World Trials and Inter-Counties - report 2 (2011)
CHARLOTTE PURDUE WINS HER FIRST SENIOR CROSS TITLE (March 2011)
Charlotte Purdue (27:29), who won the 'Under 15' Inter-Counties event in 2005 and the National 'Under 20' Championships at Alton Towers this year, was a comfortable winner of the Senior World Trials and Inter-Counties at Croften Park writes Alastair Aitken
Running for Hampshire, the winning team, her victory was just as impressive as her Aldershot & Farnham clubmate Emilia Gorecka in the 'Under 20' race. Gorecka had won the Inter-Counties Under 20, Under 15 and Under 13 previously.
Hatti Dean (27:59) was a good second in the senior race, the same place as she was only two weeks before in the 'National' in completely different conditions and Naomi Taschimowitz (28:02) the Trinity College, Cambridge student was third.
Certainly for over half of the Senior Women's race Julia Bleasdale (28:21) was in contention and Gemma Steel (28:08) was not far away either.
CHARLOTTE PURDUE
Charlotte Purdue felt it was definitely a special victory for her and, would talk to Mike Woods about what her plans regarding the Summer. "He is a great coach all the way" she remarked and after being held sometime in the cold by Sky Television she went off for a warm down jog.
HATTI DEAN
Hatti Dean won the World Long course Trial in 2006 in 28:52 from Lizzie Hall and Kate Ramsey.
She was 2nd in the National and 2nd in the World Trial this year in different conditions!
" It was quite different. A very different race because of the ground really. Obviously the National was tough the whole way. To-day it was hard in a different way.It was a really fast pace from 3k.Once Charlie pulled away I had to be really close to her.'
Hatti Dean loves cross-country even though she is a good steeplechaser.
' I love cross-country I had always said that I am not a track runner. I still say that!'.
I thought that it must be more tense for her running in big cross-countries as she wants to do so well because it is the thing she likes doing most?
" What makes me tense is if I am racing against people I should beat, where as with the World cross you would be different because it would be going out and doing the best you can as you are racing against the best in the World so, it is less nerve racking than the Worlds Trials where you want to beat people from two weeks ago.'
Obviously with the track you have got the clock as well. You just run your best."
There are races that have meant so much to Hatti Dean and I suppose winning the National cross-country must have meant an awful lot to her? (Parliament Hill Fields 2009 1 Hatti Dean (Hallamshire H) 29:34; 2 Sara Tunstall 29:44; 3 Sonia Sammuels 30.00)
" I did not realise it would mean so much. It was lovely to win that kind of race because Sara Tunstall was second. She was about 30 metres behind me the whole time. I never dropped her. She never went back. She always was that far behind form about the whole of the second half of the race. The atmosphere was just amazing. I just felt when you win a race and you have done your best it is amazing. Sometimes you run the best race and come 2nd, 3rd or 10th. When you win a race and you think, you have had an amazing race and run your heart out. That is really rare. I found that in that National, knowing I had had such a good race was amazing. "
NAOMI TSCHIMOWITZ
How did that compare with her victory in the Southern at Parliament Hill Fields?
" Probably a better run and a harder run. I was trying to keep my eyes forward rather than behind as there were so many girls piling up behind. I got quite a bad start really and so I was placed early on in a pack of 10 to 15 of us then two or three broke off and I managed to take off with them . I was in third place at the start of the last lap and I tried to hold that."'
How about the Summer for her
"For the track hopefully I will do 5k's"