Liverpool’s Sefton Park has seen athletes battle it out on the sector on the European trials since 2002
On Saturday November 23 Sefton Park will host the British Athletics Cross Problem, with athletes vying for spots within the European Cross Nation Championship staff, which can happen in Antalya.
This annual occasion has grow to be a fixture within the cross-country calendar, however the location has modified through the years, with Sefton Park solely taking over this vital function in 2002.
Earlier than Sefton Park, the trials have been historically held in Margate, a location that some thought was too distant.
In 2002, Athletics Weekly reported, “there’s speak that this assembly at Margate might lose the standing of ‘European Trial venue’ subsequent yr, primarily as a result of it isn’t deemed central sufficient.
“As one organiser identified, this supposedly distant tip of land within the south-east of England doesn’t have many high athletics conferences to get pleasure from internet hosting.”
U20/17 ladies’s begin (Mark Shearman)
Sefton Park’s debut because the host in 2002 coincided with Chris Thompson’s first main home cross-country win, the place he edged out Peter Riley for the title.
Jo Pavey triumphed within the senior ladies’s race, incomes her place on the European Championship staff, which competed in Edinburgh later that yr.
After a short transfer to Parliament Hill in 2004, the occasion returned to Sefton Park, the place it has remained ever since, excluding 2020 when the pandemic compelled its cancellation.
This yr’s occasion is the second within the 2024 British Athletics Cross Problem collection, following the Cardiff Cross Problem earlier this month.
Not solely will the occasion host trials for the under-20, under-23 and senior athletes, however it can as soon as once more incorporate the trial for the combined relay staff.
Through the years, Sefton Park has constantly attracted high expertise, and memorable head-to-head battles have grow to be an indicator of the occasion.
AW Archive 2005
Mo Farah, for example, claimed the senior males’s title when the occasion returned to Liverpool in 2005, including to his victory at Parliament Hill the yr earlier than.
Andy Vernon, one other common competitor, dominated the senior males’s race, claiming 4 titles (2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013).
In 2014, the Liverpool Cross Problem witnessed a memorable contest between Scots Andrew Butchart and Callum Hawkins, with Butchart taking the win and Hawkins securing the under-23 title. The 2 would conflict once more in 2016, with Butchart rising victorious as soon as extra.
Andrew Butchart (Mark Shearman)
The 2014 yr additionally noticed standout performances from Gemma Metal, who took the senior ladies’s race, and Jessica Warner-Judd, who received the under-20 title. Warner-Judd would go on to win a number of senior titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
The occasion has additionally offered a platform for younger expertise to make their mark, with future stars like Erin Wallace, who’s now a coaching accomplice of Keely Hodgkinson, successful the under-15 title in 2014.
More moderen breakthrough performances have come from athletes like Megan Keith, who dominated the under-17/20 race in 2021. Keith’s success has since continued with a ten,000m bronze on the European Championships and qualifying for her first Olympic Video games in Paris.
Megan Keith (Mark Shearman)
Different notable performances in 2021 included Jess Bailey, who just lately set the UK under-20 5km report, ending second behind Keith. Ed Chook, who went on to say a world under-20 3000m bronze medal this yr, took the gold within the under-17 race that very same yr.
In 2022, Will Barnicoat and Innes FitzGerald took the junior titles, with FitzGerald happening to efficiently defend her title in 2023. This victory earner her a spot on the European Cross staff, the place she went on to grow to be the European under-20 champion.
Innes FitzGerald (Mark Shearman)
Keith additionally clinched one other medal in 2023, this time within the senior ladies’s race, whereas Hugo Milner claimed the boys’s crown.
You’ll find all of our unique protection from the Liverpool Cross Problem by way of the Athletics Weekly archive.
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