The Chiba 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

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

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 mid-February. 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 ...

. Initiated in 1966,Chiba International Crosscountry

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2009-02-15). Retrieved on 2010-02-12. the Chiba Cross Country is held in Showa-No-Mori Park and features a competition schedule of eight races. These include a senior men's long course (12 km), a senior women's course (6 km), and a senior men's short course (4 km). Furthermore, there are three races for junior athletes which are of shorter distances, as well as two 3 km races 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 ...

runners.Nakamura, Ken (2010-02-12)
Chiba Cross Country to determine Japanese World Cross teams – Preview

. Retrieved on 2010-02-12. Four of the races act as qualifiers for the World Cross Country Championship: the men's 12 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 5 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

Fukuoka International Cross Country The Fukuoka International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan in either late February or Early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying ...

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 ...

. Over a thousand runners compete at the meeting each year, although the attendance record set in 1991 featured nearly twice as many participants. A select number of international athletes are invited to compete each year, although the majority of the field typically comprise a mix of Japanese runners and Japan-based

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n athletes. Previous winners include Olympic gold medallists

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 ...

and

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL ( om, Daraartuu Tulluu, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. She won 10,0 ...

, eight-time European cross country champion

Serhiy Lebid Serhiy Lebid or Serhii Lebid ( uk, Сергій Лебідь; born 15 July 1975 in Dnipropetrovsk) is a Ukrainian long-distance runner. Career He has won the European Cross Country championships on nine occasions, winning ...

, and

Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 December 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously ...

– twice winner of the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

. The competition is televised on the

NHK BS-1 , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestria ...

channel by the

Japan Broadcasting Corporation , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

, the country's public broadcaster. After the

International Chiba Ekiden The Ekiden#Other_Major_Ekiden_Events_in_Japan, International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race (athletics), relay race, or ekiden as it is known in ...

, the Chiba International Cross Country is the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

's premier

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 ...

event.Nakamura, Ken (2009-02-15)
Karoki and Shimizu the winners at Chiba Cross Country

. Retrieved on 2010-02-12. The Chiba International Cross Country has also hosted the Asian Cross Country Championship race on two occasions (1995, 1997).

Past senior race winners

*''Note: Race data unavailable prior to 1987.'' Key: ''(All other men's races 12 km and women's races 6 km)''

References

;General
Chiba International Crosscountry

(2009-02-15). Retrieved on 2010-02-12. ;Specific

External links

Japanese Athletics Association websiteShowa-no-mori park website
{{IAAF Cross Country Meetings Cross country running competitions Athletics competitions in Japan Recurring sporting events established in 1966 Sport in Chiba (city) Cross country running in Japan Winter events in Japan