Taylor named GB & NI captain for Edinburgh

Jonathan Taylor (handicap -4.5) will captain the GB & NI team at the Great Edinburgh XCountry today.

The 27 year old finished seventh over the 4km distance in Edinburgh last year behind the likes of three-time Olympic gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele and world 1500m gold medallist Asbel Kiprop and will compete over the 8km course vying for vital points for the GB & NI team as they go up against Europe and USA.

 

Following a number of withdrawals from the GB & NI team, replacements have been named for the trip to the Scottish capital this weekend.

 

After a bout of flu over the festive period Mo Farah (Handicap -7.0) will miss the opportunity to repeat his victory four years ago and will be replaced by Michael Callegari (Handicap -3.9).

 

Farah said: “Unfortunately I have to cancel my participation in the Great Edinburgh XCountry as I had the flu over the Christmas and New Year period and had to take some days off training.  My main goal for 2015 is the IAAF World T&F Championships in Beijing and I will keep training hard to defend my 5000m and 10,000m titles.” 

 

Ross Millington (handicap -5.5), fifth at the European Cross Country Championships, has been ruled out through injury with Andrew Heyes (handicap -4.5) taking his place on the men’s team.

 

Home favourite Callum Hawkins (handicap -5.6) will draw on the support of his family and friends at Holyrood Park tomorrow and is hoping to make it into the top five after a sixth place finish last time around. 

 

“I’m really looking forward to (the race). Training is going well, I’m feeling fit and hopefully I can improve on last year’s performance and be competitive. 

 

“I’m disappointed (by his performance in Bulgaria) – I went there to get a medal and it didn’t quite come off. However, it’s made me more determined to do better at that level. I’ve got my family, friends coming to watch me tomorrow and I’ve been doing this race since I was 12 years old, so it’s a special place to run and it’s good to see it getting so big as well.

 

In the women’s team, Alyson Dixon (handicap -0.3), Rebecca Murray (handicap 1.3) and Rosie Smith (handicap 0.0) come in for Sonia Samuels (handicap -0.7), Charlotte Purdue (handicap -1.3), and Jess Judd (handicap -0.9). After suffering a slight Achilles injury following her exploits in Bulgaria, European Cross Country U23 gold medallist Rhona Auckland (handicap -0.7) has had to delay her comeback to action and will be replaced by Georgie Bruinvels (handicap 0.7).

 

Gemma Steel (handicap -2.7) was a convincing winner last year finishing ahead of Fionnuala Britton and is expecting another tussle with the Irish athlete, who lines up for the European team tomorrow.

 

The Charnwood AC athlete said: “I’m gunning for that title because I love to win. Fionnuala (Britton) is a big rival of mine, so we will be rekindling that and it could be a one-on-one race tomorrow without (Sophie) Duarte running. She could be my main challenge but also Emelia Gorecka (handicap -1.1), who gave me a good race last year stepping into the senior ranks.”

 

The 29 year old has enjoyed a successful start to the year and admits that her form at the tail end of the year has gone someway to making up for a few disappointments in 2014. 

 

“It started on the right foot winning this race last year and then it went a little bit downhill. I managed to salvage the back end of the year going out to America and smashing my 10k PB out there. The Great North Run was another great milestone for me running the third fastest (British half marathon runner) of all time, so I’m just ticking them off one by one at the moment. Winning the Europeans made up for all the things I’d learnt along the way.

 

“It was a big learning curve for me this year that despite my successes I’ve learnt from my mistakes and tactical errors. I’ve looked at the bigger picture and come out a stronger, wiser athlete.”

 

While Steel is hoping for a repeat of her nine second victory 12 months ago, she believes that she can edge a close battle if needed after a gutsy display saw her pip teammate Kate Avery (handicap -0.4) to the European crown in Bulgaria last month. 

 

“I don’t like to leave it that late, it’s always nice to get a bit of a lead but I know if it comes to the crunch, I’ve been there and can draw on my experiences to get me through it.”

 

Gorecka meanwhile is excited by the proposition of returning to compete in a GB & NI vest and while her performance in Bulgaria didn’t go quite to plan, she’s looking to produce the form that saw her finish third behind Britton and Steel a year ago.

 

“I think I’ve learnt in my first year as a senior that there are so many ups and downs along the way and Bulgaria was one of the days where I didn’t feel that good. The main aim was to refocus really quickly and I can’t think of a better place than here representing my country again,” said the 20 year old. 

 

“The step up has been a lot bigger than I thought it would be and I think that was always going to be the case. Going into the race there are so many girls to think about but I’m not focusing on one person because it’s going to be quite an open race. Also the course is churning up quite a bit, so it will be interesting how we all run on that. I’m hoping to be there with a lap to go and we’ll see from there I guess.”

 

Taking their places in the junior teams are Euan Gillham (handicap -3.2) and Harriett Knowles-Jones (handicap 1.3), who replace Elliot Bowker (handicap -3.9) and Georgina Outten (handicap 1.1) respectively.

 

The Great Edinburgh XCountry is free to spectate and will be shown live on BBC One and BBC One HD from 13:00 to 14:35. It is part of a New Year festival of running for all abilities, in the iconic Holyrood Park in Edinburgh.  3,000 people will be starting the New Year on the right foot when they take on the popular Great Winter Run, held on a scenic 5k course that loops around Arthur’s Seat, before watching the world’s best test themselves in the international cross country races.

GB & NI team for the Great Edinburgh Cross Country on Saturday 10 January 2015:

 

Senior Men

 

Andrew Butchart (handicap -5.3)

Luke Caldwell (handicap -5.7)

Michael Callegari (handicap -3.9)

Jonathan Davies (U23) (handicap -4.5)

Will Gray (U23) (handicap -4.3)

Callum Hawkins (handicap -5,6)

Jonny Hay (handicap -5.6)

Andrew Heyes (handicap -4.5)

Adam Hickey (handicap -5.0)

Charlie Hulson (U23) (handicap -4.3)

Jonathan Taylor (handicap -4.6) 

Tom Wade (handicap -3.0)

 

Senior Women   Georgie Bruinvels (handicap 0.7) Emma Clayton (handicap 5.5) Lauren Deadman (handicap -0.2) Alyson Dixon (handicap -0.3) Emelia Gorecka (handicap -1.1) Maryse Haynes (handicap 0.5) Katie Hewison (handicap 10.4) Katie Holt (handicap 1.1) Rebecca Murray (handicap 1.3) Lily Partridge (U23) (handicap -0.2) Rosie Smith (handicap 0.0) Gemma Steel (handicap -2.7)

 

 

Junior Men

 

Jack Crabtree (handicap -4.2) 

Oliver Fox (handicap -1.7)

Euan Gillham (handicap -3.2)

Jonathan Glen (handicap -3.2)

James Hall (handicap -1.1)

Jac Hopkins (handicap -3.0) 

 

 

Junior Women

 

Grace Baker (handicap 2.2)

Amy Griffiths (handicap 0.2)

Harriet Knowles-Jones (handicap 1.3)

Phoebe Law (handicap 1.7)

Sabrina Sinha (handicap 1.1) 

Lydia Turner (handicap 0.7)