INSIDE TRACK Heads Start for rivals but Laura wins
LAURA WEIGHTMAN’S victory in last weekend’s Start Fitness North East Harrier League fixture at Aykley Heads didn’t come easily after grinding out the perfect result over a testing 4.2-mile course.
The Commonwealth Games-bound Morpeth athlete had to pull out all the stops before hitting the front in the closing stages with the finish line fast approaching.
It was a tough cross-country season baptism for Olympic and World Championship 1,500 metres finalist Weightman, who will travel to the Gold Coast in April where she will contest the 5,000m.
Weightman had given away a threeand-a-half-minute start to the bulk of the 400-strong field, and with coach Steve Cram urging her on from course side, had wriggled her way through into the top 30 by the halfway stage.
There’s no doubt the Northumbrian has taken a liking to the tough terrain on the outskirts of Durham City for it was on the same course that she claimed the North Eastern Counties Championship gold medal over an even longer distance last December.
So her victory came as no surprise to many of the spectators lining the course as she used her first cross-country race of the season as a stepping stone for the coming weeks before heading off to South Africa for a spell of warm-weather training before linking up with the England squad for the Commonwealth Games.
Weightman is no stranger to lining up in the NEHL for she has competed in events for over a decade despite having an excellent track pedigree, and as she crossed the finish line at Aykley Heads last Saturday she still managed a smile despite overcoming numerous challenging hills.
“I always enjoy competing in the harrier leagues, there is nothing at stake and you go out to enjoy yourself and that’s what I did,’’ said Weightman, who has spent the past month building up her mileage before embarking on a busy December.
“It was good to get out there and stretch the legs and I felt it was a good, strong run which I was very pleased with.’’
Weightman will hardly have had time to clean the mud off her spikes before she’s quickly back in action again this weekend when she lines up in the UK Cross-Challenge in Liverpool, a fixture which doubles as the Trials for the European Cross-Country Championships next month, a date which unfortunately clashes with the North Eastern XC Championships.
“I’m running Liverpool, not with the intention of making the team for the Europeans but just to go out and have a good hard run,’’ added Weightman, who has previously represented GB over the country at under-23 level.
“I suppose if I make it into the top four then I would have to consider whether to take up my place but my heart tells me I’d rather turn out in defence of my North East title in Redcar which, as it happens, is on the same weekend.
“Whatever the outcome, however, I’ll be racing over the country which will more than likely be my final race before heading off to South Africa for a month’s training at altitude in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.’’ Laura Weightman