Harriers teenager Keith in the hunt for title

Great Britain junior international Megan Keith starts as one of the favourites to win the under-20 women’s title in this weekend’s Scottish cross-country championships at Falkirk’s Callendar Park.

The 17-year-old Inverness Harriers club member has enjoyed a successful start to 2020, winning the home nations junior cross-country title on a mudbath of a course at Stirling in January.

Following that, she went on to set an under-20 record time of 9:24 when finishing ninth overall in the Armagh international women’s 3km eight days ago.

Keith, who won the national under-17 title at Falkirk last February, is pleased with the progress she is making and is looking forward to testing herself in competition again.

She said: “Armagh was exciting. It was incredible for me to be part of such a fast race with high calibre women who I’ve seen running in the Olympics and other top competitions.

“The great atmosphere helped pull me along, although I probably ran the first lap too fast.

“This weekend’s race will be completely different, as it’s 7.5km on a very different surface. It could be muddy but it should be fine for me.

“I’m sure it will be competitive, although I haven’t checked out the start list.

“I think East Lothian runner Cera Gemmell is doing it, so she’ll give me a good race. I’m not sure if Edinburgh AC’s Eloise Walker is running but, if she is, she’ll be competitive as well. We’ll just have to see who turns up.

“I have good memories from last year but it’s a longer distance this time. At least I know the setup and it should be fun.”