Liverpool’s Sefton Park has seen athletes battle it out on the sphere on the European trials since 2002
On Saturday November 23 Sefton Park will host the British Athletics Cross Problem, with athletes vying for spots within the European Cross Nation Championship workforce, which is able to happen in Antalya.
This annual occasion has change into a fixture within the cross-country calendar, however the location has modified over time, with Sefton Park solely taking over this vital function in 2002.
Earlier than Sefton Park, the trials have been historically held in Margate, a location that some thought was too distant.
In 2002, Athletics Weekly reported, “there’s discuss that this assembly at Margate could lose the standing of ‘European Trial venue’ subsequent 12 months, primarily as a result of it isn’t deemed central sufficient.
“As one organiser identified, this supposedly distant tip of land within the south-east of England doesn’t have many high athletics conferences to get pleasure from internet hosting.”
U20/17 ladies’s begin (Mark Shearman)
Sefton Park’s debut because the host in 2002 coincided with Chris Thompson’s first main home cross-country win, the place he edged out Peter Riley for the title.
Jo Pavey triumphed within the senior ladies’s race, incomes her place on the European Championship workforce, which competed in Edinburgh later that 12 months.
After a short transfer to Parliament Hill in 2004, the occasion returned to Sefton Park, the place it has remained ever since, except 2020 when the pandemic pressured its cancellation.
This 12 months’s occasion is the second within the 2024 British Athletics Cross Problem collection, following the Cardiff Cross Problem earlier this month.
READ MORE: Cardiff Cross Problem report
Not solely will the occasion host trials for the under-20, under-23 and senior athletes, however it would as soon as once more incorporate the trial for the combined relay workforce.
Over time, Sefton Park has persistently attracted high expertise, and memorable head-to-head battles have change into an indicator of the occasion.
AW Archive 2005
Mo Farah, as an example, claimed the senior males’s title when the occasion returned to Liverpool in 2005, including to his victory at Parliament Hill the 12 months earlier than.
Andy Vernon, one other common competitor, dominated the senior males’s race, claiming 4 titles (2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013).
In 2014, the Liverpool Cross Problem witnessed a memorable contest between Scots Andrew Butchart and Callum Hawkins, with Butchart taking the win and Hawkins securing the under-23 title. The 2 would conflict once more in 2016, with Butchart rising victorious as soon as extra.
Andrew Butchart (Mark Shearman)
The 2014 12 months additionally noticed standout performances from Gemma Metal, who took the senior ladies’s race, and Jessica Warner-Judd, who gained the under-20 title. Warner-Judd would go on to win a number of senior titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
The occasion has additionally offered a platform for younger expertise to make their mark, with future stars like Erin Wallace, who’s now a coaching companion of Keely Hodgkinson, successful the under-15 title in 2014.
More moderen breakthrough performances have come from athletes like Megan Keith, who dominated the under-17/20 race in 2021. Keith’s success has since continued with a ten,000m bronze on the European Championships and qualifying for her first Olympic Video games in Paris.
Megan Keith (Mark Shearman)
Different notable performances in 2021 included Jess Bailey, who lately set the UK under-20 5km document, ending second behind Keith. Ed Hen, who went on to say a world under-20 3000m bronze medal this 12 months, took the gold within the under-17 race that very same 12 months.
In 2022, Will Barnicoat and Innes FitzGerald took the junior titles, with FitzGerald occurring to efficiently defend her title in 2023. This victory earner her a spot on the European Cross workforce, the place she went on to change into the European under-20 champion.
Innes FitzGerald (Mark Shearman)
Keith additionally clinched one other medal in 2023, this time within the senior ladies’s race, whereas Hugo Milner claimed the boys’s crown.
You’ll find all of our unique protection from the Liverpool Cross Problem by way of the Athletics Weekly archive.
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