Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. 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. It is both an individual and a team sport, runners are judged on individual times and a points scoring method for teams. 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, long-distance track and road running. Although open-air running competitions are pre-historic, 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 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Read more about Cross Country Running: Race Course, Scoring, Strategy, Equipment, History, Regional Organization, Variations
Famous quotes containing the words cross, country and/or running:
“The point is to show who is the cross and who the crucified.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“To think to know the country and not know
The hillside on the day the sun lets go
Ten million silver lizards out of snow!”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“But the ball is lost and the mallet slipped long since from the hands
Under the running tap that are not the hands of a child.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)