Laura Muir puts on cross-country spikes and heads for Kirkcaldy

Hawkhill Harrier out to defend title at Kirkcaldy High School

From the Olympic Stadium to the muddy fields of Kirkcaldy High School, world-class athlete Laura Muir returns to action this weekend.

The Dundee Hawkhill Harrier can’t wait to pull on her spikes again as she races for the first time since finishing sixth in the World 5,000m final.

But it will be cross-country spikes this time as the double European Indoor gold medallist defends her Lindsays 4K XC title at the Scottish Short Course Championships in Fife tomorrow.

Muir won this title at Bellahouston in 2015 and Renfrew last year, and is looking for a fourth victory in six years, with only Rhona Auckland having broken that sequence in 2013 and 2014.

Big numbers once again mean the women’s and men’s race should be keenly-contested through the field as hundreds of U17 and U15 athletes also gather at the Kirkcaldy High School venue, which has hosted Scottish Primary School XC races in recent years.

It is a well-known location for Kirkcaldy’s Scotland international Steph Pennycook and GB internationals like Josephine Moultrie and U20 Athlete of the Year Jemma Reekie, while Central AC’s Morag MacLarty was fastest at the Lindsays XC National Relays, where Mhairi Maclennan also ran well.

Muir announced her plans to race when at the FPSG scottishathletics Awards Dinner last weekend, to cheers of approval from a packed audience at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.

“I always like to race in Scotland if and when I am able to fit it into other competition plans,” said the Kinrossshire athlete, who will represent Glasgow University, perhaps for the last time as she nears the conclusion of her veterinary medicine studies.

“I’ve raced the 4K for the past few years and I really enjoy it.

“I always think cross-country at this time of year helps give you a good base for the following season on the track.

“It’s been a while because I’ve not raced since the World Champs, with the last one being the 5,000m final.

“I’m looking forward to it and always enjoy racing and meeting up with athletes I’ve known for many years.”

Central AC are defending the women’s and men’s race titles, with the men looking to make it a hat-trick of successes in this particular 4K Championships.

In terms of individual medals, those in contention could well include two athletes who represented Scotland with distinction at the Leeds 10K last weekend – Logan Rees of Fife AC and Lachlan Oates of Shettleston Harriers. Both recorded PB performances on the road.

As that was happening in Leeds, Perth’s Sol Sweeney and Aberdeen AAC’s Michael Ferguson fought out a tough battle in the Scottish Universites over 9K.

GB international Sweeney won that one, as he prepares for the Euro Cross trials in Liverpool later this month.

“It’s been a while because I’ve not raced since the World Champs. LAURA MUIR

Picture: Bobby Gavin. Laura Muir is defending her Lindsays 4K XC Scottish Short Course title at Kirkcaldy High School tomorrow.