Athletics: Scot struggles to ninth in Holyrood event

Twell did have the distraction of collecting the trophy for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who took the overall team contest with 144 points to the 196 of the USA and 215 for the European Select.

But, worryingly, the Aldershot-based runner, who won bronze for Scotland in the 1500 metres in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, appears to be not yet back to the sort of fitness to challenge for a place in the London 2012 Olympics following a horrific triple ankle fracture suffered last year.

However, there were a number of extremely promising performances on the day from young Scots who may not be quite ready for London but could be challenging for places in Glasgow 2014.

Twell started well in the senior women’s 6k race and was in the leading four for the first of the three laps. But when European champion Fionnuala Britton of Ireland decided to open up at the start of the second, which was 20 seconds faster than the first, Twell was unable to respond and dropped back, eventually finishing ninth.

“It was a poor run,” said her coach Mick Woods, who refused to accept that the heavy, wet ground had been a factor.

“It was wet in Belgium and she ran much better there,” he added, referring to a race she had before Christmas.

By contrast, Twell’s 2010 Delhi team-mate Freya Murray, who is preparing for her first marathon in London in April, came through strongly and for a time held third place before fading slightly to fifth.

Both Twell and Murray are due to leave tomorrow for a month’s altitude training in Kenya along with Glasgow’s Beth Potter, who easily won the women’s Inter-District race yesterday.

“I was disappointed not to hold on to third but overall I’m pleased,” said Murray, who will defend her Scottish cross country title in Falkirk next month before heading for Boulder, Colorado, for another stint of altitude training under the supervision of her coach Steve Jones before her London debut.

Britton meanwhile completed an impressive victory well clear of her only challenger, Britain’s Gemma Steel, who had been third behind her in Slovenia.

But why were Potter and the Inter-District women relegated to an early morning run (9.55am start) when she and several more, including her runner-up Emily Stewart (Edinburgh AC), were clearly capable of running with the Elite field in the televised race?

Because television wanted a “clean race”, I was told. Emily Stewart’s younger sister Louisa was another to make her point, finishing third Briton in ninth place in the junior race, just beating Laura Muir, the only Scot in the team and three more of the official GB selection.

But, at 16, the Mary Erskine schoolgirl has time on her side.

The best local junior man Ross Matheson (Lasswade) did not even get a race, a muddle over selection leaving him training on Arthur’s Seat while the event went on.

The men’s European champion Atelaw Bekele of Belgian was beaten in the senior men’s 8k race by the man he beat for the title, Ayad Lamdassem of Spain, who pounced with 200 metres to go of the twisting, muddy circuit to win by three seconds from Bobby Mack (USA). Mack nipped past Bekele for second on the line, with the first British athlete Frank Tickner back in fifth place.

The more famous Bekele of Ethiopa struggled home 11th in the men’s 3k race won impressively by another 2008 Olympic champion, 1500m victor Asbel Kiprop of Kenya.

But Bekele did not seem too concerned. “I’m sure by the time of the Olympics you’ll see a very different Bekele,” he said.

“If I’d run too well today I wouldn’t have enough energy by the time of London.”

Kiprop cruised home five seconds clear of surprise runner-up Britain’s Jonny Hay, with previous winner Eliud Chipchoge of Kenya third, just shading Spaniard Juan Carlos Higuero with a pack of young Brits, including Scotland’s Callum Hawkins.