Mum’s the word as Steph joins the Habbies
Olympian salutes mother
Kilbarchan AAC have added another Olympian to their ranks after drafting in Steph Twell for the upcoming Lindsays National XC.
Born and raised in Colchester, the 29-year-old will represent the Habbies for the first time after picking the gold and black as a nod to her mother Isobel, who originally hails from Paisley.
The long-distance runner has been a staple in the Scotland team since announcing in 2009 that she had chosen Scotland over England, and has since gone on to represent her country at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Twell has also raced at both the 2008 and 2016 Olympic Games over 1,500m and 5,000m.
It will be the first time Twell has ever competed at Callendar Park, with the event on Saturday.
After a recent successful switch to the marathon, the presence of the Commonwealth and European track medallist immediately raises the profile of the senior women’s race where the depth continues to grow year-on-year.
Twell will certainly have her sights set on completing a remarkable National XC Championship double – nine years after winning senior women’s gold at the English National XC in Leeds in 2010.
“I am really pleased to be racing at my first Scottish National XC in Falkirk – it’s about time,” said the 29-year-old.
“While I have previously represented my club at the English National, moving full-time as an athlete has now given me the opportunity to make the most of competing in the races I haven’t done before.
“I think the cross country conditions, as well as the distance, will be a suitable test to see how I fit I am at this stage before I return to the roads.
“The Lindsays XC was a race I wish I’d been a part of in the past couple of years, seeing fellow competitors and GB teammates like Mhairi Maclennan and Beth Potter in the mix and vying for the title and the podium.
“So, I’m excited to see how I fare on the course this year. It’s 10k, which I am pleased to see is the same as the men’s, and hopefully there’s a really big entry once again for all the races at Falkirk.”
Entry numbers for the 2019 Lindsays National XC have once again broken all recent records.
Fields for the 10 races at Falkirk will now be the largest overall for a quarter of a century since the men’and women’s championships combined in 1993-94.
It’s the 26th edition of the combined event and the entry figure is a staggering 2,458 which surpasses the previous best from a couple of years ago.
The 2019 entry for Callendar Park has risen by 184 athletes on last year’s 2,274 tally and is up by 659 since 2011 – when the tally was 1,799. That’s a rise of 37 per cent having taken place in those eight years.
A scottishathletics spokesman added: “All at scottishathletics want to offer a huge thank you to athletes, clubs, coaches and team managers who are making such a commitment to the competition.”