The men’s under-20 squad was the only podium finisher on the day, while Parker Wolfe and Ednah Kurgat were the top men's and women's finishers on Saturday. Written by Cory Mull TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Parker Wolfe kept it simple describing his effort on Saturday at the World Cross Country Championships.  “I was just gonna hang tough, man," he said.   With temperatures rising steadily heading into the final race of the day just after noon local time, navigating the distance, the obstacles and the heat became a three-pronged approach for athletes at Apalachee Regional Park.  And with that said, the American men walked away with an admirable result, finishing fourth overall behind winners Ethiopia (30), Kenya (34) and Uganda (39).  Left to right: Jacob Kiplimo, Daniel Simiu Ebenyo & Tadese Worku // Photo via Jan Figueroa The U.S. men, racing on home soil in a world championship for the first time since 1992, were seventh in Belgrade, Serbia and sixth in Bathurst, Australia — the last two world competitions held in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The American's result on Saturday, then, was among their best in quite some time. Just over 7,500 fans showed up to watch, with many sporting costumes and waving flags bearing the distinction of their nations. According to Visit Tallahassee, around $5 million in economic impact is expected to drive from the event itself. Nearing 80 degrees and almost 100-degree humidity, the 22-year-old Wolfe and the 26-year-old Wesley Kiptoo spurred the U.S.contingent, claiming 12th- and 14th-place performances, while Graham Blanks was 19th and Nico Young was 39th. Ahmed Muhumed was 46th.  “I thought I could be top 20, top 15 maybe on a good day,” Wolfe said. “I was so close to top 10, I was so close to that top 10. I heard people saying it. I just had nothing left. Proud of the effort, for sure.”  Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, the winner of the last two world cross country championship races in 2023 and 2024, earned his trifecta on Saturday with a final time of 28 minutes and 18 seconds (solidifying his place as an all-timer in the format). Meanwhile, Berihu Aregawi led the Ethiopian men in the team results, claiming a second-place nod just 18 seconds later. Frenchmen Yann Schrub was the first European across the line in 11th.  What preceded the American finishes, however, was some unfortunate news. The U.S. was dealt a blow less than 24 hours before race time when Wake Forest athlete Rocky Hansen, who finished second at the U.S. Championships in December, opted against competing after picking up an undisclosed ailment. The decision prevented the U.S. from bringing in a replacement and meant that the team raced with just five men on the line. As for the conditions, Wolfe relayed that the race, which saw athletes traverse mud, water, sand, hurdles and a 14-foot ramp, became increasingly difficult with each passing lap on the 2,000-meter course. “It got really hard. It was hot. It was one of the hardest efforts I’ve ever had,” he said.  Wolfe arrived in the northwestern Florida city from Flagstaff, Arizona, where he said the temperatures were “30 degrees.” Save for a couple days in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he trained for a short stint, he said the day harkened back to his NCAA Championship in 2023 in Charlottesville, Virginia, when temperatures also played a difference.  Elsewhere, the championship spurred reflection from Blanks, a former NCAA champion and Olympian. He left feeling a bit bittersweet about his outcome. “I feel like I’m at a point in my career where I’m at the bottom of the food chain,” he said. “I’m having a hard time dealing with that because I go into every race with the intention to win. When you have that mentality and you’re not on that level to do so — my mentality is not matching reality right now. I guess it’s a good problem to have.” A Return To Tallahassee, And Good Vibes On the early morning bus ride to Apalachee Regional Park, Linden Hall was deep in her feelings. Deep in nostalgia. Deep in past memories. She opened her iPhone and searched for a newly-created race day mix, then hit play.  Out came Katy Perry’s “ Roar ” and Ke$ha’s “ Tik Tok ” – songs released over a decade earlier in 2013 and 2009.  The familiarity didn’t go unnoticed, because for Hall, a three-time Olympian who raced at Florida State from 2011-2014 , it reminded her quite fondly of a college career that provided her so much success. “I felt like I had a thousand dress rehearsals,” she said of the ARP course. “Even though it was 10 years ago, it came right back. It was nice.”  Those positive vibrations remained in the mixed relay, where Hall combined with Oli Hoare, Jack Anstey and Jessica Hull to secure Australia the victory in 22:23, giving the Aussies a three-second cushion over France.  Two years earlier, Australia didn’t even field a team.  Jessica Hull crosses the finish line to give Australia's mixed relay team gold at the World XC Championships // Photo via Jan Figueroa Turns out, there’s a story behind that, too. Hall spent months advocating the Australian athletics federation to send a team to Tallahassee. “Every time I would see the right person, I would say, ‘ Tallahassee, Tallahassee . We’ve got to send a team. I gotta go. I have to be there.’ Maybe they listened. Or maybe it’s the fact that we have such great depth – men’s and women’s, 1,500m, 5k, 800m as well. Having the numbers, it was stupid not to send a team. We rallied off each other.”  Elsewhere, the U.S. foursome of Ethan Strand, Sage Hurta-Klecker, Wes Porter and Gracie Morris were fifth. The U.S. women, meanwhile, scored two top 20 finishes on their way to a fourth-place finish, led by Ednah Kurgat, who finished 10th overall. “I just wanted to run my own race, start off conservative and try to catch up in the end,” she said.  Kurgat’s strategy worked perfectly. After navigating her first lap in 19th, she steadily picked off runners, moving up to 12th by the 6k mark and finishing inside the top 10.  Karissa Schweizer was 17th and Katie Izzo was 24th while NC State’s Grace Hartman rounded out the scoring in 32nd. Weini Kelati, a top 10 finisher in Serbia in 2024, struggled over the final 2,000 meters and finished 40th.  Like Kurgat, Schweizer’s experience paid off. Seven years earlier, in her last trip to world cross country, she was 56th in Aarhus, Denmark. On Saturday, she knew to be patient. “Everyone just went for it and you’re just like, ‘OK,’” she said. “You kind of find yourself in no man’s for a little bit. I knew myself and I couldn’t go right out of the back. They’ll come back to me. I fought for every spot.” The U.S. Under-20 Squad Bags Podium At The World Cross Country Championships One of the worst possible situations befell Tyler Daillak on lap two of the men’s under-20 race. His shoe, already untied from the previous water pit, now was fully off after traversing through the mud. “I was like, ‘uh oh,’” he said.  But Daillak, a Cal Poly freshman who ran unattached in 2025, didn’t panic. He kept racing. Kept his head in the zone. “My coach told me what to do,” said Daillak, who qualified for Foot Locker XC National Championships as a high school senior for San Luis Obispo Paso Robles in 2024. “(He said), ‘Expect a good result, but plan – mentally be prepared and envision the race before going bad. You want to stay calm.’” Tyler Daillak competing in the U20 race at the World XC Championships // Photo via Jan Figueroa Daillak was 31st after the first kilometer, then worked his way up to 20th by the end of the first lap. He didn’t lose ground at any point afterward – despite, you know, having only one shoe on for the remaining 4,000 meters – and finished 16th overall, the top American finisher. His performance highlighted a U.S. foursome that finished 34 seconds apart and produced the only podium finish of the day. Two-time national champion Jackson Spencer was 18th in 25:00 while Daniel Skandera was 19th (25:02) and Aidan Torres was 22nd (25:20).  In the women’s under-20 6,000-meter race, Nike Cross Nationals runner-up Blair Bartlett – a first-year runner from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey – was the top finisher, crossing the line in 20:36. “My strategy was just to get out there and race,” she said.

Join us for another episode of Beyond the Stride featuring CSU Pueblo’s Helen Braybrook, the D2 indoor mile record holder! 🔥👟 On this episode of Beyond the Stride, Lauren sits down with Braybrook to talk about a little bit of everything — from her record-breaking performance at the BU season opener to the confidence, patience, and belief that fueled it. Helen opens up about trusting her coach, navigating races against D1 competition, and what it means to proudly represent Division II on a national stage. 🌎 Does Braybrook see herself racing the mile more this season? How has her 800-meter speed translated so seamlessly to longer distances? What has changed mentally for her as a championship racer, and what does success look like heading into her final collegiate season? 🤔 Helen answers all of those questions and much more on our latest episode of Beyond the Stride. Be sure to watch, like, and subscribe! 🏃‍♀️💨 🗣️ Hosted by Lauren Cawley Be sure to like/follow/subscribe/comment on all of podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube! You can find our other episodes there as well.

Weini Kelati, 29, will return to the World Cross Country Championships on Jan. 10 after finishing inside the top 10 two years ago in Belgrade, Serbia. Photo Credit: Griffin Forberg Written by Cory Mull Back on American soil for the first time since 1992, the 2026 World Cross Country Championships are expected to bring all the heat to Tallahassee, Florida on January 10th at Apalachee Regional Park.  Hundreds of distance runners and approximately 10,000 spectators from across the globe will descend on the 2,000-meter course that will bring a dizzying amount of obstacles. Those obstacles include a 10-foot tall “roller coaster-style” ramp, a 90-foot long sand pit, a 20-foot long water pit, a 100-foot long mud section, and the piéce de résistance -- a selection of two-foot tall wood barriers featuring fake alligators on top of them. A total of 485 athletes from 52 federations are entered for the World Championships, with 246 athletes split between the men's and women's senior races and 163 athletes set for the junior ranks. A total of 15 teams have been added to the mixed relayed. The full entry lists can be found here . Historically, East African countries have dominated cross country on the world stage. The Kenyan men have won 14 out of the last 20 world cross country competitions, while the Ethiopian women have claimed 11 out of the last 20 races (the Kenyan women won the other nine).  No other country besides Kenya, Uganda or Ethiopia has won a men’s or women’s race at the World Cross Country Championships since 1994 (the Portugal women were the last to do it).  East African success, in fact, goes all the way back to 1981 on the men’s side, with England being the last federation to claim a victory in 1980.  The U.S. women last won a world cross country competition in 1987 and have secured six titles overall. The men have never won. The last American woman to win a world cross country title was Lynn Jennings in 1992 (part of a three-peat from 1990-1992). It was also a moment which came during the event’s last visit to the U.S. in Boston. Craig Virgin, an Illinois legend, was the last American man to accomplish the feat in 1981. Here’s what you need to know ahead of Saturday’s competition... What Are The World Cross Country Championships? The World Cross Country Championships are traditionally a biennial competition featuring athletic federations from across the globe. Each federation has a qualifying championship, or selects a team of distance runners to represent their country during the world championships.  Parker Wolfe (left) and Graham Blanks (right) both qualified for the U.S. men's team headed to the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida on Jan. 10. Photo Credit: Griffin Forberg Overall scoring consists of the finishes of the top four runners of a team and the lowest combined score. The last world race took place in 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia.  The Americans were seventh overall in the men’s race and fourth in the women’s race, led by a top 15 finish from Weini Kelati. Who Are The Top Americans To Watch At The World Cross Country Championships? The American contingents were determined at the USATF Cross Country Championships on December 6th in Portland, Oregon. The six men who qualified for worlds include: Parker Wolfe (Swoosh TC), Rocky Hansen (Wake Forest University), Wesley Kiptoo (HOKA NAZ Elite), Ahmed Muhumed (HOKA NAZ Elite), Nico Young (adidas) and Graham Blanks (New Balance).  Muhumed, 27, is the sole returner on the men’s side for the Americans, having finished 35th in the 2024 event. The six women on the American team consist of Kelati (UA Dark Sky), Katie Izzo (adidas), Ednah Kurgat (U.S. Army), Karissa Schweizer (Swoosh TC), Emily Venters (Swoosh TC) and Grace Hartman (North Carolina State University).  Kelati, the 29-year-old Olympian, was 14th in her last visit to world cross country in Serbia.  Two men’s and two women’s athletes also qualified for the 8k mixed relay: Ethan Strand (Swoosh TC), Wes Porter (UA Mission Run), Gracie Morris (PUMA) and Sage Hurta-Klecker (On Athletics). Six U20 athletes on each side also qualified for a men’s 10k race and a women’s 8k category. The men include Aidan Torres (University of Texas), Tyler Daillak (Cal Poly), Daniel Skandera (Unattached), Salvador Wirth (University of Minnesota), Dylan Maloney (University of New Mexico) and Juan Gonzalez (University of Oregon).  The women include Daniela Scheffler (North Carolina State), Caroline Barton (Princeton), Abigail Sewell (University of Cincinnati), Norah Hushagen (University of Minnesota), Avery Marasco-Johnson (University of Minnesota) and Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville School), who qualified by virtue of her runner-up finish at Nike Cross Nationals and the Brooks XC Championships. What Is The Latest News To Impact The World Championships? On Tuesday, LetsRun's Jonathan Gault reported on Visa issues Ethiopia encountered with its under-20 teams, with the delegation unable to field proper men's or women's teams for the 2026 installment. That will mean the country will be unable to podium for the first time since the junior race was instituted in 1982 -- a run of 36 straight competitions. What Is The World Cross Country Championship Schedule? The schedule consists of five races:   9:45 a.m. EST -- Mixed Relay 10:20 a.m. EST -- Women’s U20 Race 10:55 a.m. EST -- Men’s U20 Race 11:35 a.m. EST -- Women’s Senior Race 12:20 a.m. EST -- Men’s Senior Race What Else Should I Know About The World Cross Country Championships? Apalachee Regional Park is located at 7550 Apalachee Parkway, Tallahassee, Florida 32311. Spectators will have to purchase $10 tickets to watch the championships (though children 12 and under are free with identification). Parking is on-site.  Besides professional and U20 races, the World Cross Country Championships will also feature several fun-runs that are meant for fans and are limited to the 2k and 4k distances. To learn more, visit here .