With the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee just over a couple of months away, organizers promise a world-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. But don’t worry, since the latter are simply wooden replicas of the reptiles that lurk in the area.
“Our theme for the event is ‘welcoming the world to Florida,’” says Taylor Wheaton, senior sports director for Visit Tallahassee. “That’s why we have designed the different elements to imitate different spaces and areas of Florida.
“There will be a water feature, which will show the waters and beaches of Florida. We have a sand feature that will show the beaches of Florida. There is a mud feature that will be themed around our Everglades. And then there is ‘alligator alley,’ with wooden alligators.”
The weather is expected to be nice and sunny, but don’t bet on it. In January of this year, Tallahassee was hit by a freak winter storm that left two inches of snow.
One thing that is more certain is that Apalachee Regional Park, which will serve as the venue for these championships, has an excellent track record of hosting great cross-country races. The NCAA Championships were held there in 2021, for example, and there are several races there in the coming weeks until November 22, when the course will close for final preparations.
“The cool thing about Apalachee Regional Park is that it’s a public park,” says Wheaton, “but it’s been designed to be a permanent cross-country ski course. People often build courses in parks or golf courses, but our course has really been designed to be a permanent course and we can host any race from a 1K to a 10K.”
In fact, in addition to the elite 10km races for senior men and women in January, there will be four different mass participation 2km and 4km races for youth athletes and adult recreational runners.
This picturesque, rolling countryside will feature plenty of lush grassland, but there is also a “shell road,” so named because it is made up 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’ll be able to get around the route easily.
“There’s still a little bit of cross-country chaos 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’re located, you can go back and hit the final stretch and see them come.”
READ MORE: Nine conclusions from the World Cross in Belgrade
What else should visitors expect? “We have hills,” he says. “We have a lot of trees. We have a lot of trails. We have an outdoor feel in Tallahassee and we are 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 involved in our community.”
Belgrade was generally lacking in spectators, but Tallahassee expects many more fans to attend. East Africa’s dominance has also led many European nations to skip the event in recent years but, again, Tallahassee hopes to buck the trend.
“We’re hoping that by having that earlier date in January, rather than the traditional late March date, we can capture some additional athletes who have decided to begin the transition to indoor and outdoor track and maybe attract some additional interest in athletes who are at the end of their cross-country season,” Wheaton says. “And we hope that that earlier time period will really attract more athletes to want to participate in the championship.”
Is Tallahassee ready to host the World Cup in three months? “It’s exciting and scary,” Wheaton says. “I think we’re in a great position in our planning, but still, what we’re planning for is a world championship.”
Visit: visittallahassee.com/worldxctallahassee26
Flashback to the 1992 World Cross in Boston
It has been 34 years since the World Cross Country Championships were held in the United States and, on that occasion, a cold and snowy Franklin Park in Boston was the venue.
To the delight of the estimated 30,000 viewers (with the event also broadcast in 90 countries), Lynn Jennings of the United States won her third consecutive senior women’s title by beating Catherina McKiernan of Ireland and Albertina Dias of Portugal with Jill Hunter leading the British in eighth place.
“I never thought it would be so easy,” Jennings said. “I just knew it was my race to win.”
However, not everyone had a good day in the difficult conditions as Liz McColgan, who was suffering from illness, finished a below-average 41st.
Paula Radcliffe enjoyed a big win in the junior women’s race, beating China’s Wang Junxia and Kenya’s Lydia Cheromei, with British teammate Jenny Clague fourth, while Ethiopia’s Gete Wami was ninth and Romania’s Gabby Szabo 20th. Ten years later, Radcliffe would win the senior women’s world cross-country crown and then set a world marathon record of 2:15:25.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this,” Radcliffe said. “My coach asked me what I wanted and I told him I would be delighted to be in the top 10.”
John Ngugi won his fifth world title by beating fellow Kenyan William Mutwol and Fita Bayisa of Ethiopia, while Richard Nerurkar (15th), Eamonn Martin (17th) and Dave Clarke (20th) led Great Britain to team bronze.
In the junior men’s race, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia was beaten into second place by Ismael Kirui of Kenya while Hicham El Guerrouj, the future 1,500 meters and mile world record holder, finished 14th for Morocco.
READ MORE: No trial for Brits before World Cross 2026
The British home leader in the junior men’s race was Kevin Toher in 26th, Dave Robertson in 30th and Colin Jones in 31st.
