International Cross Country Championships

Orienteering World Cup
Frank Sando crossing the line to win the 1957 edition of the championships
Status	active
Genre	sports event
Date(s)	March–April
Frequency	annual
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	1898 (1898)
Most recent	1972 (1972)
Organised by	ICCU

The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international championships had been held for the sport.

It began its life as a contest between the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom. The event became increasingly international over its history, beginning with the admittance of the first non-UK country in 1907 (France), the addition of several other Continental European countries in the 1920s, and then the introduction of Tunisia in 1958 which saw an African team compete for the first time.^[1]

The championships featured only a senior men's race from 1903 to 1961, at which point an under-21s event was introduced. After some years as an unsanctioned competition, a women's race finally gained official acceptance in 1967.^[1]

The event lasted from 1903 to 1972 – at the 1971 ICCU Congress members decided to transfer organisation of the event to the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), a move which was finalised after the 1972 ICC Championships and led to the first IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1973.^[2]

The International Cross Country Championships featured a number of running greats, including: Alfred Shrubb (the inaugural race winner) and Jean Bouin in its early years, Frank Sando who won twice, as well as Jack Holden and Alain Mimoun who both won the race a record four times, and then Franjo Mihalić, Gaston Roelants and David Bedford in its later years. American runner Doris Brown was dominant in the short history of the women's race, winning all but two of the official women's races.^[1]

Editions[]

Edition	Year	City	Country	Date	Venue	No. of Countries	No. of Athletes
Unofficial	1898	Paris-Ville-d'Avray	France	March 20		2	16
1st	1903	Hamilton, Lanarkshire	Scotland	March 23	Hamilton Park Racecourse	4	45
2nd	1904	St Helens, Lancashire	England	March 26	Haydock Park	4	46
3rd	1905	Dublin, Leinster	Ireland	March 25	Baldoyle Racecourse	4	48
4th	1906	Newport-Caerleon, Monmouthshire	Wales	March 10	Caerleon Racecourse	4	44
5th	1907	Glasgow	Scotland	March 23	Glasgow Agricultural Society Show Grounds, Scotstoun	5	56
6th	1908	Paris-Colombes	France	March 26	Stade de Matin	5	54
7th	1909	Derby, Derbyshire	England	March 20	Derby Racecourse	5	51
8th	1910	Belfast, Ulster	Ireland	March 26	Belvoir Park	5	43
9th	1911	Newport-Caerleon, Monmouthshire	Wales	March 25	Caerleon Racecourse	5	45
10th	1912	Edinburgh, Lothian	Scotland	March 30	Saughton Public Park	5	44
11th	1913	Paris-Juvisy-sur-Orge	France	March 24		4	36
12th	1914	Amersham, Buckinghamshire	England	March 28		5	45
Not held due to World War I
13th	1920	Belfast, Ulster	Ireland	April 3	Belvoir Park	4	35
14th	1921	Newport-Caerleon	Wales	March 19	Caerleon Racecourse	4	36
15th	1922	Glasgow	Scotland	April 1	Hampden Park	5	45
16th	1923	Paris-Maisons-Laffitte	France	March 25	Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte	4	36
17th	1924	Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland	England	March 22	Gosforth Park	6	52
18th	1925	Dublin	Ireland	March 28	Baldoyle Racecourse	5	42
19th	1926	Brussels	Belgium	March 28		6	53
20th	1927	Newport-Caerleon, Monmouthshire	Wales	April 2	Caerleon Racecourse	5	44
21st	1928	Ayr, Ayrshire	Scotland	March 24		5	45
22nd	1929	Paris-Vincennes	France	March 23	Hippodrome de Vincennes	10	90
23rd	1930	Leamington, Warwickshire	England	March 22		7	61
24th	1931	Dublin (men)	Ireland	March 28	Baldoyle Racecourse	6	54
		Douai, Nord-Pas-de-Calais (women)	France	March 22		3	16
25th	1932	Brussels (men)	Belgium	March 20		6	52
		Croydon, Surrey (women)	England	March 19		2	12
26th	1933	Newport-Caerleon, Monmouthshire	Wales	March 25	Caerleon Racecourse	6	54
27th	1934	Ayr, Ayrshire	Scotland	March 24	Ayr Racecourse	6	54
28th	1935	Paris-Auteuil (men)	France	March 23	Hippodrome d'Auteuil	7	61
		Morecambe, Lancashire (women)	England	March 20		2	11
29th	1936	Blackpool, Lancashire	England	March 28		6	54
30th	1937	Brussels	Belgium	March 20		6	54
31st	1938	Belfast, Ulster (men)	Northern Ireland	April 2	Royal Ulster Showground	7	63
		Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais (women)	France	April 2		3	18
32nd	1939	Cardiff, Glamorgan	Wales	April 1	Ely Racecourse	7	63
Unofficial	1940	Paris	France	March 24	Bois de Boulogne	3	27
Not held due to World War II
33rd	1946	Ayr, Ayrshire	Scotland	March 30		6	54
34th	1947	Paris-Saint-Cloud	France	March 30	Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud	6	54
35th	1948	Reading, Berkshire	England	April 3	Leighton Park	6	54
36th	1949	Dublin	Ireland	March 26	Baldoyle Racecourse	7	62
37th	1950	Brussels	Belgium	March 25	[fr]	10	88
38th	1951	Newport-Caerleon, Monmouthshire	Wales	March 31	Caerleon Racecourse	8	71
39th	1952	Hamilton, Lanarkshire	Scotland	March 22	Hamilton Park Racecourse	7	63
40th	1953	Paris-Vincennes	France	March 21	Hippodrome de Vincennes	10	89
41st	1954	Birmingham	England	March 27 (men)	Bromford Bridge Racecourse	7	62
				March 20 (women)		2	12
42nd	1955	San Sebastián, Euskadi (men)	Spain	March 19	[es]	8	70
		Ayr, Ayrshire (women)	Scotland	March 26		2	12
43rd	1956	Belfast (men)	Northern Ireland	March 17	Royal Ulster Showground	8	70
		Upminster, Essex (women)	England	March 17		2	12
44th	1957	Waregem, West Flanders (men)	Belgium	March 23	Hippodroom Waregem	10	89
		Musselburgh, East Lothian (women)	Scotland	March 30		2	12
45th	1958	Cardiff, Glamorgan	Wales	March 22	Pontcanna Fields	9	78
46th	1959	Lisboa	Portugal	March 21	National Stadium	9	78
47th	1960	Hamilton, Lanarkshire	Scotland	March 26	Hamilton Park Racecourse	8	71
48th	1961	Nantes, Pays de la Loire	France	March 26		10	109
49th	1962	Sheffield, Yorkshire	England	March 24	Graves Park	10	126
50th	1963	San Sebastián, Euskadi	Spain	March 17	[es]	11	125
51st	1964	Dublin	Ireland	March 21	Leopardstown Racecourse	9	113
52nd	1965	Ostend, West Flanders	Belgium	March 20	Hippodrome Wellington	15	174
53rd	1966	Rabat	Morocco	March 20		15	134
54th	1967	Barry, Glamorgan	Wales	March 18		12	152
55th	1968	Tunis (men)	Tunisia	March 17	Hippodrome de Kassar-Said (men)	14	177
		Blackburn, Lancashire (women)	England	March 23		5	30
56th	1969	Clydebank, Dunbartonshire	Scotland	March 22	Dalmuir Park	14	193
57th	1970	Vichy, Auvergne	France	March 22		17	211
		Frederick, Maryland (alternate women's event)	United States	March 21
58th	1971	San Sebastián, Euskadi	Spain	March 20	[es]	18	228
59th	1972	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire	England	March 18	Coldham's Common	15	200

Results[]

Men's individual results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1898 (unofficial) 9 mi (14.5 km)	Sid Robinson  England	56:36	England	56:36.4	Charles Bennett  England	57:14.8
1903 8.5 mi (13.7 km)	Alfred Shrubb  England	46:22.6	England	46:56.6	John Daly  Ireland	47:10.2
1904 8.5 mi (13.7 km)	Alfred Shrubb  England	47:58.4	England	48:20.2	England	49:38.6
1905 8 mi (12.9 km)	England	40:20	Tom Hynes  Ireland	40:35	Joe Deakin  England	41:14
1906 10 mi (16.1 km)	England	57:32	England	57:55	England	58:11
1907 10 mi (16.1 km)	England	54:26.4	England	54:48	England	54:50
1908 10 mi (16.1 km)	Arthur Robertson  England	50:26.8	England	50:31	England	50:42
1909 10 mi (16.1 km)	England	58:03	Jean Bouin  France	58:04	Ernest Loney  England	58:53
1910 10 mi (16.1 km)	England	54:02	Ireland	54:24	England	54:24
1911 10 mi (16.1 km)	Jean Bouin  France	54:07.6	England	54:22	George Wallach  Scotland	54:44
1912 10 mi (16.1 km)	Jean Bouin  France	51:46	William Scott  England	52:19	Frederick Hibbins  England	52:34
1913 10 mi (16.1 km)	Jean Bouin  France	51:52.4	Ernest Glover  England	52:33	Jacques Keyser  France	53:10
1914 10 mi (16.1 km)	Alfred Nichols  England	1:00:24	George Wallach  Scotland	1:00:41	Ernest Glover  England	1:00:46
Not held due to World War I
1920 10 mi (16.1 km)	Jim Wilson  Scotland	55:06	Christopher Vose  England	55:33	Wally Freeman  England	55:52
1921 10 mi (16.1 km)	Wally Freeman  England	56:53	Bobby Mills  England	57:03	Ireland	57:17
1922 10 mi (16.1 km)	Joseph Guillemot  France	1:03:59	England	1:04:27	France	1:05:03
1923 10 mi (16.1 km)	Joe Blewitt  England	58:11.8	Scotland	58:13	Belgium	58:20
1924 10 mi (16.1 km)	England	55:35.4	Ernie Harper  England	55:40	Eddie Webster  England	56:21
1925 10 mi (16.1 km)	Eddie Webster  England	56:55	John Ryan  Ireland	57:14	England	57:38
1926 9 mi (14.5 km)	Ernie Harper  England	44:17.4	Joseph Guillemot  France	44:59	Robert Marchal  France	45:04
1927 9 mi (14.5 km)	England	51:40	Seghir Beddari  France	51:49	France	52:03
1928 9.5 mi (15.3 km)	England	52:34	John Suttie Smith  Scotland	52:48	Seghir Beddari  France	53:02
1929 8.7 mi (14.0 km)	England	42:46.2	Henri Dartigues  France	42:48	France	42:51
1930 9.5 mi (15.3 km)	Tom Evenson  England	53:49	Scotland	53:50	France	54:15
1931 9 mi (14.5 km)	Ireland	48:52	Jack Winfield  England	49:11	Tom Evenson  England	49:16
1932 9 mi (14.5 km)	Tom Evenson  England	50:51	Jack Holden  England	51:06	Walter Beavers  England	51:15
1933 9 mi (14.5 km)	Jack Holden  England	53:40.8	Scotland	53:50	John Suttie Smith  Scotland	53:54
1934 9 mi (14.5 km)	Jack Holden  England	50:28	England	51:24	Arthur Penny  England	51:26
1935 9 mi (14.5 km)	Jack Holden  England	47:52	Scotland	48:12	William Eaton  England	48:14
1936 9 mi (14.5 km)	William Eaton  England	47:38	Jack Holden  England	48:08	Scotland	48:14
1937 9 mi (14.5 km)	Scotland	49:50	André Sicard  France	50:03	James Ginty  England	50:13
1938 9 mi (14.5 km)	England	49:57	Belgium	50:16	Wales	50:36
1939 9 mi (14.5 km)	Jack Holden  England	47:23	France	47:34	France	47:52
Not held due to World War II
1946 9 mi (14.5 km)	Raphaël Pujazon  France	51:51.2	Marcel Vandewattyne  Belgium	52:24	France	52:49
1947 9 mi (14.5 km)	Raphaël Pujazon  France	50:26	Belgium	50:51	France	51:04
1948 9 mi (14.5 km)	John Doms  Belgium	54:05	Belgium	54:25	France	54:50
1949 9 mi (14.5 km)	Alain Mimoun  France	47:50	Raphaël Pujazon  France	47:51	France	47:55
1950 9 mi (14.5 km)	Lucien Theys  Belgium	45:42	Alain Mimoun  France	45:50	Mohamed Hamza  France	46:00
1951 9.25 mi (14.9 km)	Geoff Saunders  England	54:07	England	54:48	France	55:05
1952 9 mi (14.5 km)	Alain Mimoun  France	48:19	Marcel Vandewattyne  Belgium	49:02	France	49:06
1953 9 mi (14.5 km)	Franjo Mihalić  Yugoslavia	47:53	Frank Sando  England	48:03	Abdallah Ould Lamine  France	48:06
1954 9 mi (14.5 km)	Alain Mimoun  France	47:51	Ken Norris  England	48:13	England	48:21
1955 9 mi (14.5 km)	Frank Sando  England	46:09	Hugh Foord  England	46:33	Ken Norris  England	46:35
1956 9 mi (14.5 km)	Alain Mimoun  France	45:18	Frank Sando  England Ken Norris  England	45:28
1957 9 mi (14.5 km)	Frank Sando  England	45:58	Basil Heatley  England	46:09	Ken Norris  England	46:18
1958 9 mi (14.5 km)	Stanley Eldon  England	46:29	Alain Mimoun  France	46:30	Frank Sando  England	46:33
1959 9 mi (14.5 km)	Fred Norris  England	42:44.8	Frank Sando  England	42:52.4	France	43:01.4
1960 9 mi (14.5 km)	Rhadi Ben Abdesselam  Morocco	43:33	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	43:40	John Merriman  Wales	43:40
1961 8.9 mi (14.3 km)	Basil Heatley  England	45:22.2	Spain	45:46	Martin Hyman  England	45:56.4
1962 7.5 mi (12.0 km)	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	44:40	Marcel Vandewattyne  Belgium	44:46	Mel Batty  England	44:48
1963 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Roy Fowler  England	37:19.7	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	37:32	Mariano Haro  Spain	37:41.6
1964 7.3 mi (11.8 km)	Francisco Aritmendi  Spain	40:33	Ron Hill  England	40:42	England	40:49
1965 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Jean Fayolle  France	36:48	Mel Batty  England	36:48	Mohamed Gammoudi  Tunisia	37:00
1966 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Ben Assou El Ghazi  Morocco	36:22.1	Derek Graham  Ireland	36:29.6	Tracy Smith  United States	36:32.2
1967 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	36:03	Tim Johnston  England	36:20	Bryan Rose  New Zealand	36:27
1968 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Mohamed Gammoudi  Tunisia	35:25.4	Ron Hill  England	35:26.8	Roy Fowler  England	35:31.8
1969 7.5 mi (12.0 km)	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	36:25	Dick Taylor  England	36:44	Ian McCafferty  Scotland	36:57
1970 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Mike Tagg  England	36:39.8	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	36:41.8	England	36:44.6
1971 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Dave Bedford  England	38:42.8	England	39:05.2	New Zealand	39:11.6
1972 7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Gaston Roelants  Belgium	37:43	Mariano Haro  Spain	38:01	Ian Stewart  Scotland	38:20

Men's Team Results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1898 (unofficial)	England	21	France	69
1903	England	25	Ireland	78	Scotland	107
1904	England	27	Wales	102	Scotland	113
1905	England	28	Scotland	82	Ireland	97
1906	England	24	Ireland	86	Scotland	106
1907	England	23	Scotland	85	Ireland	123
1908	England	24	France	81	Ireland	104
1909	England	32	Ireland	77	Scotland	107
1910	England	35	Ireland	56	Scotland	102
1911	England	32	Ireland	108	Scotland	121
1912	England	41	Scotland	88	Ireland	110
1913	England	38	France	61	Scotland	96
1914	England	47	Scotland	74	France	106
Not held due to World War I
1920	England	38	Ireland	70	Scotland	114
1921	England	33	Ireland	71	Wales	119
1922	France	53	England	65	Scotland	90
1923	France	43	England	76	Belgium	112
1924	England	21	France	80	Scotland	133
1925	England	29	Ireland	91	Wales	92
1926	France	32	England	62	Scotland	101
1927	France	49	England	61	Scotland	112
1928	France	45	England	55	Scotland	104
1929	France	31	England	74	Spain	117
1930	England	30	France	80	Scotland	111
1931	England	32	Scotland	102	France	102
1932	England	21	France	69	Scotland	110
1933	England	32	Scotland	62	France	109
1934	England	34	France	102	Scotland	105
1935	England	30	Scotland	84	France	102
1936	England	41	France	66	Scotland	112
1937	England	55	France	70	Belgium	98
1938	England	43	France	96	Belgium	117
1939	France	36	England	95	Belgium	115
Not held due to World War II
1946	France	43	Belgium	77	England	96
1947	France	34	Belgium	86	England	105
1948	Belgium	46	France	47	England	114
1949	France	33	England	90	Ireland	123
1950	France	43	Belgium	77	England	82
1951	England	47	France	54	Belgium	99
1952	France	35	England	64	Belgium	126
1953	England	64	France	84	Yugoslavia	129
1954	England	29	France	85	Belgium	102
1955	England	27	Belgium	102	Spain	109
1956	France	42	England	59	Belgium	131
1957	Belgium	67	France	80	England	84
1958	England	35	France	64	Belgium	166
1959	England	40	France	72	Belgium	110
1960	England	52	Belgium	61	France	125
1961	Belgium	54	England	71	France	119
1962	England	44	Spain	115	Belgium	132
1963	Belgium	110	France	113	England	113
1964	England	38	France	96	Morocco	149
1965	England	55	France	55	New Zealand	110
1966	England	59	France	79	Morocco	184
1967	England	70	New Zealand	96	France	122
1968	England	58	France	101	Spain	129
1969	England	57	France	121	Belgium	125
1970	England	35	France	85	Belgium	136
1971	England	56	Belgium	176	France	186
1972	England	84	Morocco	94	Belgium	140

Junior Men's Individual Results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1940 (unofficial) 5 mi (8.0 km)	England	27:51	France	28:00	England	28:09
1961 4.7 mi (7.5 km)	England	26:20.4	Alan Simpson  England	26:24.4	Mariano Haro  Spain	26:25.2
1962 4.7 mi (7.5 km)	Morocco	25:05	England Martin Heath  England	25:23
1963 4.7 mi (7.5 km)	John Farrington  England	25:17.4	Ahmed Zammel  Tunisia	25:23.6	Lachie Stewart  Scotland	25:37.6
1964 4.7 mi (7.5 km)	Ian McCafferty  Scotland	24:20	England	24:45	England	24:45
1965 4.7 mi (7.5 km)	Belgium	21:36	Belgium	21:44	England	21:51
1966 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	Mike Tagg  England	21:26.4	England	21:35.3	Scotland	21:40.6
1967 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	Scotland	24:42	Eddy van Butsele  Belgium	24:44	Brooks Mileson  England	24:49
1968 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	England	20:59	Belgium	21:00	Morocco	21:02
1969 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	Dave Bedford  England	19:38	England	19:59	England	20:13
1970 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	John Hartnett  Ireland	21:57.2	England	22:05.2	Eric de Beck  Belgium	22:09.2
1971 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	Nick Rose  England	23:12.4	Ray Smedley  England	23:17.4	Scotland	24:02
1972 4.35 mi (7.0 km)	Aldo Tomasini  Italy	23:20	Scotland	23:35	Franco Fava  Italy	23:45

Junior Men's Team Results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1940 (unofficial)	France	34	England	60	Belgium	102
1961	England	11	Belgium	18	Spain	39
1962	England	9	Morocco	28	Scotland	37
1963	England	12	Spain	20	Scotland	24
1964	England	16	Scotland	17	Morocco	22
1965	Belgium	9	England	14	Morocco	34
1966	England	8	Belgium	21	Scotland	28
1967	England	12	Belgium	30	Scotland	33
1968	England	10	Tunisia	27	Morocco	29
1969	England	6	Ireland	21	Spain	27
1970	England	15	Belgium	15	Italy	34
1971	England	7	Scotland	30	Italy	39
1972	Italy	19	England	22	Morocco	26

Women's Individual Results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1931 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Gladys Lunn  England	11:12	England	11:25	France
1932 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Gladys Lunn  England	12:52	France	13:06	England	13:07
1935 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Nellie Halstead  England	20:06	England	20:12	England	20:18
1938 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	England	12:40	England	12:48	Belgium	12:51
1954 (unofficial) 2.5 mi (4.0 km)	Diane Leather  England	15:19	England	15:45	England	16:12
1955 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Diane Leather  England	16:08	England	16:31	England	16:45
1956 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	England	13:05	England	13:11	Diane Leather  England	13:12
1957 (unofficial) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Diane Leather  England	11:15	England	11:21	England	11:45
1967 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Doris Brown  United States	14:28	Rita Lincoln  England	15:05	Ireland	15:07
1968 2.8 mi (4.5 km)	Doris Brown  United States	15:00	United States	15:12	Pamela Davies  England	15:21
1969 2.5 mi (4.0 km)	Doris Brown  United States	14:46	United States	14:51	New Zealand	14:58
1970 (Vichy) 1.9 mi (3.0 km)	Paola Pigni  Italy	10:38.4	Poland	10:39.2	Ilja Keizer  Netherlands	10:43.8
1970 (Frederick) 2.5 mi (4.0 km)	Doris Brown  United States	15:04	Rita Lincoln  England	15:11	Thelma Fynn  Canada	15:14
1971 2.8 mi (4.5 km)	Doris Brown  United States	11:08.4	Berny Lenferink  Netherlands	11:21.2	Joyce Smith  England	11:23.2
1972 2.8 mi (4.5 km)	Joyce Smith  England	16:11	United States	16:13	Rita Ridley  England	16:19

Women's Team Results[]

Year	First		Second		Third
1931 (unofficial)	England	15	France	21	Belgium	42
1932 (unofficial)	England	14	France	22
1935 (unofficial)	England	10	Scotland	26
1938 (unofficial)	England	12	France	30	Belgium	36
1954 (unofficial)	England	10	Scotland	34
1955 (unofficial)	England	10	Scotland	34
1956 (unofficial)	England	10	Scotland	34
1957 (unofficial)	England	10	Scotland	34
1967	England	17	Ireland	35	Scotland	50
1968	United States	19	England	20	Scotland	55
1969	United States	23	New Zealand	35	England	37
1970 (Vichy)	Netherlands	19	France	39	Italy	45
1970 (Frederick)	England	18	United States	46	Ireland	48
1971	England	29	New Zealand	42	United States	51
1972	England	22	United States	40	Scotland	64

References[]

External links[]

• Athchamps results database (archived)
• Historical results from Association of Road Racing Statisticians