15.01.2010

National 10,000m champions to headline world cross country trials

National 10,000m champions Collis Birmingham and Eloise Wellings will headline the field at this weekend’s world cross country trials at Brimbank Park (Vic) as the nation’s top distance runners vie for selection to the world titles in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in March.

Australian Flame representative and national 10,000m record-holder Collis Birmingham (Vic) will start favourite in the 29-strong men’s field, to be joined on the 12km course by three-time world cross country championships representative Liam Adams (Vic), reigning national cross country champion Clint Perret (Vic), 2009 world half marathon championships representative Jeff Hunt (NSW) and 2009 Chiba Ekiden Relay runner Kane Wille (Vic).

In the women’s draw, fellow 10,000m national champion Eloise Wellings (NSW) returns to action following her win at the Zatopek:10 in Melbourne in December, fronting up one of the strongest women’s cross country fields ever assembled in Australia.

Joining Willis on the start line of the women’s 8km course on Sunday will be 2004 world cross country champion and seven-time world cross country representative Benita Willis (Vic), 2009 world cross country runners Lara Tamsett (NSW) and Melinda Vernon (NSW), 2009 world half marathon championships representative Cassie Fien (Vic), 2009 Chiba Ekiden Relay runner Clare Geraghty (Qld) and 2008 world cross country championships teams medallist Anna Thompson (Vic).

In a remarkable show of the current depth of female distance running in Australia, eight athletes set to take to the start line of the women’s selection trial in Melbourne’s west this Sunday went under the 34:00-mark in December’s 10,000m national championship race. Eleven of the top 12 placegetters from that event will reunite for this weekend’s meet.

Athletics Australia National Distance Coach Tim O’Shaughnessy said the current depth of talent in both the men’s and women’s fields would make for a hard-fought tussle this weekend as runners vie for selection to the world event in Bydgoszcz on Sunday, March 28.

“The women’s field is certainly one of the strongest we’ve seen but also with the men there's some good depth there,” O’Shaughnessy said.

With a strong line-up in contention for selection this weekend, O’Shaughnessy said a repeat of the women’s team’s bronze medal-winning run at the 2008 edition of the world meet was within reach in Bydgoszcz.

“Looking at the depth of our female athletes we’ll be pushing for a team medal this year,” he said.

This year sees the trials move from Canberra's Stromlo Park to a new home in Melbourne's west, and with ideal conditions expected to greet runners after a string of hot weather at recent editions of the meet, the stage is set for a compelling showdown between the nation's best off-road runners.

Athletics Australia selectors will meet immediately following Sunday’s trials, with a selection announcement expected next week.

This weekend’s meet launches what will be a big year for Australia’s distance elite as the nation’s top runners head into a fast and furious 12 months that will feature the all-new Australian Athletics Tour (January 30 – March 4), IAAF world cross country championships (March 28), 88th Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games Selection Trials (April 16-18), Commonwealth Games (October 3-14) and IAAF world half marathon championships (October 16).

Sunday’s trials continue the countdown to the 2010 Australian Athletics Tour, which kicks off in Canberra on Saturday, January 30. In 2010 the Tour will feature the following five meets:

Australia Cup: Saturday, January 30 – AIS Athletics Track, Canberra
Brisbane Athletics Classic: Saturday, February 6 – QSAC, Brisbane
Briggs Athletics Classic: Friday, February 12 – Domain Athletics Centre, Hobart
Sydney Track Classic: Saturday, February 27 – Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney
Melbourne Track Classic: Thursday, March 4 – Melbourne Olympic Park, Melbourne

The 2010 Australian domestic season will conclude with the staging of the 88th Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games Selection Trials from April 16-18 at the all-new Western Australian Athletics Stadium in Perth.