A fantastic fourth place run from Faye Fullerton in the Inter Counties Under 20 Championships race at Nottingham on Saturday brought her selection for the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin on 24-25 March.
Faye Fullerton's preparations through the winter season, which included running in the senior women's race in the Essex League, was to put her in shape to have a tilt at a place in the UK Under 20 team for the World Cross Country Championships. After a superb fourth place in the UK Trials, run in conjunction with the Inter Counties Championships race, she realised her aim.
Always to the fore in the red vest of Essex, Faye followed the fast pace of Glasgow's Colette Fagan, the pre-event hot favourite, and was one of a bunch of six who soon broke away from the field in the 6km race.
As the trio of eventual winner Louise Damen, Courtney Birch and runner-up Emma Ward broke away with the tiring Fagan, Faye dug in to stay in touch with the leading group. After Birch dropped out in the latter stages, Faye kept going and held on to come through to claim a fantastic fourth place.
Still only 16, and with three more years in the under 20 age group, the Coopers' sixth form student received confirmation of her selection for a place in the UK team in a phone call on Saturday night.
After the race Faye said "I was hoping for at least a top ten place so I'm really pleased to have finished fourth. After the first lap I knew I was in with a chance of a good position so I just held on. I'm really looking forward to running in Dublin and it will be good experience for me to run against the Kenyans and all the best junior runners in the world."
Earlier in the afternoon Debbie Sullivan had given her usual gutsy performance to place sixth in the senior women's trial. Starting cautiously in the 8 km (5 mile) event, the 29 year-old GB international from Collier Row soon worked her way through the field and sat in just behind the leading group of sisters-in-law Liz and Hayley Yelling, Midland champion Tara Krzywicki, and Angela Newport, and ahead of the chasing bunch. As the race unfolded and the field stretched out, Debbie clung onto her place among the leaders and was only just short of fifth, , as Cambridgeshire's Ellen Leggate got the better of her in the final stages to win a coveted World Championships place as the first five home, plus absentee Paula Radcliffe got to get the selector's call up. For Debbie there was little consolation as the selection as reserve means “so near, yet so far”..
Other HMAC ladies in action for Essex in the Inter County races at Nottingham were:
Under 13: 12th Megan Foley; 23rd Charlotte Watkins; 176th Robyn Matson.
Under 15: 17th Sara Luck
Under 17: 29th Lauren Deadman
Under 20: 61st Lydia Comley; 78th Helen Biscoe
Senior Women: 117th Nikki Barnett.
(added 10/2/01 & amended 12/02/01)
Faye Fullerton
