Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter, and can include weather conditions of rain, sleet, snow or hail, and a wide range of temperatures.

Although open-air running competitions are prehistoric, the rules and traditions of cross country racing emerged in Britain.

Coaches and cross country runners debate the relative merits of fast starts to get clear of the field, versus steady pacing to maximize physiological efficiency.

[10] In 1819, boys at Shrewsbury School asked their headmaster, Dr Butler, if they could form a fox-hunting club, and he refused.

Thus the terminology of hunting with dogs became associated with cross country running, with the leaders being called the hares, and the chasing pack the hounds.

The Scottish King Malcolm III is said to have summoned men to race up Craig Choinnich overlooking Braemar with the aim of finding the fastest runner in Scotland to be his royal messenger, and a 1540 manuscript in the British Museum describes a run across Roodee, also known as Chester Racecourse, for a prize of "six glayves of silver.

"[12][13][14] William Shakespeare, writing in the early 17th century, has Sir John Falstaff tell Prince Henry, "I would give a thousand pounds, I could run as fast as thou canst," and Samuel Pepys in his diary for 10 August 1660 describes going to Hyde Park to see, "a fine foot-race three times round the Park between an Irishman and Crow, that was once my Lord Claypoole's footman.

"[15][16] In his diary for the year 1720, whilst he was an undergraduate at Oxford university, Sir Erasmus Phillips (1699–1743) later the MP for Haverfordwest, describes how he rode out to Woodstock Park one afternoon where he was one of, "a most prodigious concourse of people," who saw a four-mile foot race between the duke of Wharton's footman and Mr Diston's footman.

At Eton College, the chasing pack were known as Beagles, but in many other places they are called Harriers (a breed of dog used largely for hunting hares).

[19][20] By the early 1850s, athletic clubs had started holding their own paper chases as a form of training, the sport was seen at Oxford University by that time and a national championship was first held on 7 December 1867.

It was not particularly well organised, many runners went off course, and it was declared void and had to be rerun, but it was a start and the championship has been held over the distance of 10 miles (16,093 metres) since 1877.

In 1869, Thames Hare and Hounds, the world's first cross country running club, was formed in the same area of south west London, and the same year William C. Vosburgh of New York introduced the sport to the United States.

Then also in 1883 the National Cross-Country Union was formed, with Walter Rye, the founder of Thames Hare and Hounds, as first President.

The Scottish Cross Country Union was formed in 1886 and held their first national championship at Lanark in March of that year, and the United States followed suit in 1887.

The first cross country relay for which there is definite evidence was organised by Hampstead Harriers at their club headquarters, the Green Man pub in East Finchley, also on Boxing Day, Wednesday 26 December 1906.

[22] Women were largely excluded from the sport for many years due to a widespread but false perception that it was injurious to their health and reproductive ability.

[26] One athlete began to run in tight circles after reaching the stadium and later knocked himself unconscious,[27] while another fainted 50 meters from the finish.

[28] José Andía and Edvin Wide were reported dead,[29] and medics spent hours trying to find all the competitors who had blacked out along the course.

[28] Although the reports of deaths were unfounded, spectators were shocked by the attrition rate and Olympic officials decided to ban cross country running from future games.

In 2020, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe pushed to bring the sport to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, but the IOC rejected this proposal.

In high school, the races are far-reaching and tend to be the main talent pool, especially at the senior level, for university or national-level runners.

An example would be schools near Ouston, County Durham which compete as part of Chester-le-Street & District Primary Cross Country Association.

The USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, first held in 2001, has raced for boys and girls in five two-year age divisions.

[43] Most American universities and colleges field men's and women's cross country teams as part of their athletic program.

[47] Wisconsin After these eight regionals, the Nike Cross Nationals itself will take place on December 7, 2024 at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon.

The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, sponsored by HOKA, are managed similarly, with four regionals instead of eight, detailed in the chart below.

[48] Charlotte, NC Boston, MA Physical leanness is desirable to achieve competitive success in cross country running.

[70] Following professional runner Mary Cain's 2019 account of how the competitive pressures of long distance running contributed to her eating disorder,[71] many other prominent female cross country athletes have tried to bring attention to the issue of eating disorders in the sport.