Laura Muir goes cross country to Rio

Laura Muir starts her road to Rio across the familiar mud and hills of Cumbernauld at the Scottish National Cross-Country Relays tomorrow.

Laura Muir: Taking part in National Cross Country Relays

It is an eagerly-awaited fixture on the athletics calendar in Scotland with this year’s entry featuring a record 536 teams and athletes.

For British 1500m gold medallist Muir, it marks the start of a winter season and is her first race since the World Championships in Beijing. She hopes it will give her the ideal preparation for next year’s Olympics in Rio. Muir races for Glasgow University Hares and Hounds on these occasions and in the past few years has used Cumbernauld and the National 4K Champs at Bellahouston in Glasgow in early November ahead of an indoor track campaign.

“Laura has started off really well in her training programme following a break after the World Champs,” said coach Andy Young. “We like to do a bit of cross country at this time of year and the National XC Relays is a good event.”