With the World Championships in Tallahassee just a few months away, organizers are promising a top-notch course full of fun and challenging features.
On Jan. 10 in Tallahassee, Florida, runners at the World Championships will face mud, sand, water and even alligators. Don’t worry though, as the latter are just wooden replicas of the reptiles that are popular in the area.
“The theme of our event is ‘Welcome the World to Florida,'” said Taylor Wheaton, Senior Sports Director for Visit Tallahassee. “So we developed different elements to mimic the different areas and areas of Florida.
“There will be a water feature that will showcase the waters and beaches of Florida. We have a sand element that will showcase Florida beaches. There is a mud element that will be our Everglades theme. And then there’s ‘alligator alley’ with wooden alligators.”
The weather is expected to be pleasant and sunny, but don’t bet on it. In January of this year, Tallahassee was hit by a freak winter storm that dumped two inches of snow.
One thing that is more certain is that Appalachian Regional Park, which will serve as the venue for these championships, has a great history of hosting big cross-country races. For example, the NCAA championships were held there in 2021, and there are a number of races there in the coming weeks until Nov. 22, when the course will be closed for final preparations.
“The interesting thing about Apalachee Regional Park is that it’s a public park,” Wheaton says, “but it’s designed as a permanent bouldering field. People often build courses in parks or golf courses, but our course is truly designed as a permanent course and we can host races from 1km to 10km.
Indeed, in addition to the elite men’s and women’s elite 10km races in January, there will be four different mass participation races of 2km and 4km for young athletes and adult recreational runners.
This scenic, undulating road will include lots of lush grassy areas, but there is also a ‘shell road’, so called because it is made up of crushed oyster shells.
Last year’s World Cross in Belgrade wasn’t particularly spectator-friendly, but Tallahassee believes the course is great for fans and, among other things, they’ll be able to move around the course with ease.
“It’s still a bit of a mess of running back and forth everywhere,” Wheaton says, “but I like to call it organized chaos. A lot of times you can see the runners four, five, six times and then, depending on where you are, you can go back and hit the finish and watch them come in.”
READ MORE. Nine gifts from the World Cross in Belgrade
What else should visitors expect? “We have hills,” he says. “We have a lot of trees. We have many trails. We have a very outdoorsy feel in Tallahassee and are somewhere between a small and big city and community. Tallahassee is also home to three universities, so we have a mix of young professionals, college students and families, all embedded in our community.”
Belgrade had no spectators at all, but Tallahassee hopes many more fans will attend. East Africa’s dominance has also led to many European countries skipping the event in recent years, but again, Tallahassee is hoping to buck the trend.
“We’re hoping that by having an earlier date in January as opposed to the traditional late March date, we’ll catch a few additional athletes who have decided to switch to indoor and outdoor track and maybe generate some additional interest for athletes who are at the tail end of their cross country season,” Wheaton says. “And we’re hoping that earlier date will really attract more athletes to want to compete in the championships.”
Is Tallahassee ready to welcome the worlds in three months? “It’s exciting and scary,” Wheaton says. “I think we’re in a great position with our planning, but it’s still a World Cup we’re planning for.”
Visit: visittallahassee.com/worldxctallahassee26
Flashback to the 1992 World Cross in Boston
It’s been 34 years since the World Cup was held in the United States, held in Boston’s cold and snowy Franklin Park.
To the delight of an estimated 30,000 spectators, the event was also broadcast in 90 countries, with the United States’ Lynn Jennings winning her third consecutive senior women’s title, beating Ireland’s Katerina McKiernan and Portugal’s Albertina Diaz, and Jill Hunter’s eighth.
“I never thought it would be this easy,” Jennings said. “I just knew it was my race to win.”
Not everyone had a good day in the tough conditions, however, as Liz McColgan, who was suffering from illness, finished in 41st place.
Paula Radcliffe claimed a breakthrough victory in the junior women’s race, beating China’s Wang Yunxia and Kenya’s Lydia Cheromey, while British team-mate Jenny Clague was fourth, while Ethiopia’s Gete Wami was ninth and Romania’s Gabby Sabo was 20th. Ten years later, Radcliffe won the senior women’s world cross-country crown and later set a marathon world record of 2:15:25.
“I never in my wildest dreams expected this,” Radcliffe said. “My coach asked me what I wanted and I said I’d be over the moon and finish in the top 10.”
John Ngugi won his fifth world title, beating fellow Kenyan William Mutwole and Fita Baisa of Ethiopia, while Richard Nerurkar (15th), Eamonn Martin (17th) and Dave Clarke (20th) led Britain to team bronze.
In the junior men’s race, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie was pipped to second place by Kenya’s Ismael Kirui as future 1500m and mile world record holder Hicham El Gerouj finished 14th for Morocco.
READ MORE. No trial for the Brits before the 2026 World Cross
The leading British home in the men’s youth race was Kevin Toher in 26th with Dave Robertson in 30th and Colin Jones in 31st.
