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