Canberra nurse Emily Ryan hopes she has finally broken her injury curse after a shock result at the Australian cross country trials earned her a guaranteed ticket to Uganda.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Ryan finished second in the women's open 10 kilometre race at Mt Stromlo on Sunday in an event that doubled as a cross country world championship qualifier.
The top three men and women's finishers won automatic selection for the world titles in Uganda in March while Canberra junior Callum McClusky won the boys' 8km race and is waiting for Australia selectors to tick off on his spot.
Former Canberra runner and Rio Olympian Brett Robinson won the men's race by just three seconds, beating training partner Stewart Mcsweyn across the line.
Ryan has only recently returned to Canberra after moving to Sydney to study at university. But the Calvary Hospital nurse has teamed up with marathon coaching guru Dick Telford for the best period of her running career.
"I didn't think I would run that well," a shocked Ryan said.
"I was hoping to get into the top half of the field, but not in the top two, so I'm stoked.
"I've had a couple of months of injuries [last year] and not being very consistent with my training. But I knew there were quite a few people who weren't running [at Mt Stromlo] who would probably get discretionary selection.
"So I knew if [I wanted to compete at the world championships] this was a good chance to get there.
"I had a stress fracture in my foot in August last year and some other problems. But that's about when I teamed up with Dick and I haven't had too many injury problems since then."
Robinson, who is also targeting a track world championship berth, continued his good form since making the 5000 metres final at the Olympics last year.
He led for most of the race and controlled the tempo but finished only just ahead of Mcsweyn on the Robert de Castella track at Mt Stromlo.
McClusky also had a tight finish in his 8km race, pipping Josh Phillips by just one second to cross the line first.
It puts McClusky in a good position to be picked in the team to race in Uganda, but his fate is in the hands of Athletics Australia selectors.
Ryan, 22, finished 36 seconds behind women's winner Anna Kelly. She will now focus on training with Telford before representing Australia for the first time in Kampala on March 26.
"This is the longest I've been consistent with training without breaking down and it's feeling good," Ryan said.
AT A GLANCE
Australian cross country trials: Open men's 10km - 1. Brett Robinson 29:42, 2. Stewart Mcsweyn 29:45, 3. Jack Rayner 29:53; Open women 10km - 1. Anna Kelly 35:07, 2. Emily Ryan 35:43, 3. Gemma Maini 35:58; Junior boys 8km - 1. Callum McClusky 25:30, 2. Josh Phillips 25:31, 3. David Lean 25:50; Junior girls 6km - 1. Lauren Ryan 21:39, 2. Courtney Hopkins 21:44, 3. Georgina Evans 22:08.
