The 2025-26 cross country season: an overview
Elizabeth Egan | Oct 09, 2025
The IUAA University Cross champions will be decided in Dublin this Saturday, while the World Championships will be held in early January for the very first time. Here’s what we might expect from the three-month-long, action-packed cross country season.
Intervarsity Cross Country Championships, Dublin, Saturday 11th October 2025
In its new October home, entries for the IUAA Intervarsity Cross Country Championships are likely to be affected by an Athletics Ireland endurance camp currently taking place in Font Romeu. That said, universities from across the island will bring colour and enthusiasm to Tymon Park, and up-and-coming athletes will seize the opportunity to shine.
Pierre Murchan (TCD), Callum Morgan (QUB) and Niall Murphy (UL) took the individual honours in the men's race last year while University of Galway won the team title. Fiona Everard (University of Galway), Amy Greene (DCU) and Hannah Gilliland (QUB) won the individual medals in the women's race, while DCU took the team title just two points ahead of UCC.
The women's race on Saturday, which kicks off at 2pm, will be followed shortly after by the men at 2.30pm.
Autumn Cross Country and National Cross Country relays, Dublin, 18 October 2025
While many of the big names will likely skip this one, among the current entries for the senior races at the Autumn International Cross Country - which have not closed at the time of writing - are 2023 National Champion Fiona Everard and Euro Cross Country U23 and Senior representatives Cathal O’Reilly, William Fitzgearld, Micheál Power and Callum Morgan.
Athletes from Loughborough and Cambridge make up the international challenge this year, with last year’s winner Sophie Tarver expected to lead the way.
Entries for the National Senior Cross Country relay, which open the programme, include a host of Irish middle distance talent, including 2024 Olympian Jodie McCann, senior international Pierre Murchan, and European U23 1500m medallist Eimear Maher. There should be an exciting battle between Dublin City Harriers and Dundrum South Dublin for the title.
Competitive trials for the Masters’ Cross Country International and the National Juvenile relays will add to the atmosphere of the event in Abbotstown, which always looks splendid at this time of year.
The NCAA season, various
The US collegiate season is already underway, but the climax of the season very much coincides with the main events on Irish soil. The last big meets before conference championships take place next weekend, with the Nuttycombe Invitational and other events likely to include Irish interest.
The majority of the Division I Conference Championships take place on 31st October and 1st November, with nine Regional qualifiers on 14th November deciding the teams and individuals who will make it to the ‘big dance’ on 22nd November.
Twelve Irish athletes competed in the NCAA Division I Nationals last year, with Dean Casey 30th in the men's race and Anika Thompson 32nd in the women's race. Both are eligible to compete again this year.
A number of Irish athletes compete for Division II schools, and may earn a spot at Euro Cross via their performance at the Division II Nationals, also on 22nd November.
Irish National Cross Country Championships, Derry, 23 November 2025
The National Championships head to Ulster for the third time in four years as Derry plays host to the battle for national titles and the much-coveted spots on the European Cross Country team.
The first three in the U20 and Senior races will gain automatic selection for Lagoa, while the top two in the U23 categories will also be rewarded with Euro Cross selection.
But there are also national titles on the line. Keelan Kilrehill and Ann-Marie McGlynn are reigning senior champions, while Niall Murphy and Emma McEvoy, who took the U23 titles in 2024, are both young enough to defend their titles, as is Lucy Foster in the U20 category. Jonas Stafford, who made the U20 team three years in a row, moves up to what could be a very competitive men’s U23 category.
There have been nine different winners of the Senior men’s title in the past nine editions, Among those trying to make that 10 different winners in a row is Nick Griggs, an U23 in search of his first National senior title on any surfaces. The 2023 champions Cormac and Fiona Everard are others likely to be in contention in the senior races.
Club champions will also be decided, with the top two teams in U20 and Senior categories earning the right to represent Ireland at the European Clubs Cross Country in February.
Other domestic championships, various
Dublin Championships, Leinster and Munster Senior Championships, plus the Connaught Senior League will take place between the Autumn Cross Country and the National Cross Country Championships. The Ulster and Northern Ireland Senior Championships will be held in early February. Athletes with eligibility will also have the opportunity to race Novice and Intermediate championships, the later which will be held alongside the National Masters Championships in February.
European Cross Country Championships, Lagoa (Portugal), 14th December 2025
Having finished 4th in Dublin in 2021 and in Brussels in 2023, could 2025 finally be the year that the current generation of Irish senior men win Euro Cross team medals? Having finished second in both the U20 race (2022) and the U23 race (2024), is it time for Nick Griggs to finally win a European Cross Country title? These are just some of the questions that will be answered in the Algarve on Sunday 14th December.
The European Cross Country Championships is the pinnacle of the cross country season for most of the continent’s athletes. Indeed, for some, it will be their only cross country race of the year. The event has become a happy hunting ground for Irish athletes, and silverware has been brought home every edition since Portugal last hosted the event in 2019.
While Griggs, second in the U23 race, was the only Irish medallist in Antalya two years ago, the U23 men's team finished 4th, with all three scorers young enough to compete again this year, and the U23 women weren't a million miles from a medal either.
It appears that Ireland will send teams in all the individual races. Depending on who is available, there is also the possibility of an Irish mixed relay team. The team will be announced after the final selections are made on 25 November.
World Cross Country Championships, Talahassee FL (USA), 10th January 2026
The World Cross Country Championships will be held in January for the first time. In what seems like an attempt to maintain some interest in World Athletics’ once flagship endurance event, the global event will fall just four weeks after the continental championships.
While the Athletics Ireland selection policy has not yet been published, it’s expected that results at the National Championships in November and the European Championships in December will determine the size and composition of Ireland’s team for Tallahassee.
Eight athletes, including Fiona Everard, Danielle Donegan, Keelan Kilrehill and Hugh Armstrong in the senior races, made the journey to Belgrade for the last edition in 2024. The timing in the calendar, plus the location of the event, may mean enough athletes available to justify full senior teams.
World Cross Country Tour and other international competitions
World Cross Country Tour events take place across Europe - with a few races also in Africa - right throughout the season. Efrem Gidey and Cormac Dalton are among the Irish who have used World Tour events to sharpen up for Euro Cross in recent seasons.
The European Clubs Cross Country Championship will be held in February.
While most of the events fall too close to National and European Championships for Irish athletes, some may appear at the Cardiff Cross Challenge on 8th November and one or two other events across the winter.
A small number of Irish athletes have eligibility to compete in English (and other home nation) championships and the British University (BUCS) Championships, thereby extending their cross country seasons well into the spring.
English National is always worth a watch, especially the start of the Senior Men’s race, which sometimes includes as many as 2000 starters, and the British University championships does its best to replicate the colour and team rivalry of its US equivalent, albeit usually on a muddier course!
There’s plenty to look forward to over the next few months. Expect mud, sweat, tears, and a few surprises.
