Munro hails record entry for national cross country

The Scottish Cross Country Championships this weekend have attracted another record entry.

The 24th edition of the event since the men’s and women’s events combined in 1983-84 at Irvine will feature a total of 2330 athletes.

That includes a new record field in the Women’s race, with 382 entrants – up by four on last year.

The championships, known as the Lindsays National XC, wil see both the men and women over 10,000m. The 887 figure for men’s entries is the largest for 20 years.

“Once again, the National XC continues to be the crown jewels of our winter season,” said scottishathletics chief executive Mark Munro.

“I’m delighted to see the greatest-ever number of entries in 24 years of combined championships for men and women. In particular, it’s fantastic to see the Senior Women’s race growing year after year – it’s not so long ago the figure was close to 200 and now it is almost at 400.’

Six years ago the entry tally for the event in Falkirk was 1799 athletes, so 2330 this year represents a rise of 30 per cent.

Munro added: “There will be some terrific racing across all age groups this year with some very competitive fields.

“In recent years we’ve seen Olympians like Beth Potter, Freya Ross, Andy Butchart, Callum Hawkins and Derek Hawkins all win this event.

“Laura Muir won the U20 title five years ago.”

Rio Olympic duo Callum Hawkins and Beth Potter look strong favourites for the Senior golds, Potter having won it last year for the second time en route to appearing at her first Olympics over 10,000m.

Callum Hawkins is also a previous title winner.

London 2012 Olympian Freya Ross, a six-times winner, said: “It is such an exciting event that clubs get behind it and support. There are people coming to Falkirk from every part of Scotland to race and that’s great for the sport. It is a focal point on the calendar and people build towards it through the winter.”