26th March 2010
Mo Aims For Top Ten
26 March 2010
European Indoor 3000m champion and British indoor record holder Mo Farah (Ricky Simms) hopes to better his best ever World Cross placing of tenth in this Sunday IAAF World Cross Country Championships in in Bydgoszcz, Poland (28 March).
Farah, having had medical problems after races in Dublin and Edinburgh this season, has since spent time at the UKA National Performance Centre in Loughborough to reassess his training program and nutrition.
Following a return to his second home in Kenya for another stint of altitude training, he was the outstanding winner of the World Cross Trials in Birmingham’s Cofton Park. “I’m fit and healthy and feeling much better with help from nutritionists and physiologists at UKA,”he said.
“It will be nice to get out there and hopefully improve on the tenth place finish a couple of years ago. The course is different, so I’m excited about it, I’ve been looking at pictures on the internet and it looks muddy!”
Regulars to the endurance select Freya Murray (Steve Jones), Stevie Stockton (George Gandy), Stephanie Twell (Mick Woods), Mike Skinner (Andy Hobdell) and Andy Vernon (Nick Anderson) also add this year’s World Cross to their ever growing portfolios.
Skinner, who finished in fourth place at the World Cross Trials, said: “Training has been going well, I’m going into the championships feeling confident. I’ve learnt from last year and I’m going to attack it more this year. ”
Other athletes en route to Poland include impressive youngsters Emeila Gorecka (Mick Woods) and Richard Goodman (Geoff Williams) who made an impact during the McCain Cross Challenge season with junior wins and Beth Potter (John Nuttall), who continues to improve and show her potential for development.
Follow UKA’s Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/UKA_athletics for behind the scenes information about the team and their World Cross adventure.
Full reports will be available at www.uka.org.uk on Sunday 28 March.
AVIVA GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND TEAM
SENIOR MEN
Mo Farah (Ricky Simms) Newham & Essex Beagles
Mike Skinner (Andy Hobdell) Blackheath & Bromley
Andy Vernon (Nick Anderson)Aldershot, Farnham & District
James Wilkinson (Phil Townsend) Leeds City
SENIOR WOMEN
Faye Fullerton (Warren Roe) Havering Mayesbrook
Freya Murray (Steve Jones) Chester Le Street & Dist AC
Stevie Stockton (George Gandy) Vale Royal
Stephanie Twell (Mick Woods) AFD
Hayley Yelling (Conrad Milton) Windsor Slough, Eton & Hounslow
JUNIOR MEN
Tom Farrell (Andy Farrell) Border
Richard Goodman (Geoff Williams) Shaftesbury Barnet
Callum Hawkins (Robert Hawkins) Kilbarchan
Jonathan Hay (Mick Woods) AFD
Ben Norris (Andy McNeill) Notts
Ronnie Sparke (Richard Thurston) Woodford Green and Essex Ladies
JUNIOR WOMEN
Kate Avery (Robert Ashwood) Shildon
Emelia Gorecka (Mick Woods) AFD
Annabel Gummow (Chris Wooldridge) Bristol & West
Sarah Inglis (Steve Cottom) Lothian
Beth Potter (John Nuttall) Victoria Park City of Glasgow
Hannah Walker (Mike Dunphy) Dacorum & Tring