With just over a couple of months to go until the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, organisers are promising a top-class course full of fun and challenging features.
Runners at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on January 10 will face mud, sand, water and even alligators. Don’t worry, though, as the latter are simply wooden replicas of the reptiles that famously lurk in the area.
“Our theme for the event is ‘welcoming the world to Florida’,” says Taylor Wheaton, senior sports director at Visit Tallahassee. “So we have devised the different elements to mimic different spaces and areas of Florida.
“There will be a water feature, which showcases Florida’s waters and beaches. We have a sand element that will showcase Florida’s beaches. There is a mud element which will be themed after our Everglades. And then there is ‘alligator alley’, with wooden alligators.”
The climate is expected to be pleasant and sunny, but don’t bet on it. In January this year Tallahassee was hit by a freak winter storm that left two inches of snow.
One thing that is more certain is that the Apalachee Regional Park that will act as the venue for these championships has a fine track record of staging big cross-country races. The NCAA Championships were staged there in 2021, for example, and there are a number of races there in coming weeks until November 22, when the course will shut down to undergo final preparations.
“The exciting thing about Apalachee Regional Park is that it is a public park,” says Wheaton, “but it has been designed to be a permanent cross country course. People often build courses in parks or on golf courses but our course has really been designed to be a permanent course and we’re able to host anything from a 1km to 10km race.”
Indeed, in addition to the senior men’s and women’s 10km elite races in January, there will be four different mass participation races over 2km and 4km for young athletes and adult recreational runners.
This picturesque, undulating course will feature plenty of lush grassland but there is also “shell road”, named because it consists of crushed oyster shells.
Last year’s World Cross in Belgrade wasn’t particularly spectator-friendly but Tallahassee believes its course is great for fans and, among other things, they will be able to move around the route easily.
“There’s still a little bit of a cross country chaos of running back and forth everywhere,” says Wheaton, “but I like to call it organised chaos. A lot of times you can see the runners four, five, six times and then, depending on where you’re positioned, you can head back and hit that finish stretch and watch them come in.”
READ MORE: Nine takeaways from the World Cross in Belgrade
What else should visitors expect? “We have hills,” she says. “We have a lot of trees. We have a lot of trails. We have a very outdoor feel in Tallahassee and we’re in between a small and large city and community. Tallahassee is also home to three universities, so we have a mix of young professionals, college students and families all wrapped up in our community.”
Belgrade was bereft of spectators generally, but Tallahassee is hoping far more fans will attend. East African domination has also led to lots of European nations skipping the event in recent years but, again, Tallahassee hopes to buck the trend.
“We’re hoping that having that earlier date in January, as opposed to the traditional late March date, we will catch some additional athletes that have decided to start transitioning to indoor and outdoor track and maybe attract some additional interest in athletes who are on the tail end of their cross-country season,” says Wheaton. “And we hope that that earlier time frame will really draw more athletes into wanting to participate in the championship.”
Is Tallahassee ready to welcome the Worlds in three months’ time? “It’s exciting and scary,” says Wheaton. “I think we’re in a great position in our planning, but, still, it’s a world championship that we’re planning.”
Visit: visittallahassee.com/worldxctallahassee26
Flashback to the 1992 World Cross in Boston
It is 34 years since the World Cross Country Championships was staged in the United States and, on that occasion, a chilly and snowy Franklin Park in Boston was the venue.
Much to the delight of the estimated 30,000 crowd – with the event also broadcast in 90 countries – Lynn Jennings of the United States won her third consecutive senior women’s title as she beat Catherina McKiernan of Ireland and Albertina Dias of Portugal with Jill Hunter leading the Brits home in eighth.
“I never thought it would come so easily,” said Jennings. “I just knew it was my race to win.”
Not everyone had a good day in the tough conditions, though, as Liz McColgan, who was suffering from illness, finished an underpar 41st.
Paula Radcliffe enjoyed a breakthrough victory in the junior women’s race as she beat Wang Junxia of China and Lydia Cheromei of Kenya, with British team-mate Jenny Clague fourth as Gete Wami of Ethiopia was ninth and Gabby Szabo of Romania 20th. Ten years later Radcliffe would win the senior women’s world cross-country crown and later set a world marathon record of 2:15:25.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I expect this,” said Radcliffe. “My coach asked me what I wanted and I said I would be over the moon with a place in the top 10.”
John Ngugi won his fifth world title as he beat fellow Kenyan William Mutwol and Fita Bayisa of Ethiopia, while Richard Nerurkar (15th), Eamonn Martin (17th) and Dave Clarke (20th) led Britain to team bronze.
In the junior men’s race, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia was beaten into second place by Ismael Kirui of Kenya as Hicham El Guerrouj, the future world 1500m and mile record-holder, finished 14th for Morocco.
READ MORE: No trial for Brits ahead of 2026 World Cross
The leading Brit home in the junior men’s race was Kevin Toher in 26th with Dave Robertson 30th and Colin Jones 31st.
