Merrien hopes to help team back onto the podium
THE Guernsey squad hope to draw upon Lee Merrien’s presence as they target a return to the Hampshire Cross-Country Championships podium this weekend.
The London 2012 Olympic marathoner features prominently among the 25 Sarnian seniors – 19 men and six women – who have entered the annual championships, held at Fairthorne Manor in the Southampton countryside.
But even he is quite impressed by the overall standard of his teammates, including club cross-country champion James Priest alongside several strong UK-based prospects like Alex Rowe and Dan Galpin.
‘On paper, it looks like the strongest team we have had for a number of years,’ Merrien said.
The significance of a team medal is apparent when looking at the Guernsey men’s record, developed during a long-running love affair with the annual championships.
Guernsey had made the podium without fail this century until 2020, the most recent edition.
They will be looking to address that 2020 disappointment and Merrien rates his chances of running as ‘reasonably good’, accepting that he is behind his best form of years gone by.
‘I will not be contending for victory or anything like that,’ the former Hampshire champion added.
‘I will be quite relaxed – probably the first race I have ever done like that.
‘It’s a team event, isn’t it? Hopefully I can contribute a bit.’
The senior men’s race takes place over 12km and the large squad also includes several quality veterans, with Merrien among those able to contribute to a separate ‘vets’ team competition.
Among the women, individual medalists Sarah Mercier and Jenny James are notable absentees.
Mercier had won senior silver and James followed shortly afterwards to clinch veteran gold last time out.
The 2020 cohort finished an agonising one point outside a team medal – so a podium will be very much in demand.
Whether Guernsey can accomplish this with a small and new-look team will depend heavily on the strength of the opposition.
Between the London-based Megan Chapple and Emma Etheredge, plus the proven form of Nix Petit, a new generation of runners look to take control of the Sarnian women’s challenge over 8.4km.
The usually bursting junior contingent has, however, dropped to a very modest four athletes due to amplified concerns surrounding Covid.
