Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter, and can include weather conditions of rain, sleet, snow or hail, and a wide range of temperatures.
World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics, it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships. It was an annual competition until 2011, when World Athletics changed it to a biennial event.
Sara Isabel Fonseca MoreiraComM is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. She represents Sporting CP at club level.
The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in 1987. Kenyan runners dominated the competition, taking all four individual titles and all four team titles at the competition. Kenyans took the top four spots in both junior men's and junior women's races to finish with a perfect team score.
The 2009 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that was held on 13 December 2009 near Dublin city, Fingal in Ireland. Dublin was selected as the host city in 2007 and the event was the first time that a major European athletics championships took place in Ireland. The six men's and women's races in the championship programme took place in Santry Demense on a looped course with flat and grassy ground. The 16th edition of the European Cross Country Championships featured 323 athletes from 30 nations.
The 2008 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 12 July in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany. Held by the European Athletic Association, the competition was held on an up- and downhill course in the Black Forest. The championships featured 227 athletes representing 25 nations.
The 2010 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 4 July in Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria. They were that year's area championships for mountain running, held by the European Athletic Association in conjunction with the Bulgarian Athletic Federation. The competition featured four races, with senior and junior races for both men and women. The 2010 competition featured an uphill–downhill course format. A total of 237 runners from 24 nations started the competition and two further nations were present as observers.
The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition held in Oeiras.
Andrew James Vernon is a British long-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metres, the 10,000 metres on track and cross country running. After the 2018 commonwealth games and started to concentrate on the roads winning Manchester Half Marathon with the aim of doing a full marathon in 2019. Vernon competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 10,000 metres. He has also competed in two Commonwealth Games, a World Indoor Championship and six World Cross Country Championships. Vernon is a two-time European Athletics Championship medallist and a Summer Universiade gold medallist. He currently competes for Aldershot, Farnham & District AC.
The 2011 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 10 July at Uludağ in Bursa, Turkey. They were that year's area championships for mountain running, held by the European Athletic Association in conjunction with the Turkish Athletic Federation. The competition featured four races, with senior and junior races for both men and women. A total of 221 runners from 26 nations started the competition.
The Women's marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held starting and finishing at Gukchae – bosang Memorial Park on 27 August. A total of 54 runners began the race and twenty three nations were represented.
The 2011 European Cross Country Championships was the 18th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Velenje, Slovenia on 11 December.
The 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was the 41st edition of the global championships in cross country running, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held in Guiyang, China on 28 March. It was the first time that the event was held in China, and the third occasion it took place in Asia. Senior and junior races were held for men and women, with the four races having both a team and individual element.
The 2012 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 7 July at Pamukkale in Denizli, Turkey. They were that year's area championships for mountain running, held by the European Athletic Association in conjunction with the Turkish Athletic Federation. The competition featured four races, with senior and junior races for both men and women. A total of 163 runners from 21 nations started the competition.
The 2013 European Cross Country Championships was the 20th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 8 December 2013. The senior individual winners were Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain and Sophie Duarte of France. A record 571 runners from 37 nations entered the competition, making it Serbia's largest international athletics event in over forty years.
Marie-Pierre Duros is a French former middle- and long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres. Her personal best of 8:38.97 minutes for the event is a former French record, which lasted from 1989 to 1999. She was a two-time Olympian and three times participant at the World Championships in Athletics.
The 2014 European Cross Country Championships was the 21st edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Samokov, Bulgaria, on 14 December 2014. The events were hosted at Borovets – a winter sports and ski resort in the Rila mountains.
The European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition between the European running clubs that are the reigning national champions for their country. It is often abbreviated to the name ECCC Cross Country. It is traditionally held on the first Sunday of February.
The 2016 African Cross Country Championships was the fourth edition of the international cross country running competition for African athletes organised by the Confederation of African Athletics. It was held on 12 March at the Yaounde Golf Club in Yaoundé, Cameroon – the first time a West African nation had hosted the event since its re-launch in 2011. There were four races on the program: 10 km for senior men, 8 km for senior women, 7 km for junior men and 5.5 km for junior women.
The 2019 Tokyo Marathon was the thirteenth edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo and was held on Sunday, 3 March. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the first World Marathon Majors event to be held that year. The men's race was won by Birhanu Legese in 2:04:48 hours while the women's race was won by Ruti Aga in 2:20:40.
