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 3–12 kilometres (1.9–7.5 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.
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe,, often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.
Climate change is impacting the environment and human population of the United Kingdom (UK). The country's climate is becoming warmer, with drier summers and wetter winters. The frequency and intensity of storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves is increasing, and sea level rise is impacting coastal areas. The UK is also a contributor to climate change, having emitted more greenhouse gas per person than the world average. Climate change is having economic impacts on the UK and presents risks to human health and ecosystems.
Olivia Frances Blake-Dagnall is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam since 2019.
Saracens Women (/ˈsærəsənz/) are an English women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London. They were established in 1989 and currently play in Premiership Women's Rugby, the top-level competition of women's rugby in the country.
Bethany Jane Mead is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal and the England national team. A creative and prolific forward, she has all-time most assists and all-time second-most goal contributions in the WSL. Joint with Vivianne Miedema, she is the first player to reach a combined total of 100 goals and assists in the WSL. At UEFA Women's Euro 2022, she became the Golden Boot winner, Player of the Tournament, and top assist provider, leading England to win a major tournament for the first time. Later that year, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first women's footballer to win the prestigious award; and finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and UEFA Player of the Year.
Jake Wightman is a British middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb Coe's 1500 m title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. At the European Athletics Championships, Wightman earned a bronze in 2018 and a silver for the 800 metres in 2022. He won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Extinction Rebellion is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Extinction Rebellion was established in Stroud in May 2018 by Gail Bradbrook, Simon Bramwell, Roger Hallam, Stuart Basden, along with six other co-founders from the campaign group Rising Up!
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The president of the conference was UK cabinet minister Alok Sharma. Delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the third meeting of the parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement, and the 16th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP16).
Animal Rising is a British animal activist movement with the stated aim of compelling social change towards animal rights and a plant-based food system. They justify their actions with the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown.
Carla Suzanne Denyer is a British politician who has served as co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongside Adrian Ramsay since 2021 and as the Member of Parliament for Bristol Central since 2024.
Sophia Kianni is an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and climate activist. She is the founder and president of Climate Cardinals, a nonprofit offering climate change information in multiple languages, serves on the EPA's National Youth Advisory Council, and as an advisor to the United Nations. She is the youngest United Nations advisor in US history.
Aliza Ayaz is an international climate activist, business and sustainability consultant and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. She jointly won the United Kingdom Youth Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability Award at University College London (UCL), and has spoken at United Nations, London International Model United Nations, and UK Parliamentary events. She is a member of the National Youth Council Pakistan. She is known for setting up the Climate Action Society at UCL which helped inspire UK-wide youth action against climate change, leading to the climate emergency declaration at the UK Parliament. In October 2020 she was appointed as the United Nations youth ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG13), the second Pakistani student after Malala Yousafzai to have received this honour.
Clara Evans is a British long-distance runner who has represented Great Britain at international competitions including the 2024 Summer Olympics and Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Mock Cop26 was a two-week online conference attended by 350 youth delegates from 141 countries held in late November 2020. During the conference a treaty with 18 policies was developed. At the end of the conference the treaty was presented to the UK's High Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping.
Dominique Palmer FRSA is a British climate justice activist and student. She spoke at 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and began her activism as one of the U.K's leading U.K environmentalists and youth activists in the School Strike for Climate Movement.
Joshua Amponsem is a Ghanaian climate advocate and a co-founder of Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO). He is the climate specialist at the Office of the UN Secretary General's Envoy on Youth. He is the Lead Author of Adapt for Our Future, the first-ever research paper on the role of youth in advancing climate adaptation. His career has been more focused on grassroots climate and waste management solutions while advancing youth engagement in resilience building, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation at the international level.
Innes FitzGerald is a British track and field athlete and cross country runner. She is the 2023 European Cross Country U20 champion.
Racquel Moses is a Global Ambassador for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Chief Executive Officer for the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA). Moses has represented the region at COP26-28, presenting a climate scorecard for rating the status and progress of countries at COP26 and a climate smart map for the Caribbean region at COP28.
Damian Hall is a British ultrarunner, author and activist.
