| Chiba International Cross Country | |
|---|---|
 The races are held in the Showa Forest near Chiba. | |
| Date | Mid-February |
| Location | Chiba, Japan  |
| Event type | Cross country |
| Distance | 12 km and 4 km for men 6 km for women 8 km junior men 5 km junior women |
| Established | 1966 |
The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan, in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. [1]
Contents
Initiated in 1966, [2] the Chiba Cross Country is held in Showa-No-Mori Park and features a competition schedule of eight races. [3] These include a senior men's long course (12 km), a senior women's course (6 km), and a senior men's short course (4 km). Furthermore, there are three races for junior athletes which are of shorter distances, as well as two 3 km races for high school runners. [4]
Four of the races act as qualifiers for the World Cross Country Championship: the men's 12 km and the women's 6 km allow athletes to enter the senior world competition while the junior men's 8 km and junior women's 5 km enable runners to qualify for the junior section of the championships. [5] The competition is one of three in which Japanese athletes can qualify for the World Championships; the others being the annual Fukuoka International Cross Country and the biennial Asian Cross Country Championships. [6]
Over a thousand runners compete at the meeting each year, although the attendance record set in 1991 featured nearly twice as many participants. [2] A select number of international athletes are invited to compete each year, although the majority of the field typically comprise a mix of Japanese runners and Japan-based Kenyan athletes. [4] Previous winners include Olympic gold medallists Samuel Wanjiru and Derartu Tulu, eight-time European cross country champion Serhiy Lebid, and Tegla Loroupe – twice winner of the New York City Marathon. [2]
The competition is televised on the NHK BS-1 channel by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, the country's public broadcaster. [7] After the International Chiba Ekiden, the Chiba International Cross Country is the prefecture's premier athletics event. [8]
The Chiba International Cross Country has also hosted the Asian Cross Country Championship race on two occasions (1995, 1997). [2]
