Black. Thank you for joining us. You have a different role from | :26:16. | :26:22. | |
Charles? Yes, overseeing the Olympic and Paralympic programme, | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
supporting the head coaches in their work with the coaches and the | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
athletes. Obviously, last years I think overall was considered to be | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
a very strong performance from British athle tib, from four years | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
of improvements since Beijing, what do you bring to this role? It is | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
more of the same. I think we have been planning and developing things | :26:44. | :26:50. | |
and I was a part of that along with Charles and Peter Ericsson, now, we | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
have reorganised things, we have Peter and the Olympic head coach, | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
Paula Dunn, we have a clear strategy based round centralisation | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
but supporting people outside of that system, who perform and have | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
good structures and system, and I think it is making sure athletes | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
are accountable and responsible for what they do and support the | :27:13. | :27:19. | |
coaches. You have brought new face n and some perhaps established | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
faces, what do you think those changes will bring? It is part of a | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
kind of complicated reorganisations, what we are doing is saying this is | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
where athletes are at, this is where they need to be this is where | :27:32. | :27:37. | |
the world is at, and how are we going to take those steps towards | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
the performances, and the changes and the improvements that need to | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
take place, that is what we are in the process of doing. In terms of | :27:44. | :27:50. | |
women's endurance not bad, you look at the European cross-country and | :27:50. | :27:57. | |
here. The juniors dominated today. Huge strength in-depth, fantastic - | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
- performances all round, good demonstration of top class | :28:02. | :28:05. | |
athletics. So that rounds things off here, but there is more sport | :28:05. | :28:12. | |
coming over the course of this afternoon, we are going darts next. | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
It is the World Darts Championships, the BDO from Lakeside. Coverage | :28:16. | :28:22. | |
over the course of the next week. Then we have final score from 2.30 | :28:22. | :28:28. |