By Owen Morgan
Hundreds of club runners from all over Wales will rub shoulders with some of the nation’s elite athletes on Saturday.
The annual George Crump Memorial Welsh Cross Country Championships will be held at Pembrey Country Park, near Llanelli.
The current cross country season has been a particularly successful one for Welsh athletes.
There have been a number of individual victories and stand out performances during the British Athletics Cross Challenge Series.
These have resulted in the likes of Charlie Hulson, Jenny Nesbitt, Jake Heyward, Dewi Griffiths, Cari Hughes, Melissa Courtney, Charlotte Arter, Matt Willis and Kris Jones being selected to represent Great Britain squads at the European Cross Country Championships and the Great Stirling X-Country international.
Some of those athletes may be missing from the start line at Pembrey on Saturday due to the diversity of the endurance season at this time of year.
The current success of Welsh endurance athletes means some will be targeting other goals such as the European Indoor Championships on the track, along with spring road races including the The Big Half and the London Marathon.
However, there will still be a hugely competitive and high class festival of running at the scenic country park, from primary school age groups up to the senior ranks.
Some, will have one eye on possible selection for the World Cross Country Championships at the end of March.
Among the seniors expected to take to the start line include Gold Coast Commonwealth Games representatives Nesbitt, of Worcester AC and Caryl Jones, of Swansea Harriers.
Nesbitt recently clocked 73:16 at the Barcelona Half Marathon, while Jones won the Llanelli Half Marathon on the same day.
The men’s race may come too soon for six-times champion Dewi Griffiths – just returned from altitude training in Boulder Colorado – to take part, but defending champion James Hunt, of Cardiff AAC is expected to compete alongside club mate Ieuan Thomas, who recently ran 14:14 at the Armagh 5K.
Newport’s Abed Teweldebrhan should also feature at the front end of the race after clocking 14:44 at the Armagh 5k.
The Junior Women’s race will see last year’s silver and bronze medallists return in search of going one better. Deeside’s Martha Owen was second at Singleton Park last year, with Cardiff’s Laura Wright just behind.
In the junior men’s race, Swansea’s Conor Smith will be back to try and defend his title, with team-mate Dominic Smith likely to challenge, along with fellow west Walian Ben Thomas, of Carmarthen Harriers.
Cardiff’s Larry Ryan will provide a challenge from the east, while Menai’s Oliver Barbaresi will be travelling south in good form having finished third in the junior men’s race at the Cardiff Cross Challenge, last October.
Welsh Athletics National Coach Chris Jones said he is particularly looking forward to seeing some of the junior talent emerging.
“You’ll see some great fields down there at Pembrey and it’s a great venue.
“What we will see is some great racing in the junior sections and that’s what I’m really interested in, really questioning myself how do I get this junior community to come through to this next level.
“We’ve got some good talent there, there’s no doubt about that. We need to nurture it.
“So it serves as a great event, there’s no doubt about it, and I think Jenny Nesbitt will run really well along with Charlie Hulson and those type of people.”
The action kicks off at 11.00 with the under-13 boys races and will continue through to 15:10 with the start of the senior men’s race.
See the Welsh Athletics website for a full details, timetable and course map.