AFTER PROVING herself the undisputed best in Europe it’s only natural that Fionnuala Britton should test herself against the best in Africa – and that task comes in the form of Sunday’s Seville International Cross Country.
Among those lined up to take on Britton are the Kenyans Vivian Cheruiyot and Linet Masai, the two best women distance runners in the world. Cheruiyot is the reigning World Cross Country champion, plus the 5,000-10,000 metres double gold medallist from the World Championships in Daegu and Masai is the 2009 World 10,000 metres champion, and three-time runner-up in the World Cross Country Championships.
“Well, it’s nice not being the athlete to beat this time,” says Britton, who is actually unbeaten in her last four races, most recently the Great Edinburgh Cross Country last Saturday.
“I suppose I’ll be chasing them, instead of being chased. Obviously it will be harder as well. Cheruiyot and Masai are two of the very best, but hopefully I can stick with them for a while anyway, and certainly try to beat them. That’s always the aim, to beat everyone in the race.
“We all know the Africans are the hardest to beat, but if you want to be the best you have to take them on. Hopefully, it’s more realistic for me now, but I’ve never believed it wasn’t possible to compete with them. There’s no point in running if you don’t believe that.”
What is certain is that Britton has so far captured the spotlight of this cross-country season, thanks mainly to her European triumph in Slovenia last month, plus her runaway victory in Edinburgh last Saturday.
Although not necessarily shy about all the publicity, she’s certainly coy about it, knowing that in athletics you really are only as good as your last race, especially in this country.
She did a full round of interviews in Dublin yesterday, mainly to kill all us birds with the one stone, and also launch the 2012 Great Ireland Run (set for April 15th).
Still, such media attention is something she would rather do without, especially when she sees her recent success as nothing more than natural progression.
“Lucky enough most of this media and TV stuff comes after the race. In some ways I don’t like it, no, but then the whole point with running is to win, and if you’re winning then the attention is part of it, so that’s nice too.
“But people don’t always remember what you’ve done before. For me, it’s not just been these past few months. It’s all the years before. Like this was my ninth time running the European Cross Country, including junior and under-23 races, so that’s a long time to learn from your mistakes.
“So really this season has been a combination of the last 10 years of training, and also staying healthy this year, doing the right things. There’s no secret. It’s what I’ve been aiming at for a long time. Hopefully, all this will pay off on the track later this year as well.”
Indeed Britton knows as well as anyone that the ultimate goal and test for 2012 is the London Olympics, and having realised her track potential is no longer the steeplechase, but the 10,000 metres that remains the true focus of the months ahead.
“All these races are really just part of training right now. It’s all endurance work anyway, building up to the track. Because there’s no World Cross Country this year there is no one big race. So it’s really about building through this period,” said Briton.
“I’ve never run a 10,000 metres on the track. I suppose the distance should suit me, but then again it is 25 laps. I can’t even imagine that right now. I’ve done a few 5,000 metres so that seems more realistic right now. But the track season is not that far off. I know the training is all building towards the track, but I haven’t thought about it too much.”
In many ways it has been a long, hard road, as she reminded us. Britton finished 98th in the 2001 the World Cross Country junior race, in Belgium, yet believes that was all part of the learning process.
“I think that’s why it’s so important to send junior teams to these events. You do get experience. People say it could turn you off, but if you’re going to stop you’re going to stop. But it can also motivate you to improve.
“I had huge room for improvement, and actually the next year finished 72nd. That still wasn’t very great, but I was improving, and got experience that you just won’t get any other way.
“I had another disappointment in the 2008 World Cross Country in Edinburgh (finishing 36th), having finished 14th the year before. It was just one of those days when it didn’t happen. But I suppose 2008 and even 2009 I was on and off. I also got a stress facture in late 2008, missed the European Cross Country, and that took a long time to get over.
“But there was never a moment I didn’t want to run. I love running, so that was never the issue. I suppose it was more about what went on around running, like studying, or looking for work.
“Right now it’s easier for me to justify being a full-time athlete. I still struggle with that a little bit, and don’t like the idea of doing nothing except for running.
“But at least it’s easier now than it was in other years, when there is some success. But I never once thought about giving it up.”
