This weekend's major national cross-country event, originally scheduled to be held at Prestwold Hall, will now be held 24 miles away at Wollaton Park amid parking issues and expectations for World Cross selection.
This winter's cross country season was an emotional festival. The world championships, which were scheduled to be held in Croatia in February, have been canceled and will now be held in Serbia in late March. The British Championships, held at Weston Park last month, have been postponed to a new date, likely in September, due to flooding. Adding to the chaos, the English Intercounties were uprooted on Saturday (March 9) from their original home of Prestwold Hall near Loughborough to Wollaton Park in Nottingham.
So far so good, but players and spectators visiting Wollaton Park this weekend have been warned that there is no parking at the venue itself as the ground is saturated. For this reason, we recommend using public transport from Nottingham city centre.
This weekend's event, which will be streamed online (see link below), will double as the UK Trials for the World Crusade, which will be held in Belgrade, Serbia on March 30th. Following selection opportunities for senior athletes at the European Championships in Brussels in December and the London International, the Inter-County Games to be held on Parliament Hill in January will provide further opportunities for athletes who want to represent their country in Serbia this month. provide.
The senior winner will earn automatic selection to the World Cross, and if there are still spots left in the team, the top three finishers in the Inter-County will be able to fill the last spot on the team.
Meanwhile, for athletes aged under 20, the top three finishers in the inter-county competition will automatically be selected to represent Serbia, while UKA has announced that at least four athletes will be selected in each junior race.
Wollaton Park (Mark Sharman)
Of course, the event incorporates the final leg of the British Athletics Cross Challenge series, as well as the honor of winning the de facto British Cross Country title.
European bronze medalist Abbey Donnelly, who won at Parliament Hill in January, will lead the entry at Wollaton Park on Saturday. The Lincolnshire athlete has been in great form this winter and faces opposition from Surrey's Niamh Brown and East of Scotland's Alice Goodall.
Jamie Crowe (Bobby Gavin)
Scott Stirling, Jamie Crowe and Angus McMillan look set to vie for the senior men's title with Stirling leading the Cross Challenge standings.
In the under-20 race, Ines Fitzgerald won the women's under-17 title 12 months ago by just over a minute and has since won the European under-20 title. Like many, she is probably itching to race having been prevented from competing at last month's British Championships, and will go into the event hoping to secure a spot on the British squad for Serbia. That's going to happen.
In Nottingham, the Devon player will face Cumbria's Jess Bailey, Essex's Lizzie Wellstead and East of Scotland's Natasha Phillips.
Ines Fitzgerald (Getty)
With a thrilling matchup against East Africa's top teams coming up later this month, the big question is whether Fitzgerald will accept a spot in the squad and fly to Belgrade, or whether he will take the Eurostar and train (1300 minutes) there The question is, are you going to go? Is it a journey of miles through multiple countries?
Other cross challenge leaders include Logan Beagley of Scotland East (U20 boys), Zara Redmond of Scotland West (U17 girls), Ivan Thomas of West Wales (U17 girls) and Olivia Forrest of Essex (U15 girls). ), including Evan Grime from Greater Manchester. (U15 boys).
In the under-13 races, Nottinghamshire's Maisie Mallet and Adam Padgett lead the Cross Challenge series.
time table
10:45am – U20 Boys
11:15am – U13 Girls
11:30am – Senior Women
12:20pm – U15 Boys
12:40pm – U17 Girls
1pm – U17 Boys
1:25pm – U13 Boys
1:45pm – U20 Girls
2:05pm – U15 Girls
2:30pm – Senior Men
Click here for the full entry and results
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