Endurance experts lined up for Seminar on eve of World Cross in Edinburgh The Organising Committee of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships,
being held in Edinburgh next month, has confirmed details of a unique and
exclusive Endurance Seminar to be held on the eve of the Championship
weekend. A panel of experts from the endurance running world – including Irish
national hero John Treacy, Scottish legends Ian Stewart and Liz McColgan and
English duo Wendy Sly and Alan Storey – will join together on Friday 28th
March from 7-9pm to provide an insight into their experience and success.
“An Evening With…” will be presented at Edinburgh’s Royal College of
Surgeons in front of a capacity audience of athletics coaches and endurance
enthusiasts.
Treacy, who took the silver medal in the 1984 Olympic Marathon in Los
Angeles was a bronze medallist in the junior event on two occasions before
becoming double World Cross Country Champion winning his first title at
Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park in 1978, then retaining his crown in Limerick
the following year. Today, he is considered to be one of Ireland’s most
successful athletes of all time.
Distance legends Ian Stewart and Liz McColgan will join Treacy, adding a
distinct Scottish flavour to the evening. Stewart – regarded as one of
Scotland’s greatest ever male athletes – won 5000m gold at the 1970
Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in one of the most famous races run on
Scottish soil, defeating countryman Ian McCafferty and Kenyan Olympic
Champion Kipchoge Keino and recording the second fastest time in history.
Olympic bronze followed in Munich in 1972, adding to European titles on the
track indoors and out. Stewart’s pedigree over the country was confirmed
when he won the World title in Rabat, Morocco in 1975, only a week after
winning European Indoor 3000m gold in Katowice, Poland.
McColgan is proudly remembered for her achievements on road, track and
country. As a twenty two year old, she won gold in the 10000m in front of
her home crowd at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in a new British
record, signalling the start of an incredible career. Retaining her
Commonwealth Crown in Victoria in 1990, she went on to achieve on a global
scale. Silver in the 1988 Seoul Olympics was followed by a bronze in the
1991 World Cross Country Championships, only four months after having given
birth to her first child. McColgan went on to win gold in Tokyo at the World
Championships in 1991 with a performance hailed as “the greatest performance
by a British distance runner” by BBC commentator Brendan Foster. In addition
to World Best performances on the road, McColgan won a number of the Major
Global Marathons including London, New York and Tokyo.
Wendy Sly, Olympic and Commonwealth silver medallist over 3000m will fly
into Edinburgh for the Championships and specifically for the seminar. Sly,
a UK Athletics Athlete Mentor, won gold at the 1983 European 10000m (road)
Championships and is a former National Cross Country Champion.
UK Athletics Senior Performance Manager for Endurance, Alan Storey,
completes the panel. Storey, who has coached athletes to Olympic level is
largely recognised for his coaching input to multiple World and European
track champion and former Olympic 5000m silver medallist, Sonia O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan won both the short and long course titles at the 1998 World Cross
Country Championships in Marrakesh. Storey also coached 1984 Olympic 10000m
silver medallist Mike McLeod.
The evening will be hosted by the renowned Cross Country Commentator,
leading endurance coach, and Director of Athletics at Birmingham University,
Bud Baldaro.
This seminar is free of charge, however entry will be strictly by ticket
only on a first come first served basis. The capacity for this event is 150
and 50 Priority tickets have been reserved for members of scottishathletics.
A light buffet will be served from 6pm ahead of a 7pm start.
To register for your ticket, contact Ewen Cameron at scottishathletics:
[email protected] or the booking hotline on 0131 476 7327. A
contact number and email address must be supplied for confirmation and
tickets to be sent.
(from AAI website)
