Australian World Cross Country team arrive in Poland

By Sonia O'Sullivan

The Australian World cross country team arrived in Poland just as it was getting dark last evening. I went for a walk with Team Coach Tim O’Shaughnessy to find our bearings, however everything looked completely different in the morning, apart from the Miejski stadium landmark next to our appropriately named “Maraton” hotel.

 

We are within 2km of the course, so we took the opportunity to get a preview of the surface conditions before the official viewing on Saturday afternoon.

 

There are forests galore along the route to the Forest park, it is tempting to go exploring but needless to say all the athletes are cautiously sticking to the basic route and conserving all energy for Sunday.

 

Even though the course was not fully set up yet we were able to get a good idea of what it will look like on Sunday morning. Amazingly the course has a very similar outline to the course used in Brimbank park for the Australian selection trial. The only differences are the rough underfoot conditions and a couple of jumps that will need to be negotiated on each lap . The basic lap is 2Km, so there is plenty of opportunity for spectators to see the progress of the athletes on each lap. Even though the course is very flat with a couple of minor elevations I would consider this World cross country course to be very challenging for the athletes.

 

Already the spike length discussions are taking place but we will not make a final decision until Sunday morning when we know the conditions that the athletes will be faced with.

 

Bydgoszcz is a very pleasant town and it was even more pleasant today as we visited the town by tram with bright Sunshine and unseasonal temperatures above 20C. It is likely to be sunny and dry again tomorrow which will dry out the course a lot, but there is every possibility that the conditions we experienced on the course today will all change come Sunday if the forecasted rain comes our way on Saturday and Sunday.

 

We are sharing the Hotel with the Kenyan team so we are in good company, only problem being the speed that the bananas vanish when they are brought to the table. I may have to get up early tomorrow to ensure we have a supply for the weekend. Other than that the food is good, the team is happy and relaxed and the reality of the World Championship is fast approaching as we see the posters around town and more teams are starting to arrive.