Cross Country, Road & Trail

CANTERBURY RUNNING | CROSS COUNTRY

BE INVOLVED

Cross-Country, Road and Trail running covers all running that occurs outside an athletics stadium. It offers running opportunities for a diverse range of runners.

Cross-country is run around loops over mixed terrain including grass, sand, and forest floor. Each loop is about 2k with event distances ranging from 4k to 10k for adults and 1k to 3k for those U16. For our 2025 season the Cross Country team have created an exciting series of races that sees people run in Hagley Park, over the hillier terrain found on the reclaimed hills of Bottle lake, through Rawhiti Domain and, over the ups and downs of Ascot Park.
Road racing (and Race Walking) is on hard surfaces with distances ranging from shortish loops to longer scenic events. The Governors Bay to Lyttelton ( the Canterbury 10k Championships) is run as a chasing start which means the faster people start later while the Canterbury Mile Champs will be a mass start with a straight line to the finish. Both will be exciting!
Trail runs take you literally off the beaten track. The Crater Rim event offers multiple options from 10k to 53k which will take you all over the Port Hills and the 10k Boulder Bay is a loop over the beautiful Godley Head.

The full programme of events available in Canterbury is outlined below. While these events are tailored for our registered club runners, those outside clubs are welcome to join in. Details of the various events on offer are covered on our information websites. The Cross Country website has details for the first part of the season and the Road website will be available in May.

Winter programme 2025

Club Race Call Information 2025

New Zealand CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 - Team Information

National Cross Country Championships – 2025

Venue: North Hagley Park – Christchurch
Date: Saturday 2nd August 2025

Event information is available on the Athletics New Zealand COMPETITION / EVENT page.

https://athletics.org.nz/competition/events/

Athletics Canterbury TEAM – North Hagley Park (2nd August 2025).
Canterbury Selectors: Kevin Prendergast, Shona Brown & Ben Musson

SELECTION POLICY

Athletes must start in the 2025 Canterbury Cross Country Championships unless they have advised a Selector of a valid reason for not participating.
An athlete will be selected, if available, if they finish in the 1st or 2nd place positions in the Canterbury Championships in the following grades: Senior Men, Senior Women, Men U20, Women U20, Men U18, Women U18, Masters Men 35-49, Masters Women 35-49, Masters Men 50+, Masters Women 50+ and Masters Men 65+
Other athletes may be included if, in the opinion of the Selectors, they are likely to acquit themselves well at the New Zealand Cross Country Championships.
The Selectors may include further team members to ensure that a complete team is available to compete in a grade.

NZ ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 - Team Information

National Road 10km Road Championships 2025 – Club & Team Information

The National Road 10km Road Championships is now a Club-based event and including Centre Team medals for the first 3 Teams of four from a Centre, so there is no longer any Canterbury Selection Criteria. Athletes need to make their own entry and travel arrangements.

Details of the Athletic NZ 10k Regulations link are shown below

Venue: Cambridge
Date: Saturday 30th August 2025

Event information is available on the Athletics New Zealand COMPETITION / EVENT page.

https://athletics.org.nz/competition/events/

The Athletics NZ 10k Regulations can be found at Pages 50 & 51 of

Competition-Regulation-16-July-2024.pdf (athletics.org.nz) and including

The counting members for the Centre Team events shall be the first four (4) members of each team. The team with the lowest number of points (taking the grade placing of each competitor as the number of points) shall win the Teams race in the respective event.
In association with the championships, an annual Inter-Club 10k Road Running Team Race