 Farah finished second in last year's European Cross Country |
Britain's Mo Farah has indicated his intention to compete at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Dublin on 13 December. After winning Sunday's Great South Run in Portsmouth, Farah spoke of his desire to compete in Ireland. "My aim is to go to Kenya tomorrow and train with the (Kenyan) boys at 8000 feet and get ready for the European Cross Country," said Farah. Reigning champion Sergei Lebid will defend his title at the Santry venue. The Ukrainian pipped Farah to win the gold in last year's championship in Brussels. Current European Indoor 3,000m champion Farah is spending five weeks in Kenya at altitude in preparation for the Dublin venue. "That's the next big step when I compete in Ireland and until then it's a case of staying injury free and focused," Farah said. Farah will be part of a strong Great Britain team with the final squad to be confirmed after the UK Athletics (UKA) trials in Liverpool on 28 November. UK Athletics Head of Endurance Ian Stewart believes the Irish conditions will suit the British team. "The Santry Demesne course is a typical British Cross Country Course but it is all weather dependent," said Stewart. "With rain it will be tough but our team will be used to those conditions." Irish hopes in the men's event will be led by Martin Fagan, who finished seventh two years ago. Fagan recently won the Boston Half-Marathon in the US in an impressive 62 minutes and 21 seconds and looks to be rounding into form after an injury-affected period. Spain's 3000m steeplechase world champion Marta Dominguez has confirmed that she will race in the women's event in Dublin.
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