Cross country is the grass roots of our sport and basically a fun and enjoyable run around 2-3 laps of wet and usually muddy fields/woodland. It's very basic and cost effective but very spectator friendly, an ideal afternoon out for the family. The males race is normally anything between 6-10k and the females usually about 5-7k. The five fixtures are within reasonable travelling distance and as an individual you don't need to do them all as others count for team score. If you want to do them all that's also fine. The races are usually on Sundays and have a late morning or early afternoon start. Entry for the races is free (sponsored bty the club) depending on numbers. Tim Hawkins will keep everyone updated with times of races and any other changes. 

There will also from time to time be other major races further afield that Tim will try and persuade you all to do!

If you are interested in taking part or for more information e-mail Tim or Debbie Neal (ladies team rep.)

Wessex Cross Country League fixtures for 2012/13 season - all fixtures in 2012:

Sunday 30 September - Canford Heath Middle School, Canford Heath - results.
Sunday 21 October 2012 - Ham Hill - for Tim's update click here - for course map click here - for results click here.
Sunday 25 November - Hudsons Hields, Salisbury
Sunday 16 December - Canford School, Canford Magna

All events commence with senior races (reversal from previous years) at 12.00 p.m.

For rules and application/entry forms please click here - but let Tim Hawkins know if you plan to take part in these races and he will include you in the club's entry.

Full details on the Team Dorset website: www.teamdorsetathletics.co.uk.

Additional information

Here is the text of (and links provided by) an email received from Ian Kennedy on 27 August:

A new cross-country season is fast approaching. It’s been a busy summer for the Wessex Cross-Country League with many hours put into improving what we can offer in the coming season. A decision was taken to start our season early and complete our 4 league races before Christmas. This is to avoid the usual fixture congestion that occurs each year in January and February, where aside from league XC races there are County, Regional, Southern, Inter-Counties and National Championships as well as Schools Championships for our juniors.

The Wessex League continues to offer races for seniors right through to the youngest club runners, and once again we hope to see clubs taking advantage of the limited opportunities that exist for their under-11 athletes. Many, perhaps most, of the clubs who compete in Wessex Cross-Country League also compete in other cross-country leagues (i.e. Gwent, Hampshire, Oxford), our aim is for the Wessex League to be complementary to the leagues in the neighbouring regions and we have endeavoured, where possible, to avoid fixture clashes. The first race of the season is on Sunday 30 September in Poole, then 21 October –  Ham Hill, 25 November – Salisbury, and our final fixture, where awards will be presented post-race, will be at Canford School, Wimborne on 16 December.

The biggest change since last season is the backing and support of Team Dorset in the administration of the league. Team Dorset Athletics Network currently includes Bournemouth AC, Dorchester AC, Poole AC, Poole Runners, Weymouth St. Paul's Harriers & AC and Wimborne AC.

The aim is to improve the result service and quality of information available to participating clubs. With this as the aim, a new Wessex League web page has been set up within the Team Dorset website. The website address is www.teamdorsetathletics.co.uk click on ‘Competition’, then ‘Wessex League-Cross-Country’.

For the first time, competitors will run with race numbers (which are to be retained for the season), instead of using the ‘ticket’ system of previous years. This change has been introduced in a bid to improve the results service and enable speedy updates to the ‘Power of 10' and Athletics Weekly

The full ‘Rules and Regulations’ are attached (here) and we look forward to welcoming you to the Wessex League 2012/2013.

2011/12 Cross Country Season

The club again put out senior team/s in both the men's and women's sections of the Wessex Cross Country League. Both put up strong performances finishing up in top spot of their respective leagues.

For the full results for the season click here and for a summary of the final senior positions click here.

2010/11 Cross Country Season

This year (2010/11) has seen exceptional success in the Wessex Cross Country League for the club's ladies team, winning the individual and team events in all four rounds of the senior ladies competition.
it was something of a clean sweep for them.

Anna Lewis was first and Jill Harrison the second overall points scorer, Nicky Guiver leading points scorer in the 40 to 44 category and Jill Harrison in the 45 to 50 category. No-one else really got a look in. In fact the ladies won every category they were represented in.