Bayliss steeled for Ironman Florida

Aberdeenshire athlete Bella Bayliss goes for her sixth win in eight years in this weekend’s Ironman Florida triathlon at Panama City.

The Tarland woman hopes to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to finish last month’s Ironman world championships in Hawaii by tackling her favourite American race.

Bayliss said: “My husband Stephen and I came straight to Panama City from Hawaii and things have been going well. We are very happy here as it has everything we need for training.

“I feel good coming into this event. I am hungry and determined to have a great race. I made sure I recovered from Hawaii fast, both mentally and physically.”

Bayliss faces some tough opposition, led by Germany’s Nina Kraft and American Heather Gollnick.

But the Scottish woman has the credentials to add another title to her already impressive list of achievements over the Ironman distance which features a 2.4-mile open water swim followed by 112 miles of cycling and a 26.2-mile marathon run. Baylisss won the Ironman UK title three times and has taken the Ironman Lanzarote title twice.

Earlier this year she set a career best time of 8hr 50min 13sec when winning the Ironman Austria race.

The Scottish universities cross-country championships will be held in Inverness for the first time this month.

The University of the Highland and Islands Millennium Institute will host the event which is one of the oldest competitions on the Scottish athletics fixture list.

A number of Scotland’s leading young distance runners will take part in the event on Saturday, November 21.

Former European junior 1500m champion Morag Maclarty (Dundee) is the women’s holder, while Conor McNulty (Strathclyde) won the men’s race last year.

Stirling has won the right to host the 2010 British universities and colleges cross-country championships.

The event, one of Britain’s biggest athletics meetings, will take place on February 6 and is expected to attract almost 2,000 competitors.

It is the second year in a row Scotland has been awarded the championships although this year’s event, scheduled to take place at Aberdeen University’s Balgownie playing fields, was controversially cancelled at the last minute.