It’s a bright, warm afternoon in October, and the starter’s gun has just gone off. Over 200 of us have set off down the slope and are on our way, twice around an undulating course of soft, occasionally boggy, ground. It is the first leg of the senior men’s race at the Saucony English Cross Country Relays in Mansfield, and the standard at the front is frighteningly high; some of these runners will be hoping to qualify for the GB team for the European Cross Country Championship.



I have no such concerns. All I need to worry about is doing as well as I can. Everything else is a bonus: the good weather, the perfect conditions, the chance to run alongside some of the best runners in England (briefly), and that fleeting sensation of knowing that I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I ought to be doing: running cross-country.



Seb Coe, a leading voice in the campaign to make cross-country running a part of the Winter Olympics, has described it as “the supreme all-round conditioner”. There’s no doubt that cross-country is a form of running that strengthens your legs and your resolve in equal measure. Races are fairly short, usually around five miles, and that intensity demands a strong start and committed running throughout. The soft ground means less impact on joints, but it is also unpredictable. Never mind the other runners, there are some cross-country races where your main competitor can be the course itself. Freakishly deep puddles, quagmires of sodden soil, gnarled roots concealed under leaves, logs across the path and patches of sole-sucking claggy mud - not to mention the spiked shoes of the other runners - all present very real hazards. To run a cross-country race is to make thousands of small but vital decisions about foot placement and pace adjustment - how to get past, how to get through, when to push on, when to hang back - and this is central to its effectiveness as an all-round conditioner.



Apart from the relays at Mansfield, this autumn I’ve taken part in The North of the Thames Cross Country Championship, a standalone event with a long history, and the first fixtures of this season’s Start Fitness Met League, a regional league made up of over 20 clubs. So far, the weather has been good and conditions have been kind. But there’s plenty of wind, rain, ice and mud to look forward to. I’ve learned that it’s worth embracing the bad conditions and the hard going: it makes the whole experience much more fun, plus there are considerable benefits to be gained in the long run.



In the last year or so, my times on the road have improved significantly, and there’s no doubt in my mind that part of the reason is that I ran in over 10 separate cross-country races last season. It was not only a question of speed. I needed to get tougher and more resilient. I needed to learn how to suffer, and to listen to that inner voice that won’t let you off the hook, that makes sure you know that however you bad you feel during a race, it’s nothing to how bad you’ll feel afterwards if you know you hadn’t given it your all.



Cross-country helped me develop this side of my running because, above all other things, it is a team sport. You are there to do a job for your club, and your position is more important than your time. All that really matters is where you come and how that affects your team’s final standing. This is true for runners of all abilities. When I first took part in cross-country races, I was much nearer the back of the pack than the front, but knowing that I could actually be of some use to my club – that my final position, wherever it was, was still significant – helped to sharpen my competitive instinct and has given me that much needed inner resolve.



Which is not to say that cross-country is just a means to an end for me. Yes, it is a way of developing stronger legs and a sharper running brain in order to get better times on the road, but I have also come to enjoy cross-country for its own sake. I think it’s partly down to the have-a-go pluck of its participants (“Freezing cold and pouring with rain? I know, let’s race round a muddy field in our vests!”). But it’s also the tradition and timelessness of it all, the sense that it exists outside of the fads and fashions of the running industry and will do so for ever; see those vests again for evidence of a wilful disregard for the precepts of style.



Thankfully, I’m not alone in my appreciation of all things cross-country. Over 5,000 runners took part in all races at the English National Cross Country Championship at Parliament Hill in February this year, easily beating the previous best participation record. The Mansfield relays are in rude health, as are many of the regional leagues, including the Start Fitness Met League, which is experiencing record numbers this season. Let’s hope this continues: cross-country running is one of the best opportunities we have for becoming faster, stronger and hardier runners.



Edward blogs at medium.com/@edprice and tweets at @edprice7

