Intercounty Championships, Cofton Park, Birmingham - 13/03/2010

Birmingham's Cofton Park was the setting for the Intercounties Cross Country in conjunction with the World Cross Country trials. The televised event attracted over 4000 runners all selected to represent their counties.

Emma and Oonagh, running for Scotland East in the Under 15 Girls 4K race were part of a six-strong girl's team taken from the top 7 runners at the National Cross Country Championships which acted as a selection race. Despite this, the Intercounties proved a tough challenge for all of the girls, as they coped with the pressure of declarations, penned starts and 300 other runners to jostle for positions as the race unfolded.

Emma who had not raced since mid February due to a virus, found her health not back to normal and struggled to keep pace with the runners she normally keep company with. She finished in a disappointing 87th place, over a minute adrift where she should have completed the race.

Oonagh in her first Intercounties, coped well with the pressure of the event and in finishing in 124th place she moved herself up from 6th selected athlete to 5th finisher for the East team which was pleasing.

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