"Relevant terrain" - a training area

The World Championships Middle Distance races are on Tuesday 6th July.

They are at Jizerské hory. It's tough mountain terrain with plenty of high cliffs, broken ground, and marsh at altitude 530 - 83om. The racing is on steep slopes with granite boulders and cliffs, and variable visibility. Runnability is also variable, from very good in mature beech forest, to significantly limited by the steepness of the slopes covered in uneven rocks, in some parts with fallen trees, high blueberries and thickets too.

The qualification races are from 8am UK-time. The final begins at 2:50pm (men start), with the TV broadcast starting at 3:20pm, ending about 7pm. The first 15 in each of three heats qualify for the final, plus some lower placed runners where they are the highest placed finisher from their country. British runners will assume they need to be in the first 15 of their heat to make the final.

Most countries, and that includes Britain, enter three men and women, and the team manager will elect one early, one middle and one late starter amongst the three. The expected winning time in the heats is 25 minutes. That's 3.5km + 200m climb for Women, 4km + 250m climb for men.

The British runners are: Alastair Thomas, Cat Taylor, Grace Molloy, Megan Carter-Davies, Peter Bray and Ralph Street.

Middle Qualification Start Times - Alastair is first into the forest.