Classy Cragg eager to leave injury problems behind

ALISTAIR CRAGG is relishing a testing return to the international track scene this month as he bids to put a bittersweet 2005 firmly behind him.

Cragg began last year in fantastic form, defeating Ethiopian star Kenenisa Bekele over 3,000 metres indoors before being crowned European Indoor champion over the same distance in Madrid last March.

The rest of the year was spent nursing a stress fracture in his lower back, however, and the South African-born runner missed almost the entire outdoor season, including the World Championships in Helsinki and was a late withdrawal from the Irish team for the European Cross Country Championships in Holland.

On Saturday though, Cragg will lead Ireland’s challenge in the Belfast International cross country event before returning to his base in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to prepare for the indoor season. He’ll tune up for his Reebok Boston Games clash with Australia’s Craig Mottram on January 28 with a race on his home track eight days before at the University of Arkansas’ Razorback Invitational.

“I’m going to try and be a little bit more cautious indoors this year,” Cragg said, mindful that the back injury developed on the tight curves of the indoor tracks. “Having said that, I can’t think I’m going to get injured every time I go out there and I like running indoors, but I’m aiming to have better form outdoors this year and my training is all geared around the outdoor season.

“The end of the year was obviously a big let down. I was ready for the race in Holland but it didn’t go well, I got an infection from blisters on my feet.”

The setback underlined the frustration Cragg has experienced since being crowned European Indoor champion. He had just recovered from the back problem and had run into form on the roads with encouraging runs in Arkansas and Connecticut.

“It’s one of those things. I guess the luck wasn’t in my court after March. I suppose I used it all up beforehand.”

Cragg considers his early season victory over Bekele a prime example of his good fortune. The Ethiopian was grieving for his teenage fiancée who had died after collapsing as they were on a training run together six weeks previously and then the world record holder at 5,000 and 10,000 miscounted the laps and eased down a circuit too soon to let in the Irish star.

“He was definitely having an off day,” Cragg said, “and I was lucky to have been there at that moment. He’s one of the best athletes there has ever been and what he did last year was so courageous after going through one of the worst things that could happen to anybody.”

While Bekele has been rebuilding his life on the track, Cragg has been recovering from his spinal injury at the University of Arkansas. Aside from his rehabilitation, he has been continuing his study for a marketing management degree and helping his coach John McDonnell as an assistant to the Razorbacks’ track team he served with such distinction from 2001 to 2004, landing seven NCAA titles.

“Life in Fayetteville is good and I can’t complain. I tried to get as much of my degree work done as I could while I had the injury and I’ve only got a handful of classes left to complete.

“I wouldn’t call what I do with the team coaching, but I help out and try to put something back into the team. It’s nice to be part of it still and it’s also been a nice diversion from the injury.”

Cragg has been spending some training time with Arkansas freshman and rising Irish junior star Colin Costello, whom McDonnell will keep out of the limelight until the teenager adjusts to American collegiate life.

“Colin’s here and it’s good to have him around,” Cragg said. “He’s adjusting very quickly and from what I can tell from the outside he’s really enjoying himself.”