England Athletics/ECCA/Area/League Cross Country Update

England Athletics is pleased to announce that we have begun making steps towards a restricted return to Cross Country competition. On the 27^th August 2020 we held a meeting with the Cross Country community, including the ECCA, the areas, and some league organisers to agree on the following proposed timeline for a return to Cross Country Competition:

Mid-September to mid-October – Pilot XC Competitions

5^th October – Licence application process opens

17^th October – Licensed Cross Country competition can resume

These dates are provisional and will be adapted if necessary, with any additional Government guidance that is issued.

Cross Country competition will be unable to resume in the traditional format, adaptations will have to be made based on the current circumstances regarding the virus. However, England Athletics believe this is an exciting step forward for the Cross-Country community and we are currently working on guidance with the named organisations to support competition providers in providing a safe return to adapted cross country competition.

We are aiming for a version of the guidance to be published for competition organisers on W/C 14^th September 2020. It will be the decision of the competition provider whether they will host competitions given the restrictions within the guidance. The 2020/21 XC fixture dates are below. All cross-country dates will remain ring fenced until further notice. Due to the licensing timeline above all have agreed the first league fixture date in October will be cancelled. All licensed competitions will be published on the England Athletics website when licensing opens.

Cross Country fixture lists subject to change and race formats to be confirmed subject to guidance.

10^th October               League 1 Cancelled

17^th October               Area XC Relays tbc

31^st October                ECCA XC Relays

7^th November             League 2

28^th November           UK Cross Challenge & European Trials

5^th December              League 3

13^th December           European XC, Ireland

9^th January                  County XC Champs

16^th January                League 4

30^th January                Area Cross Country Championships

13^th February             League 5

20^th February             CAU IC XC & World Trials

6^th March                    ECCA National XC

13^th March                  League 6

20^th March                  World XC Champs, Australia

20^th March                  English Schools XC Champs

27^th March                  SIAB Schools International

All fixtures are subject to confirmation by event organisers and subject to government guidance updates.