UK NUMBER ONE FACES OLYMPIC AND EUROPEAN 1500M GOLD MEDALLISTS IN EDINBURGH

Tom Lancashire, the UK's top 1500m runner last summer, faces an awesome task when opening his schedule this year at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country on Saturday.

Lancashire, whose personal best of 3 mins 33.96secs at the Diamond League final in Brussels shot him to the top of the UK rankings for the first time ever, will compete in a loaded 4km race. Facing the 2008 Olympian will be Asbel Kiprop and Brimin Kipruto, who claimed the 1500m and 3000m steeplechase titles in Beijing, and another Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, winner of the 5000m silver medal in the "Bird's Nest" stadium. Lancashire, 25, will also go head-to-head with Spain's Arturo Casado, who finished ahead of him at the European Championships last summer in Barcelona, to the delight of the home fans. "It's going to be tough for him, particularly facing not only the reigning Olympic and European gold medallists, but also Kipruto and Kipchoge who are world class performers in their events," said Peter Riley, the meeting's elite athletes coordinator. "Tom clearly realises this but had no hesitation in returning to the Holyrood Park venue where last year he just lost out on a podium position, placing fourth. "He has matured and progressed brilliantly since then and I'm sure he'll give not only the overseas opposition a run for their money but the other Britons in the race." Ricky Stevenson, who scored the biggest win of his career 12 months ago against domestic-only opposition at the world's top cross country event, and Nick McCormick, a former two-time winner, also compete. Steve Vernon, a double UK 4km champion when the distance was part of the World Cross Country Championships schedule, also takes part. Ends Editors Notes Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country 2011- New format The Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country has changed its title for 2011 and was formerly known as the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country. The 2011 Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country will consist of 3 races, with a new International Team Challenge event. • Men’s short race: Britain’s number one in 2010, Tom Lancashire takes on the Olympic and European 1500m champions. • Women’s race: GB 2012 hopefuls go head - to- head against the World 5000 and 10000m champions in the best quality cross country in the world. • Men’s International Team Challenge: Mo Farah, double European champion, leads the GB team into action against the best of the USA and Europe in the inaugural International Team Challenge. Up against nine times European champion, Sergey Lebid, and a strong US team, can Farah lead the British team to victory? Each country competing in the International Team Challenge will consist of nine athletes per team and the first six athletes to complete the course will receive a score based on their position. The team with the lowest overall score wins. Entry into Holyrood Park is free for spectators and organisers are encouraging the public to take advantage of the opportunity to see the world’s best athletes compete, as well as the cream of young Scottish athletes on show within the main events and the Scottish Inter District Championships. The Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country completes an exciting day of running in Holyrood Park, which starts as hundreds of youngsters take part in the 2.5km Bupa Junior Great Winter Run followed by thousands runners of all abilities taking on the 5km Bupa Great Winter Run. Both events are part of the Bupa Great Run series, organised by Nova International, also organisers of the Bupa Great North Run and the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run. Nova International The Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country and Bupa Great Winter Run are brought to you by a partnership between the City of Edinburgh Council, EventScotland and event organisers Nova International and are sponsored by Bupa. Nova International, headed by Olympic medallist Brendan Foster, is one of the UK’s leading event management and sports marketing agencies. The company’s current brand portfolio also includes some of the biggest running events in the world all based on the Bupa Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon with over 54,000 entries. Nova International was established in 1988 and has a strong sporting pedigree. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nova has established itself as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. For more information please visit www.greatrun.org. Bupa Bupa’s purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives. A leading international healthcare provider, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare. With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing. Employing over 50,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America. For more information, visit www.bupa.com City of Edinburgh Council This event is part of the City of Edinburgh Council's Activcity programme, which promotes sport and physical activity events throughout the city. The Bupa Great Winter Run is a great example of an event which helps the people of Edinburgh to get active! www.eventsedinburgh.org.uk. Edinburgh's sporting calendar for 2011 is shaping up to be truly exhilarating, the Touch Rugby World Cup in June, the Nocture City Centre Cycle Race in July, and the Golden Oldies World Hockey the World Karate Championships in September just a taster of what is on offer. For more information, visit www.eventsedinburgh.org.uk. EventScotland EventScotland is the national events agency. EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org Active Scotland Notes • The year of Active Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative and is one of a series of focus years and a legacy from Homecoming Scotland 2009 , being delivered by EventScotland and VisitScotland, supported by sportscotland, NHS Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the National Trust for Scotland, as key strategic partners, beginning on the 1st January 2011 • VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland. For more information and the latest news visit www.visitscotland.org For more information on things to do during the year of Active Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com/active • EventScotland is the national events agency that promotes Scotland as the perfect stage. Through their portfolio of events they aim to encourage and inspire everyone to get active. For more information on events in the year of Active Scotland go to www.eventscotland.org

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