Milner and Donnelly reign supreme at inaugural London International Cross Country

Parliament Hill stages a brilliant day of racing with Cross Challenge points and major championships selection at stake

The London International Cross Country is a new event with big plans. Organiser Eamonn Martin hopes it will fill the void left by the much-missed Great Edinburgh XC. Ambitiously, there is even the dream of staging the European Championships at the iconic Parliament Hill venue in future.

Yet despite innovative efforts to create a spectator-friendly course at the spiritual home of cross-country running with its hairpin turns, beer tent and big screen, it was the athletes themselves who ultimately stamped their personalities on the event.

Amid the cheers and the cow bells and with a bracing wind ripping through north London, the most enduring memories from Saturday will be of Abbie Donnelly and junior Innes FitzGerald coasting to victory in the senior and under-20 women’s races, while Hugo Milner held off a spirited challenge from Tom Evans and Mahamed Mahamed in the senior men’s race. The British success stories from last month’s Euro Cross in Brussels, it seems, have not lost their form over the festive period.

Donnelly only decided to race two days earlier after a training session on Thursday went well. The Lincoln Wellington athlete, who enjoyed a breakthrough run at the Euro Cross with bronze last month, took part in the Valencia 10km last weekend where she ran 31:55.

She showed her class at Parliament Hill, too, winning by 23 seconds from Lauren McNeil with Niamh Brown a further 16 seconds behind in third.

“I was under instructions from my coach to sit in and make my move on the last lap,” said Donnelly, “but I panicked on the second lap and went for it.”

Donnelly was originally going to run the Seville Marathon in February but will now target the Barcelona Half Marathon on February 11 followed by, she hopes, the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade on March 30.

The 27-year-old effectively secured selection for Belgrade with her brilliant run in Brussels, but she made double sure of it here due to senior winners at Parliament Hill also earning the prize of being picked for the global event.

Unfortunately for McNeil, finishing runner-up means she will not gain automatic selection for the World Cross but GB selectors have said they will take into consideration the results from Parliament Hill, plus of course the Inter-Counties and British Athletics Cross Challenge final in Wollaton Park in early March.

“Abbie was flying and it was a really strong run from her,” said Hallamshire Harrier McNeil. “But I went into the race with a fairly open mind and am quite pleased with my run.”

Like Donnelly, Milner ticked another World Cross selection box. After finishing fourth at the Euro Cross in Brussels, this time he won the senior men’s race. Unlike Donnelly, though, he is not sure he wants to run the World Cross. This is because his main goal in 2024 is Olympic triathlon selection and he’s due to go to Australia next week on a triathlon camp.

Because of this he limbered up for Saturday’s race by completing a heavy day of swim-bike-run training on Friday. He took Saturday morning, however, which he said made him feel like he’d “tapered”, but was planning to do a long swim on Saturday evening after travelling home to Derby on the train.

In the race itself he held off ultra-running specialist Evans by a couple of seconds with Mahamed five seconds further back and Jamie Crowe – winner at the Renfew Cross Challenge the previous weekend – fourth.

“I found myself at the front and once I was there just took it out hard,” said Milner. “There was a terrific atmosphere. I felt Tom coming at me in the last 200m but I had enough left in the tank for a sprint finish.”

Milner says he loves the mud. “But it wasn’t muddy enough!” he smiled. “There were muddy patches but a lot of them were frozen over. I was losing time on Mahamad and Tom on some sections but toward the end I knew the best route to take and just went for it.”

Like McNeil in the women’s race, Evans will also have impressed World Cross selectors here without necessarily bagging an automatic slot for Belgrade. He said: “I’ve always wanted to run at Parliament Hill as it’s the home of UK cross-country. It’s really special to race here. There’s an amazing crowd and they’ve done well to put it on. Hugo was the better athlete on the day but to finish second in a discipline which isn’t my forte is a good step in the right direction.”

“Out on the trails in SA I was mugged, held at knifepoint and being completely honest I thought I was going to get killed.”

A candid @TomEvansUltra opens up about his mugging in SA last year, his second placed finish at the London International Cross Country and UTMB goals in… pic.twitter.com/v5iUwxp5tE

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) January 20, 2024

Evans’ big target for 2024 is the UTMB at the end of the summer. But he’s enjoying his cross-country season and plans to run the Inter-Counties in Wollaton Park. It’s great to see him in good form, too, after his brutal mugging in South Africa last month.

“I was held at knifepoint,” he said. “If I’m being honest, I thought I was going to get killed.”

A number of cross-country legends were among the spectators, including Dave Bedford, Julian Goater, Liz Yelling and the recently retired Louise Damen and Andy Vernon. They will have been impressed with FitzGerald who once again stormed clear of her rivals with a dominant win.

The 17-year-old, who claimed Euro Cross gold last month, won by 69 seconds from Eliza Nicholson with Jess Bailey third. In the same race, Zara Redmond was the first under-17 woman home ahead of Georgia Bell and Lucy Wilkinson.

“Apparently the course isn’t as bad as it used to be but I thought the hill out there today was quite brutal,” said FitzGerald. “I felt good and was tiring toward the end but gave it all I had and was pleased to come away with the win again.”

As well as being part of the Cross Challenge series, the event incorporated the annual home nations international. FitzGerald led home the England team in the under-20 women’s race and an English runner triumphed in the under-20 men’s race too as James Dargan charged home five seconds ahead of England team-mate Quinn Miell-Ingram with Logan Beagley of Scotland a close third.

In the early races during the day there was a little confusion among athletes over the number of laps they were meant to run. In the women’s BUCS (British Universities and Colleges) race, for example, Beth Morley said: “I thought it was only two laps but then I managed to increase my lead on the surprise third lap.”

It didn’t affect the results, though, as Morley ran out winner by 41 seconds from Tia Wilson and Dani Chattenton. In doing so she earned selection for next month’s World University Championships in Oman. “I’d definitely like to do it,” she said. It’ll be a great experience.

Alex Melloy and runner-up Sam Mills also claimed selection for Oman in the men’s BUCS race as Rowan Miell-Ingram took third.

“It’s a great event,” Melloy enthused. “It was a very challenging course and we thought it would cut up badly with everyone running short laps but it’s held up quite well.”

As for going to Oman? “Absolutely, I’d like to do it,” he said. “It’s always be an ambition of mine to get back into a GB vest. I guess it’ll be a bit warmer than this and drier too.”

Elsewhere in the age group races, Alden Collier won a tussle with Iwan Thomas to take under-17 men’s victory with Harry Maxwell third.

Joe Scanes ran out an emphatic winner of the under-15 boys race ahead of the UK record-breaking teenager on the track, Evan Grime, as Archie Lane was third.

Olivia Forrest maintained her unbeaten record in the Cross Challenge this winter with another commanding victory, this time finishing 16 seconds ahead of Jorjia March with Ellarose Whitworth third.

Maisie Mullett also continued her recent fine form with under-13 girls victory ahead of Isabella Buchanan, as Craig Calver won the under-13 boys race from Aidan Wolpert.

Full results

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Milner and Donnelly reign supreme at inaugural London International Cross Country appeared first on AW.