The Fukuoka International Cross Country is an annual

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

competition which takes place in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in either late February or Early March. It is one of the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

. First held in 1987, the Fukuoka Cross Country is held at the National Cross Country Course near the Uminonakamichi Seaside Park in

Higashi-ku, Fukuoka is one of the seven Wards of Japan, wards of Fukuoka in Japan. As of 1 March 2012, it has a population of 296,576, with 136,133 households and an area of 66.68 km2. Its name literally means "east ward". Kashii, Japan, Kashii is in this ...

.第２４回福岡国際クロスカントリー大会
. Japanese Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved on 2010-02-28. The course is a purpose-built cross country venue that was created as the host course for the

2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on April 1/2, 2006. The races were held at the Umi-no-nakamichi Seaside Park in Fukuoka, Japan, Japan's National Cross Country Course which is the permanent residence of the annual Fukuo ...

. The meet features a competition schedule of eight races.Nakamura, Ken (2009-03-05)
Home selection for Amman central to Fukuoka Cross Country - PREVIEW

. Retrieved on 2010-02-28. These include a senior men's course (10 km) and a senior women's course (6 km). A total of four junior races take place, with long courses of 8 km for men and 6 km for women, as well as 4 km short course for both junior sexes. Furthermore, there are two

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

s for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

athletes which have legs of 2 km per runner. Four of the races act as qualifiers for the World Cross Country Championship: the men's 10 km and the women's 6 km allow athletes to enter the senior world competition while the junior men's 8 km and junior women's 6 km enable runners to qualify for the junior section of the championships. The competition is one of three in which Japanese athletes can qualify for the World Championships; the others being the annual

Chiba International Cross Country The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Champio ...

and the biennial

Asian Cross Country Championships The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held e ...

. A small contingent of foreign athletes are invited each year, but the fields of each race largely comprise Japanese runners.Nakamura, Ken & Onishi, Akihiro (2008-03-01)
Kuira, Konovalova prevail at Fukuoka Cross Country

. Retrieved on 2010-02-28. Previous winners include Olympic gold medallist

Samuel Wanjiru Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...

, who first won at the age of 16,Kenyan, Canadian athletes split Fukuoka cross country titles
''

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

'' (2003-03-02). Retrieved on 2010-02-28. and won three times consecutively between 2003 and 2005.Nakamura, Ken (2004-02-29)
Wanjiru and Ichikawa take Fukuoka XC wins

. Retrieved on 2010-02-28. World and Olympic gold medallist

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including O ...

has also competed, winning the 2005 women's race. The competition is televised on local

Japan News Network The , or JNN, is a Japanese commercial television network run by TBS Television. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of national television news bulletins to its regional affiliates, and news exchange between the stations. Its m ...

channels by the

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

. The Fukuoka Cross Country meeting is one of the prefecture's top annual

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

events, along with the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship.

Past senior race winners

Key: *''Note: Race data unavailable prior to 1995.''

References

External links

Japanese Athletics Association website
{{IAAF Cross Country Meetings Cross country running competitions Athletics competitions in Japan Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Cross country Cross country running in Japan Annual sporting events in Japan 1987 establishments in Japan