Athletics: Africans unfazed by the slippery slopes during capital races

With the snow casting a glaze over the slopes of Arthur's Seat yesterday, the natural attire was presumed to be thermals and sturdy boots to cope with winter's latest flurry.

• Home hero: Britain's Mo Farah was first in the international team race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country. Photograph: Esme Allen

But cross-country runners are an inherently tougher breed, a fondness for mud and relentless climbs woven into their peculiar DNA. A few centimetres of the white stuff in Holyrood Park added extra spice to the usual challenge presented by the Bupa Great Edinburgh International, the litany of world-class Africans on unfamiliar terrain.

Even Mo Farah, Britain's finest distance runner, had to acclimatise after avoiding most of this winter's meteorological extremes with a prolonged stint at Iten in the mountains of Kenya. Back to business, his double European triumph on the track of last summer was now mere history. Charged with leading the hosts in the international team challenge against the United States and a select European line-up, the Londoner brilliantly held up his end of the bargain with an individual victory. As a signal of intent headed into 2011, it was all that he could ask for.

Introduced for the first time as a means to refresh the now traditional New Year event, the four-team challenge had attracted strength in depth from overseas. Farah aside, the senior British side was bogged down as Europe, led by Ayed Lamdassam's third-place finish, headed the overall points table while Galen Rupp, the runner-up, propelled the USA to second ahead of Team GB.

"It's a lot harder here than in Kenya," Farah declared. "The slopes were really slippy and it was hard to stay on your feet but it was the same for everyone. It was different from being in Iten at 8,000 feet." However his spell there, he affirmed, had given him the endurance required to choose his own tactics.

"I started off kind of slow and stayed in a group. I knew Galen would be strong, as would Sergiy Lebid. I wanted to stay with them for the first couple of laps and then wind up. That was the plan. As soon as we went up the hill, I pushed it to get a gap. On the second lap, I opened it up and that's where I managed to get away."

Farah will now head to New Mexico this week for a further stint of altitude training but remains undecided on whether to compete in March's European Indoor Championships in Paris. "I'd love to defend my title but we'll see how it goes," he said. "I really want to give it (my] all in Daegu because it's all about worlds. It's very hard to peak twice in one year so I'll have to talk to my coach."

Steph Twell will follow in Farah's wake to Kenya this week for a first-ever spell of altitude training and she hopes it will deliver the edge she requires to realise her promise. Scotland's Commonwealth Games bronze medallist took some downtime after Delhi to recharge the batteries and, shorn of her customary regime, she failed to produce a sustained challenge and ended up in seventh place.

"I was a bit disappointed but I know I'm not quite where I was at this time last year," she said. "I'm still getting mileage under my belt. There's nothing too much wrong. I'm using this as a stepping stone. I've got three weeks in Kenya now and then I'll come back for the world cross trials."

Instead, it was her prodigious young training partner Charlotte Purdue who led the domestic assault but the European junior champion could not break Africa's hegemony despite a late burst which took her past Hattie Dean into fourth. "She really stepped up here to be among that quality of field," said Twell in praise.

Kenya's Linet Masai controlled the pace from the front and was rewarded with victory for the second time in three years on this course. "I wasn't very confident because my rivals are so strong," she declared. Her fears were mis-placed. Breaking the tape of the six-kilometre race in 20:24, she was a full 12 seconds in front of Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia with Vivian Cheriuyot out-sprinted in the home straight.

Glasgow's Beth Potter was a creditable 15th, mere seconds behind European cross champion Jessica Augusto.

In the elite men's four-kilometre race, Kenya duly captured the first three spots. For a while, Steve Vernon played the part of interloper but the Stockport Harrier was compelled to settle for fourth.

At the front, Eliud Kipchoge would not be beaten. He seized control by gliding down Haggis Knowe as if on skis and then skated away to triumph by six seconds over his compatriot Asbel Kiprop. "In Kenya we don't have this kind of challenge with the cold and snow," he grinned. "But my aim was to maintain the pace and that's what I did."

Vernon out-paced Tom Lancashire for British bragging rights and a personal boost.

"I wanted to be on the podium," said the Englishman, "but when you're a British athlete up against the Kenyans, fourth is almost like finishing first. I caught them on the last hill but their track speed just killed me."