The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, 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 that takes place in mid-December in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It is part of the Lotto Cross Cup series of races and is classed as an

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 meeting, making athletes' performances eligible for qualification into 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 ...

. Thousands of runners compete in the meeting each year, based in

Laeken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the ...

park, and amateur 5K and 10K races take place in addition to the professional races.Hendrix, Ivo (2006-12-17)
Powerful wins for Chepkok and Erkesso in Brussels

. Retrieved on 2010-02-08. The meeting was postponed in 2008 because the

European Cross Country Championships The European Cross Country Championships is an annual international cross country running competition. Organised by the European Athletic Association, it is the area championships for the region and is held in December each year. The championships ...

(previously scheduled to take place in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

) had to be moved to the Brussels course following difficulties due to the weather. The quality of the competition is high, with past winners including multiple world champions

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

and

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

.Ethiopian doubles up in Brussels
''People Daily'' (2005-12-19). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.

Past senior race winners

20091122 Veerle Dejaeghere Warandeloop 2009

References

External links

Official Lotto Cross Cup series website
{{IAAF Cross Country Meetings Cross country running competitions Athletics in Belgium Sport in Brussels Cross country running in Belgium Annual sporting events in Belgium