Liz Lynch Is Trying to Make a Name for Herself : Scottish Cross-Country Runner Is Looking Ahead to the World Championships

Behind Liz Lynch’s calm exterior is a star yearning to get out.

The runner-up in last month’s World Cross-Country Championships and a strong medal prospect for the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Rome this summer, the 22-year-old Scot is tired of being known as “Liz who?”

“When I won the Commonwealth (Games) 10,000 meters last year, people were saying, ‘Where did she come from?’ ” Lynch recalled. “People don’t realize I have been around for quite a few years.”

Having pushed favored Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway into third place in the World Cross-Country Championships at Warsaw and, with impressive performances in road races in the United States this winter, she could earn some of the recognition she is craving.

“Warsaw was a bonus because I was not training for cross-country and I would have been happy to finish around sixth. But I am certainly looking for a medal in Rome,” she said.

Appearing considerably younger than her 22 years probably doesn’t help Lynch’s cause. Nor, in Europe at least, did spending three winters at the University of Alabama, skipping the cross-country season to concentrate on training in a warmer climate.

But Lynch believes that coming from the sporting backwater of northeast Scotland has been her major obstacle.

“In Dundee, we have probably one track meet a year, whereas in London, for example, there are several to choose from,” she said. “I have spent hours on the phone trying to get races. People also think of me as being a marathon runner. But I can go down to 800s and 1,500s.”

Huddled in gloves, scarf and a weather-proof jogging suit in rain-lashed Dundee, Lynch said that at Alabama, “We just ran in shorts every day. We never had to put track suits on.”

Her schedule also was busier.

“I was doubling and tripling up races. I had the chances to run any distance I liked. The danger there was getting too sharp too soon,” Lynch said.

Her experiences at Alabama ended last May when it was disclosed she had been paid to run in a road race, making her ineligible for further college competition.

“It was very valuable experience for me and I was glad to get the competition, but it meant long seasons,” she said. “We started running in January in the United States, then went right through the British season without a break.”

Lynch thinks her good performances over the past year were the result of hard work over the previous 10 years.

She has been running competitively since being picked for the school cross-country team at age 11 and has continued to win without getting much acclaim.

Her major disappointment last year came in the European Championships at Stuttgart, West Germany, where she finished seventh in the 10,000 meters.

She attributed that to a last-minute change of plan by the British team selectors.

“I was only due to run the 3,000 meters (in which she finished 12th) and had trained for that distance. But after we got there, I was told I was to run in the 10,000 meters as well,” she said. “Mentally, I did not want to run the race. I was not competitive, and it was as if I was just going through the motions.”

Lynch has not worked out her schedule for this summer’s meets. But, apart from the World Championships, beginning in late August, one date stands out in her mind--Oct. 3.

That’s when she marries Northern Ireland steeplechaser Peter McColgan.

But, this summer, she wants the world to get to know Liz Lynch, before she becomes Mrs. McColgan.