Cross Country – 2023 information post

3 August 2023 - By Jodee Mayer

This post has background information about Cross Country (XC) with details of each event and the dates we have available. Separate posts  and Facebook events will follow.  

What is XC?

Last year, our Captains described XC as being “like trail running, often without the trails” and we can’t think of a more apt description.

Events are hosted by local clubs and take place every couple of weeks from September through to March.

The courses tend to be quite varied, with different gradients and different terrains, and each course has its own character. Course setters will normally aim to make you run through AS MUCH MUD AS POSSIBLE, and sometimes a water feature – excellent fun!

Whilst road shoes are unlikely to be suitable for most of the XC fixtures, you can run in trail shoes. Many members opt for XC spikes, which are often cheaper than trail shoes and you can often pick up second hand pairs on Facebook groups, eBay, etc. There’s very little (to no) technology in spikes, so get a pair you like the look of (including once they are covered in mud) – if you’re brave, there’s even white ones available… Any queries, pop a question below or in the Facebook group and, whilst Jodee’s advice will be “buy the pink ones”, some other more sensible members will have some information for you!

All race fees (for all of the below XC events) are covered by the club to support these events.

NESS league

As a club we really get behind the NESS (North Essex and South Suffolk) Sunday fixtures. We tend to have a really good showing from WRC, and thanks to some volunteer bakers each week, there’s usually an abundance of cake! 🍰 🧁 (Bring your own hot and/or cold drink to most fixtures – some sell tea and coffee).

Courses are all around 5 miles and all runners set off together for a mass-start.

Fixtures

A separate post and Facebook event will follow for each of the NESS XC fixtures, but so you can get them in your diaries:

• 29 October – Springfield Striders at Writtle
• 26 November – Halstead at Gosfield School
• 10 December – Gt Bentley at Hilly Fields
• 21 January – Harwich
• 18 February – Hadleigh

Official scoring

The races are not about racing the clock, they’re about running to the terrain, to what your body tells you and to the runners around you.

Scoring for these events is by finishing place only and not on time. This means keep your elbows out on the narrow paths, and push hard when approaching a choke point so you don’t get stuck in a queue!

Each club’s top performers (8 for men and 4 for ladies) get the points for their finishing positions (1 for 1st, 2 for 2nd etc). You don’t have to make it into the WRC scoring group to damage the scores of runners in other clubs. Time to get tactical.

Intra-club event

This is where the real competition comes in. All WRC runners who opt-in (and it is not compulsory and you can still run one or all of the NESS XC fixtures without taking part in the champs) will be allocated to a team within the club with a coloured sweat band or something to identify you to each other. After each event we will collate everyone’s scores and publish the team rankings.

Separate post to come ahead of the first NESS event.

What are the other (non-NESS) XC races?

Essex Cross Country League

AKA – The Saturday league!

Whilst members are encouraged to run these further XC races should they wish, we do not actively participate in the Essex XC League. We usually have a few runners that go along to these events, and they’re a great way to get your cross country fix in between NESS events.

At these events men and ladies run separately, the Ladies going first over a 8km course while the men follow on a 10km course. These events are all good fun, especially if a few members are heading down together.

The Saturday League 2023/24 fixtures are:

• 14th October – One Tree Hill
• 28 October – Gloucester Park (NB – this is the day before a NESS fixture)
• 4 November – Writtle
• 16 December – Hilly Fields
• 10 February – Hainault Forest

Essex champs

Similar to the road based Essex Champs, but XC…! The dates are as follows:

• 16 September 2023 – XC Relays at Weald Park
• 2 December – Vets Champs at Writtle
• 6 January – Senior Champs

Calendar of events

A list of all of the events is below, with the NESS Sunday events in blue 🙂

Any queries, just ask!

Annalise and Jodee