Laura Muir admits she is pushing into unchartered territory by taking on the UK Cross Challenge in Liverpool tomorrow but the world championship finalist insists she is capable of thriving in the biggest test of her winter so far.
The 22-year-old will head to Sefton Park looking to enhance her CV still further by earning a place in the British team for next month’s European cross-country championships in southern France.
It will mean running eight kilometres for only the second time in her career, having finished 14th over on her previous Merseyside outing in 2013. But with the trials forming part of her build-up to next summer’s Olympic Games, she is prepared to confront the test head-on.
“I’ve run two cross country races so far this season but both were 4km so I’ll have to pace myself a bit over 8km,” she said. “It’ll be tough but I’m really looking forward to it.
“The course is dependent on the weather. The very first time I ran in Liverpool was 2011 and there was a hard frost on the ground. I ran really well on it and earned my debut selection for GB, so I’ve got fond memories of the trials.”
With a confirmed strategy to skip the world indoor championship to focus on Rio, earning a European tilt has taken on extra importance for the Perthshire prospect who landed the Scottish short course title earlier this month.
“We’ll see what it is like this weekend,” Muir said. “If it rains a lot I’m sure it will be really muddy. It’s a tough and testing course but I think it brings out the best in the toughest runners out there.”
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