Banchory Stonehaven AC’s Alisha Rees admits to being a little nervous about tackling her first race in close to a year when she runs in an elite-only indoor meeting at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena tomorrow.
Nevertheless, the Great Britain international remains confident she can get close to the Scottish women’s 60m record of 7.32secs she set last winter.
Rees, who is in her final year studying sociology at Loughborough University, will make the trip north in conformity with government guidelines for elite sport.
She said: “Everything is being done by following the regulations. I have elite athlete exemption from travel restrictions and I was given a Covid test on Monday and Thursday.
Keep the archive footage coming @scotathletics…😍Some more images from @Bobby_ThatOneMo to savour here, this time from 2017. Below is #bsac athlete @alisha_rees1 winning the women's 60m at the Scottish Indoor Senior Championships in January 2017 in a time of 7.51sec. https://t.co/9CQEYthwck pic.twitter.com/ntEQpH1Jkh
— BSAC (@BancStoneAC) January 21, 2021
“It’s really good that scottishathletics has been willing to put in all the hard work to give us a chance to compete because there are so few opportunities.
“It will be good to get a race but I’m a bit nervous after going a year without any competition.”
Rees won’t find out who she might be running against in Glasgow until she arrives and faces the possibility of being in a race featuring men and women.
She said: “I haven’t seen any start lists yet. It could be a mixed race which doesn’t bother me at all as it means there will be faster guys in it and it will be competitive.
“I am really looking forward to finding out where I’m at. My training has been going well and I feel I’m in at least as good shape as I was this time last year.
“I’d be happy to run a similar time to last season. I’m not necessarily looking to set a personal best in my first race, but it would be good if I did.
“It would be great to break my Scottish record, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Rees has also expressed an interest in chasing selection for next month’s European indoor championships in Poland, but admits the qualifying requirements might be tough to address.
She said: “The qualifying mark is 7.25 so I’d have to run faster than before. Also, I’m not sure how the team will be picked. There’s no trial race so maybe they’ll just go with the girls who have the times.”
Olympic and world championship relay medallist Dina Asher-Smith (Blackheath and Bromley) has already secured one of the three available places following her world-leading 7.08secs performance in Karlsruhe last weekend.
Fellow Olympian Asha Philip (Newham and Essex Beagles) also has the qualifying mark, having clocked 7.22 while Daryll Neita (Cambridge Harriers) is just outside the mark with 7.29.
Rees said: “It would be cool to go to the Euro indoors but it’s not my main goal for the year. I want to concentrate on more important events in the summer.”