Cross Country Running – The Ultimate Guide for Runners of All Levels

Introduction

Cross country running is a dynamic sport that combines endurance, strategy, and the challenge of unpredictable terrains. Known for its rich history and the natural beauty of its courses, cross-country running appeals to athletes looking to test their limits while connecting with nature.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about cross-country running, from its origins and benefits to tips for beginners and advanced runners.

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.

Cross country running is one of the disciplines under the umbrella sport of athletics and is a natural-terrain version of long-distance track and road running. Although open-air running competitions are prehistoric, the rules and traditions of cross country racing emerged in Britain. The English championship became the first national competition in 1876, and the International Cross Country Championships was held for the first time in 1903. Since 1973, the foremost elite competition has been the World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

The highest level circuit of professional cross country competition is the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold level, administered by World Athletics since 2021.

Course design of Cross Country Running

While a course may include natural or artificial obstacles, cross country courses support continuous running, and do not require climbing over high barriers, through deep ditches, or fighting through the underbrush, as do military-style assault courses.

A course at least 5 metres (5.5 yd) full allows competitors to pass others during the race. Clear markings keep competitors from making wrong turns, and spectators from interfering with the competition. Markings may include tape or ribbon on both sides of the course, chalk or paint on the ground, or cones. Some classes use colored flags to indicate directions: red flags for left turns, yellow flags for right turns, and blue flags to continue straight or stay within ten feet of the flag. Courses also commonly include distance markings, usually at each kilometer or each mile.

The course should have 400 to 1,200 m (440 to 1,310 yd) of level terrain before the first turn, to reduce contact and congestion at the start. However, many courses at smaller competitions have their first turn after a much shorter distance. The course should also have a corral or chute after the finish line to facilitate the recording of finishing positions.

Cross-country running is an endurance sport in which runners race over natural terrain. Courses often include grass, mud, woodland trails, and hills, making each race unique. Competitors usually run in groups, aiming to achieve their personal best times or to support their teams in competitions.

Training Tips for Cross Country Running

Training for cross-country running requires a mix of endurance, speed, and strength.

• Build Endurance Gradually: Start with manageable distances and gradually increase the intensity.
• Hill Workouts: Running uphill and downhill strengthens your legs and prepares you for typical course challenges.
• Strength Training: Incorporate exercises like squats and lunges to improve your stability and leg strength.
• Practice on Varied Terrain: Simulate race conditions by training on grass, mud, or trails.

Brief History of Cross Country Running

The sport dates back to the early 19th century, gaining popularity in England before becoming a recognized international sport. It was even featured in the Olympics in the early 20th century, contributing to its global appeal.

In 1819, boys at Shrewsbury School asked their headmaster, Dr Butler, if they could form a fox-hunting club, and he refused. The boys therefore formed an alternative club where instead of riding horses and chasing hounds they ran across country, with a small number of boys starting first to simulate the prey, and the rest following after an interval as though they were the chasing pack of dogs.

Thus the terminology of hunting with dogs became associated with cross country running, with the leaders being called the hares, and the chasing pack the hounds. The hares carried a sack of paper scraps that they dropped to simulate their scent and provide a trail for the hounds to follow, and this sport was called paper chasing, or Hare and Hounds. Becoming popular at the school by 1831 it had become part of the curriculum, with several courses of different lengths. The original course of a little more than three miles was over some land owned by a farmer called Tuck, and is to this day known simply as Tucks.

These boys did not invent the idea of running across country, which had been known for centuries. Schools started the process of turning an adventurous and athletic pastime into an organised sport. The Scottish King Malcolm III is said to have summoned men to race up Craig Choinnich overlooking Braemar with the aim of finding the fastest runner in Scotland to be his royal messenger, and a 1540 manuscript in the British Museum describes a run across Roodee, also known as Chester Racecourse, for a prize of “six glayves of silver.”

William Shakespeare, writing in the early 17th century, has Sir John Falstaff tell Prince Henry, “I would give a thousand pounds, I could run as fast as thou canst,” and Samuel Pepys in his diary for 10 August 1660 describes going to Hyde Park to see, “a fine foot-race three times round the Park between an Irishman and Crow, that was once my Lord Claypoole’s footman.” 

In his diary for the year 1720, whilst he was an undergraduate at Oxford university, Sir Erasmus Phillips (1699–1743) later the MP for Haverfordwest, describes how he rode out to Woodstock Park one afternoon where he was one of, “a most prodigious concourse of people,” who saw a four-mile foot race between the duke of Wharton’s footman and Mr Diston’s footman.” In July 1826 Bell’s Life reported that, “Yesterday se’nnight a match of running, between the gentlemen of Milton and the gentlemen of Chart, was won by the latter.

By 1834, Hare and Hounds was known at Rugby school, and their route, the “Barby Hill Run”, was described in an 1857 novel, Tom Brown’s School Days, by Thomas Hughes, who had gone to Rugby but was by then an influential politician. At Eton College, the chasing pack were known as Beagles, but in many other places they are called Harriers (a breed of dog used largely for hunting hares).

At Harrow School they ran across farmland at Pinner, but Winchester school did not start cross country until sometime in the 1880s. In 1837, Rugby School started a longer run of approximately twelve miles known as the Crick Run because it goes out to the village of Crick and returns to the school. This has become an annual tradition and continues to this day.

By the early 1850s, athletic clubs had started holding their own paper chases as a form of training, the sport was seen at Oxford University by that time and a national championship was first held on 7 December 1867. It was held on Wimbledon Common in south-west London. It was not particularly well organised, many runners went off course, and it was declared void and had to be rerun, but it was a start and the championship has been held over the distance of 10 miles (16,093 metres) since 1877.

In 1869, Thames Hare and Hounds, the world’s first cross country running club, was formed in the same area of south west London, and the same year William C. Vosburgh of New York introduced the sport to the United States. Harvard University held races from 1880, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge held their first cross country contest at Oxford in December 1880.

Three area associations were formed to administer the sport in their region of England. The Midland Counties Amateur Cross-Country Association was formed in 1879, the Northern Cross-Country Association in 1882, and the Southern Counties Cross-Country Association was established in 1883.

Then also in 1883 the National Cross-Country Union was formed, with Walter Rye, the founder of Thames Hare and Hounds, as first President. In 1933 this was changed to the English Cross-Country Union because by then the other constituent countries of the United Kingdom had their own cross country associations. The Scottish Cross Country Union was formed in 1886 and held their first national championship at Lanark in March of that year, and the United States followed suit in 1887.

Over time the sacks of paper scraps gradually got discarded and courses came to be marked with flags, lines on the grass, bunting, and marshalls, with races held on farm land, through forests, and over various forms of mixed terrain with championships frequently being held on golf courses and horse racing courses.

In 1898, Harold Hardwick of Salford Harriers took a team across to France for a cross country match and in the process invented international cross country running as a sport. The International Cross Country Union was formed in 1903, and the four home nations of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales started a match in that year which became a true international event in 1907 when France sent a team to compete. Other European countries sent teams during the 1920s and Tunisia sent a team in 1958.

The idea for a cross country relay originated in Paris in 1903, when the members of Stadte Francaise invited South London Harriers to Paris for a relay race of approximately fourteen miles to be held on Boxing Day, 26 December 1903.

 It is not known whether South London Harriers took up the invitation or whether the race actually took place. The first cross country relay for which there is definite evidence was organised by Hampstead Harriers at their club headquarters, the Green Man pub in East Finchley, also on Boxing Day, Wednesday 26 December 1906. The race had five teams of three men who each ran around two miles over a snow-covered out and back course. The first man to finish was G. Banbrook of team three in a time of 41:42 1/5.

Women were largely excluded from the sport for many years due to a widespread but false perception that it was injurious to their health and reproductive ability. Women were also excluded because they did not receive formal education, and the sport started largely at schools, from which women were excluded—women first went to university in England in 1868.

 There were races for women, but they were few and far between. At the Longtown Sports in Cumbria in June 1851 the prize for the women’s race was three times that for the men’s, and the first three women all got the same prize, whereas the second-placed man only got half the winner’s prize. Women’s sports clubs and formal competitions for women’s teams did not arrive until the 1920s.

France was the first country to hold national championships for women, in 1918, the first English championships for women were held at Hoo Park, Luton, in February 1927, and women were allowed to participate informally in international cross country only from 1931. There were not even officially any rules for women’s cross country until 1962 and their races were not considered championships until 1967.

Essential Gear for Cross Country Running

Having the right equipment can improve your performance and comfort.

• Cross Country Running Shoes: Choose shoes with excellent grip to handle mud, grass, and hills.
• Appropriate Clothing: Layering is essential due to changing weather. Opt for moisture-wicking materials that help regulate body temperature.
• Hydration Gear: Carry water bottles or hydration packs to stay hydrated on longer runs, especially during training.

Cross country running involves very little specialized equipment. Most races are run in shorts and vests or singlets, usually in club or school colours. In particularly cold conditions, long-sleeved shirts and tights can be worn to retain warmth without losing mobility. The most common footwear are cross country spikes, lightweight racing shoes with a rubber sole and five or more metal spikes screwed into the forefoot part of the sole.

Spike length depends on race conditions, with a muddy course appropriate for spikes as long as 25 millimetres (0.98 in). If a course has a harder surface, spikes as short as 6 millimetres (0.24 in) may be most effective. While spikes are suitable for grassy, muddy, or other slippery conditions, runners may choose to wear racing flats, rubber-soled racing shoes without spikes, if the course includes significant portions of paved surfaces or dirt road.

Olympic Games of Cross Country Running

Cross country was contested as a team and individual event at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. Sweden took gold in 1912, and Finland, led by Paavo Nurmi, captured the gold in 1920 and 1924. During the 1924 race in the Paris heat wave, only 15 of the 38 competitors reached the finish. Eight of those were taken away on stretchers. One athlete began to run in tight circles after reaching the stadium and later knocked himself unconscious, while another fainted 50 meters from the finish. José Andía and Edvin Wide were reported dead, and medics spent hours trying to find all the competitors who had blacked out along the course.

Although the reports of deaths were unfounded, spectators were shocked by the attrition rate and Olympic officials decided to ban cross country running from future games. Since 1928, cross country has been contested only as the fifth discipline of the modern pentathlon, and until 2016 it was the only discipline where the Olympic competition was only part of the modern pentathlon.

There have been recent efforts to bring cross country running back to the Olympic Games. In 2020, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe pushed to bring the sport to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, but the IOC rejected this proposal. Once the 2024 Summer Olympics arrived, Coe pushed for the sport to instead be included in the Winter Olympics, with efforts to make the sport appear in the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics in the French Alps and Salt Lake City respectively.

World championships of Cross Country Running

Beginning in 1973, the IAAF began hosting the renamed World Cross Country Championships each year.

In 1975, the New Zealand men and United States women won, marking the first championships by non-European countries. In 1981 an African nation (Ethiopia) won the men’s race for the first time, and a decade later an African nation (Kenya) won the women’s race for the first time. Ethiopia or Kenya has captured every men’s title since 1981 and every women’s title since 2001. Through 2010, Kenya has won 40 World Cross Country Championships and Ethiopia has won 23.

Benefits of Cross Country Running

Cross-country running offers a unique blend of physical and mental benefits that sets it apart from road racing or track events.

• Improved Endurance: Running on uneven terrain requires more stamina and muscle engagement.
• Mental Toughness: Navigating varied and challenging surfaces helps runners develop resilience and focus.
• Whole-Body Workout: Unlike road running, cross-country running engages core and stabilizing muscles to manage uneven surfaces.
• Connection with Nature: Runners can enjoy scenic routes and fresh air, enhancing their overall running experience.

Conclusion

Cross country running is a rewarding sport that combines physical endurance with mental fortitude. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced runner, this guide provides the tools you need to succeed. Embrace the thrill of the trails, set new personal records, and discover the many benefits of cross-country running.