QUALIFYING for the world junior cross-country championships is a goal four of Athletics Bendigo Region's rising stars will chase on Friday evening.
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The talented foursome of Harrison Boyd, Angus Macafee, Jayden Padgham and Logan Tickell will race in the under-20 class at the national selection trials in Canberra.
An 8km showdown will be run on Robert de Castella Track, aka Deek's Track, in Stromlo Forest from 6.15pm.
The team-mates with Bendigo Bats in cross-country action have put in many hours of training.
Top six in Friday's final will be in the running, but not assured of a place in Australia's team to contest the world titles in Belgrade's Park of Friendship in Serbia on March 30.
Boyd and Padgham have mixed their focus on the XC titles and track racing in recent months.
Both will contest the open 1600m at the 50th Bendigo International Madison carnival on the Labor Day holiday weekend of March 9-10 at Tom Flood Sports Centre.
Before the March 10 track duel on home turf, Boyd and Padgham will be among a field of 40 in Friday's cross-country race in the national capital.
A key part of their training was the Falls Creek training camp across late December and early January.
"It was my third time at Falls," Boyd said.
"Training is incredibly tough, but there's also a lot of time to recover," he said of building endurance for the cross-country and track seasons.
Training at altitude is a way to build anaerobic fitness through shorter, high-intensity drills.
"A big test in any race is lactic build-up," said Boyd.
Racing at nationals is a feat Padgham has done several times on the track and also cross-country.
In 2022 he and Boyd won silver and gold in the under-18 6km at the Australian XC titles run at Oakbank in South Australia.
Padgham's dedication to training is helped along by his Bats' team-mates.
"The mateship of the group and motivating one another is great.
"We are all working incredibly hard to keep running fast and enjoy doing what we do."
