Taking place this year on Saturday, November 2, the popular event has a long history that began in 1985.
This weekend marks the 33rd edition of the Saucony English Cross Country Relays, an event that first took place in 1985 with only men under 17, junior and senior men competing.
Originally held at Crystal Palace Park and returning to the same venue in 1987, the relays found a permanent home at Mansfield’s Berry Hill Park in 1989.
In the same year, women’s categories were also introduced, greatly expanding participation, and today athletes of all age groups can compete, from under 13s to adult men.
This year, in the event’s 33rd anniversary, more than 1,000 teams are competing in 10 races, with 205 in the senior men’s competition and 145 in the senior women’s competition.
AW archive 2019
Fortunately, Berry Hill Park is still available for this event as there have been concerns about its future in recent years.
Last year, for example, building work adjacent to the old clubhouse meant the course had to be changed and organizers had to eliminate the need for slightly shorter opening laps in all races.
Cambridge & Coleridge AC won the senior men’s title in 2023Callum Elson completed the race to secure the club’s first national men’s title thanks to a strong performance from world cross country bronze medalist Thomas Keane.
Tom Keane, Jonathan Escalante-Phillips, Jack Gray, Callum Elson (Mark Shearman)
Meanwhile, Belgrave Harriers claimed victory in the senior women’s race, led by a strong start from Kate Axford.
The University of Birmingham won the junior women’s race and Aldershot, Farnham and District took the junior men’s title.
Paris Olympian Phoebe Gill, 17, helped St Albans secure victory in the under-17 women’s race, while Chelmsford AC will be looking to defend their title in the men’s under-17 race after last year’s win.
Phoebe Gill (Mark Shearman)
With a central location available to many clubs, the atmosphere promises to be exciting with smooth organization and a packed schedule of 10 races.
The varied strategies used by the different teams make for exciting competition, as multiple athletes often lead during different legs of the race.
Athletes will tackle the ‘tight and winding’ course, which includes a 2km round trip for the younger age groups and up to 5km for the seniors.
The relays also serve as the British Athletics Cross Challenge for events in Cardiff and Liverpool this November.
The athletes will be looking to book their places in the Great Britain team at the European Cross Country Championships, with trials taking place at the Liverpool event.
Schedule – Saturday, November 2
10.45 Junior Women (3×2.5 km)
10.57 U17 women (3×2.5 km)
11.26 U13 boys (3×2 km)
11.50 U13 girls (3×2 km)
12.15 Junior Men (3×3 km)
12.40 U17 men (3×3 km)
13.06 U15 girls (3×2 km)
13.30 U15 boys (3×2 km)
13.50 senior women (3×3 km)
14.40 Senior men (4×5 km)
AW archive 2014
Look out for coverage of this weekend’s 2024 event on our website. You can also find all of our original coverage of the National Cross Country Relays dating back to 1985 via Athletics Weekly Archive.
(From the first issue in December 1945 to the present, current subscribers to our magazine can access this resource for free, while non-subscribers can pay just £399 a month.full access.
Have you participated in this event before and want to dig up your old results? Subscribe to our archive here.
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