Athletics News: Given his frustrating end to 2005 it's no surprise that Alistair Cragg is so determined to get a new year of running off the ground as quickly as possible. Yesterday Cragg was announced as a late addition to Saturday's Belfast International Cross Country, and a week later he'll be in Edinburgh to compete in the Great Winter Cross County, writes Ian O'Riordan
The organisers of the Belfast event admitted they were a little surprised when Cragg accepted their offer to compete at such late notice.
It has meant a hastily arranged trip from his US base in Arkansas, but clearly Cragg was particularly keen to get over his last disappointment of the past year, when illness forced his late withdrawal from the European Cross Country on December 11th.
Originally Cragg was planning a slower build-up to the new season. However, his decision to run in Belfast suggests his training progressed well over Christmas.
Missing the European event was heartbreaking as it came after a summer track season ruined by a lower-back injury, leaving his European Indoor success over 3,000 metres in March as one of the few positive memories of the year.
Saturday's race in Belfast seems as good a place as any to start, with a competitive but not overly daunting field assembled for the 9km trip around Stormont Estate.
Among those lining up alongside Cragg will be last year's winner, Dathan Ritzenhein of the US, as well as Barnabas Kosgei of Kenya and Samson Kilfemariam of Eritrea.
Cragg will need a good test before he races in Edinburgh on Saturday week, where the all-star line-up includes Olympic and twice world 10,000-metre champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, Eritrean Zersenay Tadesse, six-time European champion Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine, and two-time world steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar.
Sonia O'Sullivan, meanwhile, will also run in Edinburgh after travelling this past weekend from her Australian base, where her training has reportedly gone very well.
O'Sullivan got her latest season off to an encouraging start by finishing fourth in a half-marathon in Japan last month, clocking 71:50.
For Cragg, racing in Belfast also presents a rare chance to display his talents in front of a home crowd.
Since declaring for Ireland from South Africa four years ago, his only race on home soil was at the national track-and-field championships in Santry in 2004, where he easily won the 5,000 metres.
Joining him in Stormont will be national cross-county champions Gary Murray of Donegal and Jolene Byrne of Dublin, and if Cragg can even come close to his best form, he can become the first Irishman to win the senior race in Belfast since David Taylor (at Mallusk) in 1983.
