I was there as well - I gave RR a few "Go on Andi" shouts! I stopped short of shouting "Go on RoadRunner" as the folk around me would have thought I was nuts! Great run though in what looked like challenging conditions. Might have a blast around the loops when they clear up!
Bekele is unbelievable, to lose his shoe and probably up to 100m on the leaders and win like that was incredible.
Good showing by some of the Yanks, their distance running is definitely on the up.
Excellent performance from Roadrunner...not that you'd have known it from the BBC.
However, with all due respect to our runners its easy to see why athletics is losing popularity. The BBC has shown hours of the World Cycling Championships in Manchester and we've ended up with 9 gold medals versus the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh where we didn't have a runner in the top ten.
Wait until the Kenyans start cycling!
Well done Andi, I thought it was a well-judged race.
'That's what you get when you suffer - you get results'
Just watched this on tv this morning, well done Andi, Brendan Foster should work for the FA, he is so negative
Haven't watched the tv coverage yet, but we did go to watch. Some truly awesome running on show. As has already been said, short of trying to race against these athletes (aye right) the best way to appreciate their sheer pace is to stand at close quarters and watch them glide effortlessly over the mud. I thought ALL of the GB athletes were tremendous - the junior women were 4th behind the Africans & Japan (so, had it been a European competition...). Let's wait to hear what Andi thinks about his own race, that'll be interesting.
As for Big Fat Bren - I haven't heard his commentary yet, but I still recall him panicking at the sight of Paula 'waving her arms around' while descending Haggis Knowe on that course a few years ago - ('She definitely doesn't look happy!'). Has he ever tried running downhill at top speed in the mud?
Felhell, funny you should say that, they wouldn't be much good at the sprints but I've often wondered what they and the Ethiopians would be like over longer distances on the bike.
Bekele has got unusually large thighs for a man his size and stature so I'm pretty sure he'd be a great cyclist
Big subject this and who knows what the answer is?
But I think we need to be a little bit insular here and start looking after our own a little.
To much money and TV coverage is thrown at the Africans in terms of endurance running whether on track, road or XC.
We need the TV channels to feature more events like the Inter Counties.
I would suggest covering the Cross Challenge Series, it would be low cost or even free for any TV channel. I am sure UKA would roll over to have it covered, and then a sponsor may come in.
Then add in similar coverage for the British League in Track and Field, and maybe a team event such as the Mansfield XC Relays.
Cut out the foreigners, show the public how exciting these events can be, and develop some "Stars" within our own public domain.
We have Ben Fish at our club who was unbeaten in a track 10K, reigning Inter Counties Champion, and reigning Northern Champion, and he couldn't get in to the National AA 10K as he didn't have the time required. Only 7 active athletes had I recall.
How are we going to progress then if we cannot get our athletes in races to develop their potential?
How many track 10KM races are there this year? 2 or 3 - that's it.
Well done Andi and the rest of the athletes at Edinburgh. I didn't see the race as I was out at a track meeting, but just to be there is a huge achievement.
Good comments Witton. In full agreement with you on this one.