Lee Merrien (6533) gives everything in a dash for the finish line to clinch a top-10 placing at the national championships. (Picture by Mark Shearman, 0541365)
LEE MERRIEN boosted his morale for the upcoming world trials with ninth place in a massive field of 1,244 finishers at the Saucony English Cross-country Champion-ships at Alton Towers.
‘I finished strongly and if I had gone a bit earlier with my kick, I might have picked up one more spot,’ said the Guernseyman who collected a few notable scalps in the process.
‘I’m reasonably pleased but I had hoped to finish in the top six or seven because it would have looked good ahead of the world trials,’ he said on his return.
The trials, which are being run in conjunction with the Sky-televised Inter-Counties Champio-nships, are in Nottingham on 15 March.
With a good performance he hopes to clinch a spot in the Great Britain team for the worlds in Edinburgh on 30 March.
‘I reckon if I finish in the top six or seven, I have got a good chance.’
The Alton Towers race was, in terms of number, the biggest race of his career and the first time he had run in the event.
He finished just 61sec. behind the winner, Tom Humphries of Cannock and Staffordshire, and was in the main lead group for much of the three-lap race, posted as 12k long but, Merrien said, was more like 10-and-a-half with a very tough hill.
‘I went out quick because I didn’t want to get stuck behind people in a big field and held a reasonably consistent position all the way through.’
Loading ...
Share this article:
What are these?