CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

ORIGINS OF CROSS COUNTRY

Cross country is perhaps the most basic form of a running race. Races are held over all types of terrain but especially on natural surfaces such as grass, heathland or rough tracks.

The origins of the sport are lost in history although it is clear that men (and women) have enjoyed competitive running for centuries. The ability to run fast also leads to a natural advantage when hunting, escaping from predators and during combat. Messengers during wartime needed to run fast as well.

References to running races held across open country have been found in 14th century texts and there is some evidence to suggest the sport in part came about from simple games based on hunting.

"Hunt The Fox" was a popular game where one person, the "fox", set off while the competitors made chase after a predetermined delay. The winner was the person who caught the "fox" first. Such games seem to have begun in medieval times.

By the 18th century a new sport had emerged in some parts of the country, particularly the north, based on the steeplechase. In its original form two or more horse riders would race each other to a distant church steeple. But by the beginning of the 19th century, simple foot races were being organised along the same lines. By their very nature the races were held over courses that forced the runners to negotiate fences, ditches, brooks and even small rivers.

The evolving sport grew in popularity, especially at the increasing number of public schools in Britain and by the 1840s there were two steeplechase clubs at Oxford University.

In the middle of the 19th century a new form of the race was invented known as the paperchase. In this, two "hares" would set off and leave a trail of paper, one of which was false. After a period of (usually) ten minutes the "hares" would set off in pursuit. As with "hunt the fox" the winner was the first hare to catch the correct "hound".

The Victorian era saw the formalisation of the rules of most of the major sports enjoyed to the present day and cross-country (and more widely athletics) was no exception. Many of these rules were drawn up at the public schools or Universities where there was an emphasis on gentlemanly conduct rather than competing for money.

One result of this was that the concept of amateur participation was enshrined in many of these sports. In some cases, most notably running/athletics and rugby union, this has only changed in the last two decades.

The rules for cross country were  formalised with the formation of the English Cross Country Union (ECCU) in 1883. This was just three years after the AAA was founded in Oxford.

The ECCU (now known as the English Cross Country Association) organised its first championships in 1876.  

WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN?

Women started to run cross country races, in the form of hare and hounds, during the 1870s but it was not until 1927 that the first national championships were held. These were organised by the Women's Cross Country (& Road Running) Association and the Women's Amateur Athletic Association..

In fact, the men's and women's sports were controlled by separate bodies for many years and only comparatively recently have the two annual national championships been held at the same venue on the same day.

Another major event in the sporting calendar was the International Cross Country race. This was held between 1929 and 1972 with teams representing a number of countries taking part. To be selected was a great honour and the "National" was often used as a trial to choose the team. England, Scotland and Wales all entered teams for the event over the years.

Cross country was also an Olympic sport in 1912, 1920 and 1924.

WHY DO RUNNING CLUBS HAVE STRANGE NAMES

Many running clubs have names that include "Harriers" or "Hares & Hounds".

The reason is that many of these clubs were formed in the 19th century to organise and hold the forms of cross country based on the traditional games of "hunt the fox" and "hare and hounds". 

This was an era before track running was widely enjoyed because there were so few tracks. It was simply easier to organise races over open country.

Indeed, the Wolverton Sports Ground was one of the first in the country to be purpose built with a running track around its perimeter. After this time, athletics (meaning track and field) grew in popularity. But many of the oldest clubs have retained their original names to provide perhaps their only remaining link with the Victorian era.

Founding clubs of the ECCU included the Thames Hare & Hounds, Blackheath Harriers, Cheshire Tally Ho Hare & Hounds and Birchfield Harriers, all of which are still in existence.

WHAT THE COURSES WERE LIKE

The first cross country races were held over relatively rough terrain compared with the modern events. Until comparatively recently the rules for cross country stipulated that the course had to include a section of ploughed field. The aim was to make the course a proper test for the true cross country runner and less easy for the (generally) faster track runners. For this reason it was quite common for the best cross country runners to be also-rans on the track and for the track stars of the day to be left at the back of the field "over the country".

For many years the race was held over a ten mile course. Later the distance for the National was standardised at nine miles for men, almost three miles longer than the longest normal track race the 10,000m. Obstacles en-route often included brooks or streams that the runners either jumped over or waded through and fences that had to be climbed over. 

The men's National is currently run over 12km and the women's over 8km.  International events such as the World Cross Country Championship tend to be over 10km or less. 

Modern events are run over terrain where the going is better than in the past and obstacles are unheard of. For these reasons, modern cross country races at the highest level are far removed from the mud-ridden slogs of the old days. But there are plenty of events at a local and regional level for runners who prefer, or cannot avoid, the true test of the cross country run.

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