Just capital as Muir revels in lead role for victorious Brits
LAURA MUIR showed that she is a force to be reckoned with as the 2017 athletics season dawns after bringing the baton home for Team GB in the 4x1km relay at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country yesterday.
Starting the last leg in second place, Muir produced a blistering run around Holyrood Park to put her team well clear of USA.
The victory capped a fantastic week for the 23-year-old, who broke compatriot Liz McColgan’s British indoor 5,000metre record in Glasgow on Wednesday — a mark that had stood since 1992.
Reflecting on her performance, Muir said: ‘I had to try to bring it home for the team. I knew I had to put the boot in from the start. I wanted to go out there and run as hard as I could, and as captain, that was my duty to the team.
‘On top of that, it meant a lot to lead the team here in Scotland. I’m so proud I was given the opportunity to do so. The race had a very homely feel to it!
‘As captain, I had to give a speech before everyone went out there. There was actually quite a Scottish theme to the speech.
‘There were lots of southerners there, so I gave them a few pointers about what might get shouted out. I think some of them got it, but I hope nobody was confused!
‘I just mentioned to everybody a few things that a Scottish crowd might shout out as way of encouragement.
‘Things like, “on yourself hen” or “gie it laldy”. It’s all quite trivial but I hope I relaxed people ahead of a big day.
‘It was really special and bringing it home to win the relay. We all ran so well.’
Touching on her recordbreaking start to the year, Muir added: ‘My legs were a little heavy after what I did in the week, but I felt OK in the warm-up, so I was confident it would be another good day for me.
‘Obviously, the race was shorter today, but I’m happy that I could deliver and it shows I’m in decent shape.’
Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, particularly in light of Sir Mo Farah tipping her for double gold at the World Championships in London, the Scot said: ‘Right now, I’m hoping to peak for the start of the indoor season.
‘I’m off to South Africa on Tuesday for three weeks and it’s about training hard there. I want to kick on and look ahead to what the summer could bring.’
Scottish athletes Beth Potter and Steph Twell finished 14th and 16th respectively in the women’s 6km.