Marilyn, Vivian Cheruiyot and Simret Sultan

I got back last week from racing in Edinburgh and Seville and I have to say it was an incredible trip! Both races were extremely competitive and the cross-country races in Europe are like nothing I have ever experienced.

I want to say a big thank you to Thelma Wright at Athletics Canada and my coach Jon Brown who made these experiences possible for me and Derek. Both feel strongly that Canadian athletes should have opportunities to compete in international events that provide invaluable experiences. I also want to thank Andy Caine and Jesus Mallén for hosting us and making us feel so welcome!

I arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday, January 8th in the late afternoon and was picked up from the airport and taken to the hotel. I met Derek, the other Canadian and we did an easy run in a park we found just minutes away.

I slept pretty well that night and could have slept until noon but figured I had better adjust to the time change (8 hours) as soon as possible. Derek and I ran an easy 30′ in the park again the next morning with some strides then spent the day relaxing. My roommate arrived and I found her sound asleep when I got back from my run so I took a very quick shower and stayed out of the room so she could get some sleep. We finally met each other in the late afternoon. Her name was Simret and she was from Eritrea, a country in Northeast Africa. Her English was good enough to explain that she was sick with the flu…explanations were not needed as she was coughing a lot and looked pretty ill . She explained she had to finish the race in order to get paid. Yikes.

That evening, there was a dinner for all the athletes in the hotel restaurant.  Andy Caine, the race organizer, briefed us quickly on the schedule for race day and then played the dvd from last year’s race while we had dinner. He and his team were so oraganized and treated all the athletes wonderfullt well! Jon called to wish me luck and gave me some last minute advice. I went to bed early but unfortunately, my poor roomie coughed all night so I spent the night tossing and turning and woke up feeling pretty fried. I have had restless pre-race nights before and have run well so I wasn’t too worried.

We were bused to the course (Simret was sitting next to me, throwing up into a bag but was determined to race). It was an insanely windy day and pretty cold. We were not allowed to warm up on the course so I didn’t see much of it beforehand. It was a great course mostly run on grass. We had one short loop of about a km followed by two, 2k loops which had a significant hill. I have to admit I was a bit chicken off the top and started conservatively which is not the best plan for cross races. So, I lost contact with the lead group right  off the top and had to work hard to play catch-up. I was just feeling blah on the start line so I was afraid to start too quickly. I definitely did a lot of passing though and managed to move up 4 positions in the last km, so I obviously had too much at the end.  I finished in 28th place.

Here are some shots of the men’s race.

I did my warm-down and then headed back to the elite athlete tent where a hot meal was served.

The Women's Winner - Linet Masai

Some more pics of the course.

 Dinner for all the international athletes was served back at the hotel. A game of cards broke out and we had a lot of laughs and met some great people.

Derek and I stayed on in Edinburgh for a few days before heading to Seville. We found a gorgeous set of trails just 10 minutes from the hotel so we did most of our running there. We took a trip into town and got to see the some of the sites. One day was not enough to see everything but we did a lot of walking and even took in a tour.

We left early on Tuesday morning and flew back to London and then flew from there to Seville. Our connector flight from Madrid was delayed so we didn’t get to out hotel until quite late. After a quick run we were treated to a light dinner that was brought up to our room. We were both pretty hungry so it was a nice that the hotel did that for us.

Wednesday I did a 60′ run. We found a  gravel service road right across the road from the hotel. We scouted out a good section on it to do the wo the next day. That afternoon we tried to find someone from the race to ask when and how we were to eat our meals. It seemed we were the only athletes at the hotel thus far and weren’t sure if there were organized meals. We eventually just ordered room service since the cafeteria didn’t open at 8pm as the hotel’s information booklet indicated.

Thursday was a wo day. I had a pretty light session: 3′-1′-1′-3′ with 60″ rests. The first interval felt a bit sluggish but the others felt great and smooth. That night some athletes finally showed up and there was a buffet for dinner so we got to mingle a bit and finally met the race organizer, Jesus.

Friday morning we got a call from Thelma Wright who set the trip up for us to see how we were making out which was so nice of her! After breakfast, we headed back to the gravel road and did an easy run before breakfast and then headed into town. It was an adventure just trying to find the correct bus stop but after a lot of sign language we finally got the correct information and made it downtown. It was well worth the effort as the city was really very pretty. I loved the architecture!

Saturday, the day before the race was restful with just a 30′ run and some strides followed by some lounging time next to the pool. The weather changed and we got a beautiful day! We met a lovely couple that afternoon, Hugo and Hilda Kibet, Lorna Kiplagat’s niece. Hilda is Kenyan but runs for the Netherlands and is the 2008 European xc champion. We had a great chat and had dinner that night with them. She started training seriously about 5 years ago and has dropped her 10km time from 37 minutes to 30 minutes for that distance!

We picked up our race packages and found out the departure times for the buses. My race was at noon the next day while the men’s race was at 2pm. Jon called to wish me luck and said I could afford to work the first few kms a bit more aggressively. Juicey called too and said he was excited for me. I was feeling confident and after last week’s mediocre effort I was itching to get out there and run hard!

I woke after a good sleep and headed down to breakfast on my own where I met Hilda and Hugo. We grabbed the second bus going out to the course. As we walked from the parking lot towards the course, we were stopped by a few kids asking for autographs and pictures. It was pretty funny. Little did they know I was a nobody!

Hilda signing autographs

We had to ask around to find the elite tent. The course had crowds of people all around as other races were going on so finding our way through the crowds was tricky.

We finally found the gate we had to get through to get to the trailers. We dropped our stuff off and we started our warm-up joined by Sopie from France. We discussed whether or not to use spikes as we jogged parts of the course. The surface was hard and fast but the course itself had two significant hills and many sharp turns (like eight or nine!) The course was basically a gravel road and since they had had very little rain, it was pretty hard. The three of us decided to opt for flats which in the end was a good idea. We were eventually corralled into the race start area. It was all very, very exciting! I looked around at all these amazing women as I did my strides and felt really amazed I was there running with them! Agaian, it was all very surreal. There were only about 40 elite women in this race so it was a bit intimidating but I was determined to get into the mix right off the top and not be such a chicken this time. Off we went and a minute or so into the race I found myself running with the lead pack, right at the front. The pace felt very comfortable though so I ignored the voice that said “what are you doing??” A quick glance at my Garmin on a flat section about 3 minutes in read 3:20/km. ‘Ok, I’m ok, the fastest women are taking it easy and will peel away in a another minute or so.’ Sure enough, just as we headed into the second lap (we had one 1.5km and 3 laps of just over 2km) off they went…bye-bye! I continued on, settling into pace at this point. I could feel a small group slowly closing in from behind and it was with this group of four women that I ran most of the race.

I managed to hang on until the last lap where two of the women pulled away. I spent the last two km battling it out with another woman. I saw up a head that we were closing in on a woman so I switched my focus from my running mate to the target up ahead. This tactic worked as I slowly pulled away and closed in on the woman in front. I didn’t catch her in the end but I certainly closed the gap in the last km and finished strong. I ran 28:48 placing 19th. I was very happy with my effort and felt I raced well. Here’s a write- up on the race: Cross Internacional de Itálica and here are the Results.

I did a good warm-down with Hilda and Hugo and then hung around before walking over to the far end of the course to watch the men’s race.

The Finish-line!Aniko, Mar and Hilda