Largest Field Ever For Club Cross Country Championships Saturday

Published by Runner's World on December 8, 2014

The USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, to be held on December 13 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has smashed the previous entry record. The four competitions–women’s open 6K, women's masters 6K, men’s open 10K, and men’s masters 10K–also appear to have the fastest fields ever.

Registration for the races has topped 1,800. The previous record size for the meet was 1,225 in Seattle in 2011, said Mike Scott, chair of the USATF Cross Country Council.

“We’re excited about the Lehigh Championships and so, clearly, are our nation’s cross country runners,” said Scott. “Lehigh has an historic course that is one of the few that can fairly accommodate large packs of runners at the start and early sections of the course.”

Last year’s women’s open winner, Laura Thweatt, is returning to defend her title, as is perennial 60+ champ Kathy Martin. Thweatt is expected to face strong competition from Neely Spence, Emily Infield, and Juliet Bottorff.