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Mo Farah, only 23, romped to victory for the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team in the Senior Men’s 9950m race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy, on Sunday 10 December.
The young man who won the 5000m Silver medal at the SPAR European Championships on the track during the summer swept into the lead at the start of the fifth and final lap and moved away from the field so conclusively that he was able to begin celebrating his victory more than 50 metres from the finish.
Farah (Newham and Essex Beagles), coached by UK Athletics Senior Performance Manager for Endurance Alan Storey and based at a house in Twickenham owned by St Mary’s University, financed by the London Marathon Limited and operated by UKA, said: “I felt comfortable all through the race but I have a long stride and I was struggling to get my stride length because we were all running together in the early stages.”
Indeed, the race was beyond the halfway point, on a course that had dried remarkably well after being saturated by incessant rain throughout Friday and for hours on the eve of the Championships, before the lead group of 25 began to fragment.
At that point, Farah understandably shadowed Sergiy Lebid (Ukraine), who was bidding for his seventh European title and the hot favourite in the view of many experts.
But Farah takes up the story at the bell as the race entered its final 1920m: “Lebid was not doing anything. So I said to myself, ‘I have to follow those other guys’ [meaning Fernando Silva (Portugal) and Juan Carlos de la Ossa (Spain), who were 10m ahead].
“Then I found myself in front and said, ‘You might as well just push on’ [which he did so effectively that he crossed the line, in cruise mode and acknowledging the cheers of the crowd, in 27 minutes 56 seconds, seven seconds ahead of Silva with de la Ossa a further three seconds back in the Bronze medal position. Lebid suffered so badly on the final lap that he finished 12th in 28:26.]
Not that victory came as easily as Farah described. “I have worked hard for this,” he added. “I trained well in South Africa and then had a good race in France, where I beat some good African athletes. That gave me a lot of confidence. I definitely felt good all the way through this race.”
Chris Thompson (Aldershot, Farnham and District), Farah’s training mate in South Africa, was second home for the team, 24th in 28:45, to continue his trek back to full fitness after his long-term injury problems. He said: “I’m pleased. It’s a massive step forward. I know it’s going to take a while to get back to my old self [remember he pipped Farah for the 5000m title at the 2003 European Under 23 Championships] but I set off strong, started to move through and reached a point where I could not push any more. My old self would have kept pushing but that will come with more time and training. To get that far up the field in a race of this length was a step in the right direction.”
Gavin Thompson (Crawley AC), 28th in 28:52, said: “That was tough! It was a solid performance. The course was too narrow for a European Championships and that caught me out a bit. But I’ve talked with Alan [Storey, the Team Leader] and we think I made the right moves at the right times. I am a little gutted the team didn’t make the podium. But we are a young team and it’s looking good for the future.”
Mike Skinner (Blackheath and Bromley), 29th in 28:54, said: “I’m a bit disappointed. I gave it my best but I didn’t run my best. I didn’t feel as if I gave what I am capable of doing. The course didn’t really suit me. It was unstable and I like to feel a rhythm to my running. I don’t feel I got it totally wrong; I didn’t set off too quick or anything like that. But I didn’t feel strong in that I wasn’t picking people off all the way.
Frank Tickner (Wells City Harriers), 33rd in 29:07 only 15 days after winning the Trial at the UK Cross Challenge in Liverpool, said: “It was just terrible. I went off very hard, felt fantastic, didn’t feel I was pushing it too much, but I obviously was. I blew up. It’s annoying. A lot of training and …”
Steve Vernon (Stockport Harriers) was forced to drop out with stomach spasms similar to the problem that forced him to stop in the World Marathon Cup earlier this year. “I cramped up with 50 metres and there was nothing I could do about. One minute I was running well in the top 20. The next, I just had to stop. It’s just like the disaster at the World Marathon and I don’t know why.”
Norwich Union GB finished fourth team with 82 points from their leading four finishers. It is a great improvement on the seventh place with 129 points last year. The keenly contested team medals went to: 1 France 33 points; 2 Portugal 34; 3 Spain 44.
Mike Skinner summed-up the day for the men: “We are all over the moon for Mo but as a team we are disappointed. This may be the start of the men beginning to do something like the women always seem to do. We Mo, we have certainly got a good chance!”
Under 23 Men (8030m)
The Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team, third at halfway, finished fifth with 105 points – 11 outside the medals, which went to: 1 Russia 28; 2 Italy 78; 3 Poland 94.
Andy Vernon (Aldershot, Farnham and District), who won the Junior Men’s Silver medal last year, led home the GB sextet, finishing 14th in 23:34. It placed him 20 seconds behind the winner, Barnabas Bene (Hungary), who won the Junior race 12 months ago. Dusko Markesevic (Serbia) took the Silver medal in 23:16 and Daniele Meucci (Italy) the Bronze in 23:16 with an inspired finishing charge the pushed Russia’s feared Rybakov twins, Yevgeniy and Anatoliy, into fourth and fifth places.
Vernon said: “It was a lot harder than last year. It was fast right from the start. I felt like I had no energy but I kept on going.” [I fact, he picked up two places in the closing stages with his trademark strong finish.
Tom Humphries (Cannock and Stafford), 25th in 23:54, said: “That was hard! I went off quite easy and felt comfortable. Then my calves started to seize up a lap and a half in. It was quite hard to get a position in the big lead group.”
Andy Baker (Loughborough Students) produced a storming finish on his international debut to overtake three rivals and finish 26th in 23:55. He said: “It was good. I didn’t know what to expect. I was towards the back for the first two laps because I could only judge myself by where the other Brits were. I managed a strong finish.”
Tom Russell (Stroud and District AC), called up as a replacement for the unfortunate Sean Dirrane who could not obtain a GB passport in time, closed in the scoring quartet by finishing 40th in 24:08. He said: “I’m really pleased. I didn’t have any expectations. The start was absolutely brutal. I looked back after the first kilometre and saw only a couple behind me [in a field on 82, of whom four did not finish.] It was a question of working through and it was great to get in the scoring team. I have never been in a race like that in my life.”
Rob Bugden (Bristol and West), 41st on his GB debut in 24:08, the same time as Russell, said: “I went off much too fast. I was in the top 10 after 3-400 metres. I suffered big time on the last two laps. But you live and learn – and it was an amazing experience. The noise around the course was incredible.”
Matt Ashton (Aldershot, Farnham and District), 42nd in 24:10, said: “I can’t describe how disappointed I am. The training has been going really well and it’s not happened in a race again. I’m really disappointed not to be a scorer. Looking at the team scores, I know we could have got a medal.”
Junior Men (5975m)
The Norwich Union GB Team’s hopes of medalling for the third successive year in this category were ended when trial winner Tom Minshull lost a racing shoe, and suffered a painful foot injury, in a melee at the start. The team was way back with 150 points at halfway but rallied magnificently to finish fifth with 97 points, behind medallists: 1 Italy 68; 2 Spain 74; 3 France 74. To the delight of the home crowd, Andrea Lalli became Italy’s first ever European Champion in this age group, clocking 16:53. He finished a comfortable 10 seconds ahead of Siarhel Chebiarak (Belarus) with Ciprian Suhanea (Romania) third in 17:06.
Kevin Deighton (Bridlington RR), 16th on his GB debut in 17:30; said: “I was quite a way back on the first lap, and started working through at about halfway. I think I was 13th with about 400m to go and I felt dead afterwards. But it’s been a good experience and I was quite pleased to be first home having been third in the trial.”
Jon Pepper (Enfield and Haringey), who swept through from 40th at halfway to 23rd at the finish in 17:37, said: “That was the hardest race ever! The start was so fast. I recovered from it all right. But it was so physical with the tight bends and elbows everywhere.”
Lewis Timmins (Gosforth Harriers), who overcame an horrendous start to climb up to finish 28th in 17:32, said: “I had a really bad start. Two Irish guys fell just in front of me and before I knew it I was at the back. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. It was quite messy, especially in the narrow parts of the course. Immediately after the race I was disappointed. But once I had time to think about it, I realised I had a decent run.”
Rory Fraser (Oadby and Wigston Legionnaires), who closed in the scoring quartet by finishing 30th in 17:43, said: “I’m not pleased. My start was all right; maybe a bit too fast because halfway through the race, I ‘died’. I should have been in the top 20. I’m quite disappointed.”
Ricky Stephenson (New Marske Harriers), 57th in 17:59, said: “I was out of it. I couldn’t get into my running from the start, really. I gave 110% but it wasn’t there. It’s the experience that counts – I can come back next year a lot stronger.”
Tom Minshull (Trafford AC) limped over the line 102nd in 19:46 – heartbreaking for the trial winner who had high hopes of improving on his position of 29th last year. Alas, fate struck an early blow, as he explained: “My left shoe got kicked off at the start and it was hard.”
Having watched him battling along a surface that was either muddy and treacherously slippery or littered with sharp stones, Team Leader Alan Storey said: “Many wise heads called to Tom to pull out. But the determination he showed to finish his race epitomised the spirit of this entire team.”
Minshull added: “I’m not the kind to drop out – and definitely not when I’m running for Great Britain. This whole team has amazed me with its support and success.”
Source UKAthletics
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Time-to-Run
UK
