The present as well as the future is likely to be on the minds of Juraj Vitko and Katarina Beresova when they bid for glory in the Slovakian Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
The competition is taking place at the Elements Resort in Samorin, a new sports centre close to the capital of Bratislava.
The course they will be running on is similar to the one which is part of Samorin’s bid to host the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2017.
For now, marathon runners Vitko and Beresova will be determined to secure their spots for this year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Hyères on 13 December.
But by the time of the event in France in just over five weeks, they will know whether they will be future hosts.
Samorin and Dublin are the two candidates for the 2017 championships and the decision will be made by the European Athletics Council at its meeting in Frankfurt held on 9-10 November.
On Saturday, places will also be at stake for Hyères when Bulgaria and Serbia stage their national cross country championships while on Sunday, Macedonia have their event.
Ireland’s trials for Hyères take place at the end of the month and their captain from Samokov 11 months ago has returned to fitness and form at just the right time.
Annmarie McGlynn was the skipper as Ireland won team bronze in the senior race in Bulgaria and after being injured this year, she triumphed in the 8km (29:24) at their Autumn Open Cross Country at Phoenix Park in Dublin last month.