Club member Angus Smith represented Scotland’s U23’s for the 2nd time in 2025, placing ninth at the Liverpool British Cross Challenge on Saturday.
Finishing 20 positions higher than last year, his credible performance comes a fortnight after a top ten finish in the senior men’s Lindsays National Short Course championships at Lanark racecourse.
Smith from Inverness was content with his performance, though acknowledged that he still has room for improvement.
“I went into it thinking I’m in shape for a top 10 which maybe puts in contention for the GB team.
“So, getting 10th was solid but not exciting as little off the team”.
The athlete has made considerable progress this year across multiple distances, becoming Scottish 5000m champion, as well as placing 3rd at the Edinburgh Half Marathon in 67:28 and 4th at the Baxter’s River Ness 10k in 29:37.
The Sefton Park venue sees U23 athletes start together with the senior men, however the younger runners completed two laps instead of 3 running a total distance of 5.5km.
Smith went into the race with the intention of starting hard, though admitted he was surprised to see himself take an early lead.
“I had decided to get out hard then accidentally found myself leading the race after getting a good line on a corner.
“I would say I had a controlled regression before a pick–up with 500m to go.”
Smith was one of four runners donning a Scotland vest and was only 17 seconds behind 7th place National Short Course Champion Finlay Ross Davie, while Jack Patton was 20th and Sam Griffin in 31st.
The athlete coached by Ross Cairns has been pleased with his training and will swap the mud for the road in the coming weeks.
“Generally training has been good with increased mileage and strong threshold sessions.
“Going forward I am looking to PB at Telford 10km in 3 weeks, then Armagh 5k in Feb”.
The runner combines his training whilst being manager at the fitness store Interval located in Easter Road and occasionally can be seen wearing the brand’s vest at local races.
Whether Smith will swap his Corstorphine or Interval vest for a GB one in the future remains to be seen, however his performances in Scotland are only generating more respect and traction.
Write up by Telfer Gray