Reigning English National cross-country champion is looking forward to the new London International this weekend but has half an eye on a half-marathon debut eight days later

Sarah Astin hopes to use this weekends London International Cross Country as a springboard to the Seville Half Marathon on January 28.

The Spanish race will be her first serious attempt at 13.1 miles, although she will be giving her all at Parliament Hill on Saturday (Jan 20) in an attempt to earn selection for the World Cross Country Championships on March 30.

Im going to give it a go! she says. The line up will be stacked as there are a lot of girls who are able to win that race. Thats what makes it exciting though. Racing the top girls is always fun.

It looks likely to be her last chance to make the World Cross team, too, due to work commitments ruling out the UK Inter-Counties at Wollaton Park on March 9.

Aston won the English National title last winter at Bolesworth Castle near Chester. She finished 18^th in the Euro Cross trial in Liverpool last month but feels she improves during the winter after some races and often hits better form after Christmas.

Originally from the Isle of Man, she moved to London to study and also enjoyed a spell in the United States before settling in Hampton, where she works as a fundraising and events manager for Club Peloton and does much of her training around Bushy Park. It means travelling to Parliament Hill is a short trip for her and shes hoping for a number of friends to be cheering her on.

They include her boyfriend Alex Dunbar a 2:33 marathoner who had to have open heart surgery two years ago after discovering he had a leaky valve. Back running now, he joins Astin for some of her training runs.

Im looking forward to racing at Parliament Hill as my first breakthrough race at uni was probably the National Cross in 2015 when I was third, the Belgrave Harrier, who is sponsored by Hoka, says.

When I won the National last year it was great but if it had been at Parliament Hill then it wouldve been a very different experience. I would have had more friends and family there watching in London whereas winning at Chester it meant I just had to do a long-ish journey home after the race.

Beyond this winter, she is aiming to run well at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in May. After turning 30 recently she feels a marathon debut is coming, too, probably in 2025. Lets see how Seville goes first, though! she adds.