ADAM Craig, the favourite for the Babcock 10k Series, swept to a majestic victory in Saturday’s National Cross-Country Championships in Falkirk.

He was away from the record field after 800 metres of the undulating 10km course and powered home almost a minute ahead of his closest challenger.

Winner of last year’s Babcock Shettleston 10k, Calum McKenzie was fourth and past winner of the Babcock Helensburgh 10k, Derek Hawkins showed he was on his way back to fitness in sixth.

Series regulars Lachlan Oates from Shettleston, Craig Ruddy who won in Helensburgh last year and American, Mike Deason were 9th, 19th and 26th respectively.

This year’s Babcock Series is shaping up to be the best on record with a much higher calibre of athlete at the front end than ever before.

There is still time to grab the Valentine’s special offer of £5 off individual race entries, reducing the cost from £19.50 and £21.50 to £14.50 and £16.50. The series entry remains at £43 and £49 for all three races.

There are more than £6,000 in prizes on offer for leading finishers, age group winners and teams, as well as dozens of spot prizes throughout the field. For full details visit Babcock10kseries.co.uk and to enter visit entrycentral.com.

Elsewhere, Katie White, the winner of the ladies’ Helensburgh race in last year’s Babcock 10K Series, continues her training guide for runners – at all levels – who are preparing for the 2019 event in May.

On Saturday this week try to complete a park run (www.parkrun.org.uk) – a 5k timed run.

Try to run the whole distance and only walk if you really need to. Remember not to start too fast, it is better to start slowly and gradually increase your pace if you can.

If you can’t attend a par krun then try and run 5k by yourself and record how long it takes you.

This will be useful to see your progress in a few weeks when you will repeat this run.

Beginners, week 4: Monday - rest; Tuesday - 3 mins easy run, 1 min faster run, 1 min walk x6; Wednesday -rest; Thursday - 10 min run, 1 min walk x3; Friday - rest; Saturday - Parkrun; Sunday - rest.

Intermediate, week 4: Monday - rest; Tuesday - 6x4 min with 2 min rec; Wednesday - rest; Thursday - 6 miles; Friday - rest; Saturday - Parkrun; Sunday - 9 miles.

Advanced, week 4: Monday - rest; Tuesday - 8x4 min with 2 min rec; Wednesday - 1 hour steady; Thursday - 6 miles; Friday - rest; Saturday - Parkrun; Sun - 10 miles.