Long Form Dispatches: The English National Cross-Country Relays, Berry Hill, Mansfield

This is a revival of a piece from 2021 commissioned by SOAR running. There’s cross-country. And then there are the cross-country relays.  From here on, referred to as Mansfield. Listen to the podcast using headphones for the best audio experience and check out the extensive gallery to follow the story of how the National Cross-Country Relays, held in Mansfield since 1989, has become so adored by athletes from across the nation.  For many in the sport of running, the draw of cross-country is sometimes hard to comprehend, but for others, there’s nothing more exhilarating—especially when run as part of a relay.  An event like Mansfield, where it’s not so much athlete against athlete but club against club, presents clear wins for the argument of sport being a unifier. For being a force for good. For engaging communities. At Mansfield, you have a high-octane day of racing where community and competition mix seamlessly. A year, ten years or even a lifetime after racing here, runners still recall the twists and turns of the course, the panoply of club tents erected by the pond, and their duct-taped shoes ready to race. Mansfield is one of only a few events in the calendar where first timers, elites, young athletes and veterans unite to run XC for the greater good: their club. They say endurance running is all about commitment and nowhere have we seen it play out to such an extent as here in Berry Hill Park.  Mansfield, we applaud you.  Audio: Danny Easton Photos: Phil Gale and Emmie Collinge, a former Mansfield Harrier with a lifetime allegiance to the club. Famously first back on leg one as an U15 in 2002.