By 
AFTER winning the Irish under-23 Cross-Country Championship crown for the first time in his career, Nick Griggs has set his sights on achieving the same feat at European level.
The Newmills runner has finished third once and second twice at under-20 and under-23 level at the European Cross-Country Championships where, later this month, he is determined to add the missing medal to his collection.
“The main aim for me was to go and secure the top under-23 spot to get on the plane for European’s,” he said.
“I still haven’t got the Euro Cross title and do you know what, I really, really, really want it.
“Last year I wanted to win but I definitely didn’t do as much visualisation as I have this year. Every day, that’s all I’m trying to picture on all my runs – how I’m going to win this race. I can’t wait for it, I’m really excited for it and I’m really confident in my ability.
“I’m going to go out there on the day and try to be mentally and physically as well prepared as I can to be completely on it on the day so I can come away with the gold medal.”
And the 20-year-old, who suffered a near career-ending knee issue when finishing second to Will Barnicoat for the second year in a row in Turkey last season, by the tiniest of margins yet again, would appear to be in top form ahead of his trip to Portugal where, on December 14th, he is confident of finally getting his hands on a European gold medal, particularly after his performance at Derry’s Templemore Sports Complex last weekend.
Up until Sunday, November 23rd, Griggs would have said he was better suited to firmer under-foot conditions when it came to cross-country racing, rather than the sodden quagmire he and his fellow competitors faced during the Irish Championships.
But the Ireland international shone in the Derry rain, going toe-to-toe with Irish 5000m record holder Brian Fay and Cormac Dalton in the men’s senior race, finishing seconds, just two seconds behind the former and one ahead of the latter in 25.15 minutes to also claim the under-23 title by 24 seconds from Jonas Stafford in the process, ensuring Candour Track Club won the senior men’s team title on the day too for a medal treble.
“I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t win [the senior men’s title], but I’m always going to think like that because that’s how all athletes are,” he added.
“Going into it I knew I had the ability to win the senior race as well, but you never know what’s going to happen in a cross-country race and the conditions were pretty hard.
“It was muddy, damp, windy, everything you could imagine so I tried to put that out of my head and sometimes when I have ran poorly in the mud it’s been down to a lack of fitness but I’m starting to realise now, I’m actually not that bad in it.
“It’s a lot about the mindset you go in with, so I tried to ignore it because you can only race the course you’re given and if you go out there and your legs are sapped in the mud on the day then so be it. Luckily enough [in Derry] I ended up feeling really, really good during the race and that’s why I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t manage to get the win.
“But if you’re going to lose to anyone it might as well be the Irish record holder over 5K!”
As well as seeking individual glory in Portugal in a couple of week’s time, Griggs is also confident Ireland can claim the under-23 men’s team title to add to the gold they won at under-20 level in Belgium two years ago.
Joining Nick in The Algarve are Jonas Stafford (UCD AC), Niall Murphy (Ennis Track AC), Callum Morgan (Candour Track Club) and Lughaidh Mallon (UCD AC), who he feels can collect enough points for glory on the day.
“We’ve got a strong team,” he acknowledged.
“We’ve got a good opportunity and we’ll all go out there to run the best we can and hopefully that’s enough for us to medal team wise.
“it’s all about who can run the best on the day and who can step up. Two years ago we won the team gold and honestly, I thought we’d be hard pressed to win a medal but two of our lads stepped up and came ninth and tenth and we ended up winning.
“So it’s all about focusing on yourself, your own race and if you run a great race all of a sudden you’ve won team gold, so if we all focus individually we shouldn’t be too far off team wise.”
