Each winter Penny Lane Striders compete in the North West Sunday Cross Country League.  There are six races in the series, with our men and women competing against runners from other clubs across the region. 

​Each race is hosted by one of the region's running clubs.  The season often starts with our home race at Clarkes Gardens in Allerton, before moving on to areas such as  Beacon Park  near Skelmersdale,  Arrowe Park, Stadt Moers Park in Knowsley, Runcorn Town Park (including two climbs up the dreaded  ski slope) and Birchwood Country Park, where conquering the infamous  water hazard is the key to success...

Penny Lane also take part in  Liverpool and District Cross Country Union. races. These are free to all club members, and take place on Saturday afternoons with the exception of the Championship race which is on a Sunday morning.

For those new to running or who have not ventured much off road before, we hope you will give cross country a try. The season runs from October-March and races involve local parks through grasslands and woodlands and usually involving mud. Because of this, different shoes (XC ‘spikes’) are recommended to give additional grip. We recognize that you may not wish to buy a pair just to try it out! So, as part of our aim to widen participation in off road running we have purchased some pairs of XC running shoes (with spikes) which can be borrowed by members for training and racing. You can find the link below.

Cross Country Race Schedule 25/26

Below is the most up to date list of fixtures (November 2025 Update). Please contact [email protected] for any queries.

How does it work?

Unlike road running, the time that you finish a cross country race in isn't important: it is purely and simply about finishing as high up the field as possible. The first 6 men and first 3 women to finish from each team contribute to that team's overall score. Runners finishing outside of these places still help by pushing down  other team members' placings. So it really is a club effort!

What is it like?

  • It's an excellent supplement to your road training building, increased strength and acceleration.
  • Its 30 to 45 minutes of glory and mud;
  • Its an opportunity to try on weird spiked shoes;
  • It's about hills, bogs, swamps, hills, water, frozen fingers and hills;
  • Its about never cancelling because of weather;
  • Its about tea, coffee, sarnies and biccies afterwards in some sort of community hall, all for the princely sum of 50p;
  • It's about keeping that 10k near Manchester that you are doing secret;
  • Its about leaving your muddy wet spikes in the garage between seasons and then plucking up the courage to put them on race day.
Cross Country (XC) Championship
The Club XC Championship is based upon results in the North West Cross Country League races. In each race, the first man and first woman from the Club scores 50 points, the second man and second woman scores 49 points, and so on. At the end of the league season, the best 5 scores count for each club member.  For both the mens and womens championship the person with the highest total points score is declared the XC Championship winner and the second is the runner-up. The next highest veteran (40+ years) is declared the Men’s Vet winner, and the next veteran is the Vet runner-up. The Womens Vet category is 35+ years.
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