European Cross Country Championships trials at Sefton Park this weekend

Sefton Park in Liverpool is set to host the highly anticipated British Athletics Cross Challenge fixture which incorporates the Trials for the European Cross Country Championships this Saturday.

The event, which will be streamed live on Britishathletics.org, will see the UK’s best cross country athletes across all age groups compete on Merseyside from 10:30am.

The senior women’s race will be an entertaining affair as Sefton Park welcomes back last year’s winner, Jess Warner-Judd (handicap -3.2). She has enjoyed success on the course in the past, so will be looking for a positive performance on Saturday to see if she can book her place on the team heading to Turin, Italy next month.

However, competition for places will be high as a number of athletes have started the Autumn and Winter season in strong form. Alexandra Millard (handicap -0.4) is a just one example of that after her victory at the Milton Keynes Cross Challenge earlier this month, and she will be seeking her first senior cross-country call-up.

2021 European Cross team gold medallists, Abbie Donnelly (handicap -1.4) and Jess Gibbon (handicap -1.5) are always dangerous competitors in the line-up, while European U20 champion from Dublin, Megan Keith (handicap -1.4), steps up to the U23 age group this year so will take to the start line in this race alongside Northern Ireland’s Grace Carson (handicap -0.7).

There are a number of athletes to watch out for in this race, with the likes of World University Cross Country champion Izzy Fry (handicap -1.6), Amy-Eloise Markovc (handicap -2.9), Jenny Nesbitt (handicap -1.5) and Samantha Harrison (handicap -3.0) also on the entry lists.

The senior men’s contest will also be an intriguing one with Mahamed Mahamed (handicap -6.5) and Zakariya Mahamed (handicap -5.6) in solid form during the Series so far. They’ll also be joined by Jack Rowe (handicap -6.5) who won the trial in 2021 to earn a GB & NI vest at the Europeans last winter.

Mahamed was a convincing winner in Milton Keynes a fortnight ago, while his younger brother Zakariya has a good track record of earning GB & NI vests.

Emile Cairess (handicap -7.4), top British finisher at the Cardiff Cross Challenge in October, is on the entry lists, while world indoor 3000m bronze medallist Marc Scott (handicap -6.7) takes to the cross-country terrain once again.

The Trial for the mixed relay is back in Liverpool once again, with three of last year’s Euro gold medallists – Luke Duffy (handicap -5.2), Hannah Nuttall (handicap -1.3) and Ben West (handicap -1.3) – lining up once again.

There will be strong competition for places as the men’s race sees Max Burgin (handicap -5.4), Archie Davis (handicap -4.7) and Jamie Webb (handicap -5.8) among the entries, while the women’s sees Olympian Revee Walcott-Nolan (handicap 1.7) in the field. The relay provides a massive opportunity for up and coming athletes and there is plenty of depth around the UK as seen in the recent 4k Cross country championships in Scotland and the Cardiff Cross Challenge.

Watch live from 10:30am via the stream on the British Athletics website.