Central AC will fly flag at Euro Clubs Cross in Lisbon

Thursday 2nd December 2021

Andy Butchart and Jamie Crowe racing at Liverpool and their high finishes (second and third) helped Central AC win Euro Clubs trial (photo by Mark Shearman)

European Athletics website

Central AC will represent British Athletics at the Euro Clubs Cross Country Champs in Portugal next year.

The Scottish National Relay champions defeated their counterparts from Wales and England at the trial at the British Cross Challenge event in Liverpool.

Now the squad superb led by coach Derek Easton will head to Lisbon and race on Sunday 6 February.

Central recorded 24 points at Sefton Park with Andy Butchart and Jamie Crowe second and third in the race. Backing them up were Tom Graham-Marr and Luca Fanottoli with good runs.

Rivals Shaftesbury Barnet and Cardiff both tallied 28 points.

European Athletics announced last month that, after a three-year hiatus, the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country returns to the international calendar in 2022 and Europe’s top distance running clubs will do battle in Oeiras, in the suburbs of Lisbon.

The circuit for the Cup, in the Jamor National Sports Complex, already has a place in European athletics history as it was here that the 1997 European Cross Country Championships was staged.

It remains to be seen if double Olympian Butchart will be available for Central AC but, regardless of personnel, the Scottish hopes will expect to be competitive.

Intriguingly, the event also has a Mixed Relay so maybe there will be a place for Morag Millar.

Around 350 runners from more than 20 countries are expected to contest the five races at the 2022 Cup.

? Central AC ?? Euro Club Champs

? Strong runs from Butchart (2), Crowe (3), Graham-Marr (52), Fanottoli (81), Phillip (101), Hickey (106) and Colley (145th) sealed team victory ?over Cardiff and Shaftesbury Barnet at the Liverpool Cross! pic.twitter.com/7rfreP5JQ5

— Central Athletics Club (@Central_AC) November 28, 2021