Vernon targets top five in Edinburgh

The 32-year-old finished fourth at the Antrim International last week and is joined by Ben Connor and Alex Teuten in a British team of nine in the men's senior race.

Emelia Gorecka, who won this race in 2015, is named in the women's squad by British Athletics alongside Jess Judd and Harriet Knowles-Jones.

Double European Indoor champion Laura Muir headlines the 4x1000m mixed relay team alongside Alex Bell, Adam Clarke and Tom Marshall.

The team competition will pit Britain against Team Europe and Team USA at Edinburgh's Holyrood Park and Vernon is expecting a big crowd in the Scottish capital.

"It is hard to say what my expectations for the race are; I don't know what form the Americans are in. But top five would be good for me I think," he said.

"It is a challenging technical course. You always have to be tactically astute at this one especially when it gets around to the last lap – if you are going for the win, positioning with 400m to go is crucial.

"The crowd are amazing; the whole way round they cheer you on so that is always a nice thing to come back to.

"If I get the opportunity to race here, I will always do it. It is always a key race in my training block in the first half of the year; I always enjoy it."

The British Athletics team for the Great Edinburgh XCountry:

Senior Women: Katie Bingle (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham & District) Philippa Bowden (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham & District) Louise Damen (self-coached, Winchester) Emelia Gorecka (Chris Thompson, Aldershot Farnham & District) Jess Judd (Mick Judd, Chelmsford) Harriet Knowles-Jones (Paul Roden, Warrington) Phoebe Law (Mick Woods, Kingston & Poly) Mhairi MacLennan (John Lees, Inverness) Verity Ockenden (Tony Houchin, Swansea)

Senior Men: Ben Connor (Steve Vernon, Stockport) Patrick Dever (Andy Bibby, Preston) Nick Goolab (Craig Winrow, Belgrave) Andrew Heyes (Steve Vernon, Hallamshire) Mahamed Mahamed (Peter Haynes, Southampton) Jack Martin (David Turnbull, Stockport) Chris Olley (Mark Hookway, Tonbridge) Alex Teuten (Roderick Lock, Southampton) Andy Vernon (Nic Bideau, Aldershot Farnham & District)

Senior Mixed Relay: Alex Bell (Andrew Henderson, Pudsey & Bramley) Adam Clarke (Geoff Watkin, Aldershot Farnham & District) Tom Marshall (James Thie, Cardiff AC) Laura Muir (Andy Young, Dundee Hawkhill)

U20 Women: Phoebe Barker (Richard Owen, Tonbridge) Niamh Brown (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham & District) Cari Hughes (Andrew Walling, Swansea) Khahisa Mhlanga (Mick Judd, Chelmsford) Eloise Walker (John Lees, Edinburgh) Erin Wallace (Dudley Walker, Giffnock North)

U20 Men: Jake Heyward (James Thie, Cardiff) Ricky Lutakome (Nick Hancock, Sutton & District) Tom Mortimer (Christopher Brown, Stroud) Hugh Sadler (David Bedwell, Bristol & West) Lachlan Wellington (Vince Stamp, City of Portsmouth) Mathew Willis (Self-coached, Wrexham)

Sportsbeat 2017