Naomi Lang is chasing a place on the Great Britain team for both the world and European mountain running championships in 2022 – but hasn’t given up hope of also pulling on Scotland colours at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The 21-year-old Aberdeen AAC member is capable of producing high standards of performance regardless of the terrain under her feet and has proven herself on the track as well as on the trails.
She was due to make her Great Britain debut in the world mountain running championships at Chiang Mai, Thailand in February but the event has been pushed back to November because of continuing concerns about the pandemic.
Although disappointed to be missing what would have been an amazing experience, Lang is ready to bounce back.
She said: “I was sort of expecting the mountain running race to be cancelled and because of that there is to be another selection trial at some point in 2022.
“I can understand that has to happen,as by the time the championships come around it will have been about 16 months since the original team was picked.
“So, I’ll have another go at making the team as I really had fun doing the original trial and other hill races, and I’m keen to do more.
“There are also European mountain running championships next year, in either June or July. The trials for that are to be in Scotland, so that’s something else I can go for.”
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Very few mountain runners have the speed required to be successful on the track, but that’s not an issue for Lang who has picked up a series of titles at under-20 level in the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m.
In 2017 she competed for Scotland in the 3000m at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas where she finished 10th.
Lang’s best bet for a place on the Scotland track and field team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is in the 5,000m, although she admits it’s a bit of a long shot.
She said: “My best time is 16min 9.16secs while the qualifying standard is 15:46.86, so I’ve a fair chunk to take off my time. It’s also a very competitive event with lots of people in contention.
“So, I’m not putting any pressure on myself to do it.But it’s good to have that target in your head and if my training is going well at the time I’ll give it a bash.”
In the meantime Lang has another international assignment to fulfil as she’ll be competing for the Scotland under-23 side at the Celtic Nations cross country match in Northern Ireland next month.
She said: “I’m enjoying the cross country season and looking forward to the race in Northern Ireland as it seems as though Scotland will have a strong team.
“I’m planning to do a full cross country season and that includes the Scottish inter district championships one week before the international. Then I’ve a bit of a break from racing until the national championships at Falkirk towards the end of February.”
Zoey in the mix for Emirates
Olympic Games 4x400m relay runner Zoey Clark is the top Aberdeen name listed for next weekend’s Scottish indoor open meeting at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.
The Great Britain international is to compete in only a handful of races during the indoor season as she prefers to focus on a busy summer campaign in which there’s world and European championships to target, as well as the Commonwealth Games.
She said: “Since the summer my training has been really good. I’ve enjoyed getting back into it and I think it’s going well. As I’m really focussing on peaking for the outdoor season, there’s going to be less emphasis on the indoors.
“So, I’ve done less speed work than I’d normally have done by this stage and I’m going to have a condensed indoor season. All I’ve got planned at the moment is the Scottish open and the Scottish championships, both in January.
“I’ve entered the 60m and 200m but whether I do the shorter sprints hasn’t been finalised yet. I’d also like to run a one-off 400m, probably towards the end of January, and we are speaking with scottishathletics about a possible race.”
Clark could line up against her clubmate Jane Davidson in the 60m in Glasgow on Saturday. Davidson is also to compete in the 60m hurdles.
Another Aberdeen AAC runner taking part is Kai Crawford who will be aiming for a fast run in the under-20 men’s 800m in which his rivals include clubmate Lewis Watt.
The programme of events for senior athletes has been curtailed as government restrictions do not allow for races longer than 200m for those aged 18 and over. As these races cannot be run in lanes, they are deemed to be potentially ‘contact sports’ which are not currently allowed indoors. Under-18’s are,however, permitted to compete in these events.
