Aberdeen University student Tom Graham-Marr will cap what has been an exceptionally successful year when he pulls on a Scotland vest for the first time on Saturday.
The 20-year-old third year psychology undergraduate is to compete for the national under-23 team in the Great Britain European championship trials at Liverpool’s Sefton Park.
He earned his call-up after finishing 15th in the senior men’s 4k race at the Scottish short course championships at Lanark racecourse earlier in the month.
Graham-Marr admits he wasn’t expecting the international selectors to be knocking on his door but he’s looking forward to the experience.
He said: “I didn’t see it coming, it was a real surprise. But I’ve improved quite a bit over the past couple of years since Michael Wright started coaching me.
“Obviously it’s my first Scotland vest so it will be a new experience. The under-23’s are in the same race as the seniors at Liverpool so it will be a big field and I’ll just try to run as well as I can. I have no specific expectations. But, I’ll learn from it and hopefully I’ll qualify for this race again next year when I’ll be aiming to place higher.”
Graham-Marr helped his home club, Central AC, win the team title at Lanark when he secured the fourth and final scoring position, holding off a strong challenge from his clubmate, former Commonwealth Games 1500m runner Ali Hay.
His team-mates were Olympic Games 5,000m finalist Andy Butchart, Scottish cross country champion Jamie Crowe, and fellow Scotland international Ben MacMillan.
Graham-Marr said: “I’m very lucky to be part of this club as there is so much talent there and it’s great to have guys like Butchart around. I was really pleased to be part of the winning team at Lanark along with these guys.
“In Aberdeen I train mainly on my own although sometimes I link up with some of the local guys and I use the track at ASV.”
After the Liverpool match Graham-Marr will turn his attention to a couple of other major cross country races in early 2022.
He said: “I’ll be aiming for a good run at the Inter District championships in January and at the national championships in February.”
Although admitting to being primarily a cross country runner at the moment, Graham-Marr also enjoyed success on the track last summer, setting personal best times for 1500m, 3,000m and 5,000m.
The highlight came in the Scottish championships at Grangemouth in August when he clocked 14min 34.55sec to pick up the bronze medal behind his clubmates Crowe and Hay.
He said: “I was very happy with that and hopefully next summer I can run faster. I’ll be focusing mainly on 5,000m although I’ll probably do a few 1500’s as well.”
Looking to the future Graham-Marr hopes to advance his athletics career in America.
He said: “After I graduate from Aberdeen I’d like to get a scholarship but I need to talk with some of the universities over there to see if they’ll take me.”
Third place finish for Ferguson at Camperdown Park
Aberdeen AAC’s Michael Ferguson produced a strong run to finish third behind Olympic Games athlete Andy Butchart and his Central AC teammate Jamie Crowe in the East District cross country league meeting at Dundee’s Camperdown park.
Butchart cruised to victory, covering the 9.6k course in 29:50, with Crowe runner-up in 30:03 and Ferguson next to finish in 31:12.
Aberdeen took third spot in the team competition, the other scorers being Sam Griffin (16th), Fearghas Thomson (19th), Eoghan MacNamara (26th), Thomas Hudson (29th) and Steven Murray (32nd).
There was a team victory for Aberdeen AAC at under-15 level thanks to fine performances from Rhys Crawford (third), Thomas Reynolds (5th) and Oscar Chirnside (11th).
Aberdeen AAC’s Hannah Cameron did well to take second position behind Scotland international Morag Millar (Central AC) in the senior women’s race and there was more success for the city club in the younger age divisions.
Hannah Taylor (seventh), Aimee Tawse (18th) and Grace MacDonald (20th) joined forces to take third position in the combined under-17 and under-15 league while the under-11 team of Emily Taylor (second), Katy Rae (sixth) and Rachel Gove (15th) won their division.
Banchory Stonehaven AC’s Harry Cook battled well to finish second in the under-11 boys’ race in which Aberdeen AAC’s Struan Mckay was fifth and Ross Arris ninth.