World 'rehearsal' for Fliss and Chris
England Athletics East Midlands news bulletin
News from BUPA Great Edinburgh Cross Country and North Midlands League.
World 'rehearsal' for Fliss and Chris
Rutland's Felicity Milton and Chris Warburton from Notts AC were among the elite athletes who raced in the televised BUPA Great Edinburgh cross country meeting over the Holyrood Park course that will be used for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March.
And while Warburton hopes to be racing in the warmth of indoor arenas by then, Milton is confident she will feel better than she did on Saturday as she attempts to build on her pre-Christmas success of leading GB to the under-23 women's team title at the European Cross Country Championships.
For she defied a heavy cold and the stern advice of her coach Max Coleby - to race in icy conditions and finish 24th in the senior women's 6km race in 22 minutes 3 seconds, 2 minutes and 5 seconds behind the outstanding winner, Gelete Burka (Ethiopia).
'I didn't push hard because I didn't want to make the cold worse,' said Milton, who will be racing the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham's Wollaton Park on 15 March in an attempt to win a place in the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the World Cross Country Championships a fortnight later.
Warburton, who was 13th in the men's 4.4km race in 13:20, 28 seconds behind winner Andy Baddeley, makes no secret of the fact that he rates his rare cross country outings as strength training sessions for his bid for a 1500m place in Team GB at the Beijing Olympics.
He plans to get in some speed work by racing the 3000m in the Indoor City Challenge semi-final for title-holders Sheffield in Manchester on 27 January. But he is prepared to put this huge personal ambition on hold next month in an attempt to help Notts AC challenge for their first ever men's team title at the highly prestigious English National Cross Country Championships at Alton Towers on 23 February.
Notts AC warmed-up promisingly by dominating the senior men's race at the final North Midlands League match of the cross country season in Wollaton Park - though Derby AC went home with the trophy for the most successful overall male team and Mansfield Harriers won the overall female team trophy. Race leaders'
Senior men: 1 Bruce Raeside (Notts AC) 34:51; 2 Matthew Gunby (Peterborough AC, Under-20) 34:55; 3 Martin Whitehouse (Notts AC) 34:59; 4 Callum Cullen (Owls) 35:49; 5 Alex Pilcher (Derby AC) 35:52; 6 Alan Smith (Redhill RR, over-40) 36:02; 7 Kevin Farrow (Notts AC) 36:08; 8 James Mee (Mansfield Harriers, under-20) 36:24. Senior men' teams: 1 Notts AC 46; 2 Derby AC 118; 3 Mansfield Harriers 166. Veteran teams: 1 Redhill 56; 2 Derby 112; 3 Notts 133.
Senior women: 1 Tara Krzywicki (Charnwood AC) 21:07; 2 Sharon Orridge (Long Eaton RC, over-40) 21:34; 3 Sarah Haines (Harborough AC) 21:57. Under-20s: 1 Sarah Caskey (Peterborough) 22:50; 2 Siobhan Harrison (Mansfield, under-15) 23:23; 3 Jenny Reed (Matlock AC) 23:26. Senior women's teams: 1 Charnwood 13; 2 Redhill 33; 3 Peterborough 44. Veterans teams: 1 Harborough 101; 2 Mansfield 107; 3 Holme Pierrepont RC 113.
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