Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘It’s probably the most fun I’ve had on a cross country course’: Megan Keith reflects on European Under-23 Championships silver medal

Megan Keith. Image: Bobby Gavin
Megan Keith. Image: Bobby Gavin

Inverness athlete Megan Keith may be gunning for straight As in her university exams this week, but in Italy on Sunday, the GB international excelled in quite a different test.

Representing Great Britain at the European Under-23 Cross Country Championships in Italy, the 20-year-old claimed her second international medal in two years, adding to her triumph at the European Under-20 Cross Country Championships in Ireland last year.

Indeed, almost exactly a year after that success, Keith defied even her own expectations to gain a silver in Turin behind home favourite, Nadia Battocletti – and may have a chance of going one better when these championships come around again in Brussels next year.

The achievement marks a continued progression in what is becoming a hugely promising career for the Edinburgh University student.

Keith has long been a cross country competitor, having donned the Inverness Harriers vest on various courses since she was a ten-year-old, and her perseverance is now paying hefty dividends.

A blossoming reputation

At district level, Keith did enjoy her fair share of victories as a teenager, gradually whittling down her parkrun times, but was not until 2019 that she made her major breakthrough on the national scene when she won the Scottish National Cross Country Championships.

Since then, her burgeoning reputation has seen her cast her ambitions beyond winning national titles, with international accolades now firmly realistic targets for the sports science student.

Having competed in cross country since she was a child, however, Keith does not quite see her success in recent years as a particularly major leap – rather, each success has simply been a stepping stone to the next.

Great Britain’s Megan Keith celebrates winning the women’s U20 European race in 2021. Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire.

She said: “To me it’s all happened as a progression. There’s not been a moment where I suddenly thought ‘woah, I really levelled up’.

“I’ve always been taking it step by step, but to onlookers outwith my circle, it looks like a crazy progression. To me, it’s felt pretty natural.”

An unusual course hit the right note

Keith had not come into the weekend’s championships with any particular expectations of a medal, but that soon changed in the early stages of the race as she gradually sussed out her opponents.

“On the first lap, we were running at a decent pace, but I felt comfortable and I realised the girls who were around me – apart from Nadiya – were breathing pretty heavily.

“From that point, I felt pretty confident that I was comfy and that if the pace then picked up, there would be girls dropping off and I’d be in with a chance. So I felt pretty confident as I was running in the early stages, but these things are never a given until the end.”

The course itself was nothing if not unorthodox, with part of the course passing through a museum containing carriages and grand pianos. These innovations were not for everyone though, and it took Keith some time before she was won over.

She said: “My reflection is different to what I thought initially. When I walked round, I’m not going to lie, I was not a big fan of the course.

“I thought the steep sections were so steep and we were all struggling to get up them. It turns out when you have more momentum on your side, they were actually easier to contend with.

“I thought with the combination of the steepness of the inclines and running indoors, they were trying a bit hard for it to be gimmicky – but it was actually incredible.

“It’s probably the most fun I’ve had yet on a cross-country course. It was always changing. There was never a part where you were getting bored because you were about to either throw yourself up a steep hill, or down it, or through a museum. You always had something to keep you entertained, so I really, really enjoyed it.”

There was not too much time for Keith to enjoy her success on the 7.6km route, however.

As soon as she was off the podium, it was straight to the anti-doping centre and onwards to the airport where, incidentally, members of the security staff were rather impressed by her chunky silver medal and pot plant.

“(The airport staff) took a bit of a look at it and I think they were quite impressed. I also had my pot plant I won, so there were more people enjoying looking at that than the medals. But there were a few nice comments in the airport.”

With one gruelling test down, Keith will have to tackle a few more before she settles down for Christmas in Inverness. With two more exams to sit this week – this, after strictly prohibiting herself from taking any revision to Italy – Keith will ensure her academic commitments are fulfilled before perhaps allowing herself a chance to look back on another outstanding year.

Banchory fun run

Meanwhile, the Banchory Boxing Day Fun Run takes place on December 26 at 11am.

Registration at the Guide Lodge from 10.30am. Entry fee is £2.

This is a non-competitive family-friendly event and the run is open to all.