Cross Country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4-12 kilometres long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method.
Cross country running is one of the disciplines under the umbrella sport of athletics and is a natural-terrain version of long-distance track and road running.
