US marathon record holder Deena Kastor may well be best remembered for her feats on the road, but the seeds for her success were unquestionably honed in the white-hot competitive furnace of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
<h3>&lsquo;Love&rsquo; for cross country early on&nbsp;</h3>
Immersed in athletics from a young age, Kastor &ldquo;loved&rdquo; cross country in her formative years and won her maiden national cross country title aged just 12.&nbsp;
Later while attending Agoura High School in Los Angeles County she earned a spot on successive US U20 teams to compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she went on to place 72nd and 40th, respectively, in Aix-les-Bains in France in 1990 and the following year in Antwerp.
Both U20 races were thrilling for the teenager. She recalls her pride at wearing the US uniform and although she has vague recollections of the specific races, she says: &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe that runners surged into hills, on top of hills and again down the hill. I couldn&rsquo;t believe that mud, obstacles and weather had no hindrance on a blistering pace.&rdquo;
Kastor was to re-engage with the World Cross Country Championships as a senior athlete some six years later in Turin &ndash; a race which was to kick-start a run of racing at seven successive editions.
In Italy in 1997, the then 24-year-old athlete performed admirably to place 29th behind Ethiopian great Derartu Tulu, but she wanted more.
&ldquo;It was first my goal to lead the US team in an attempt to podium with my teammates,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Once I could keep up with the best in the world, it became a goal to podium as an individual and a team.&rdquo;
She proved good to her word, as each year &ldquo;she got stronger and held on a little longer&rdquo; making gradual progress. In the 1998 race in Marrakech, Morocco she placed 20th. The following year in Belfast she improved to tenth. Meanwhile, in the 2000 and 2001 races &ndash; staged in Vilamoura and Ostend, respectively &ndash; she placed 12th on each occasion, inspiring the USA to team bronze in the former event.
<h3>Back-to-back silver medals</h3>
Having produced the fastest marathon debut by a US female with a 2:26:58 run in New York the previous autumn, Kastor approached the 2002 World Cross Country Championships in Dublin high on confidence and was able to deliver.&nbsp;
&ldquo;My goal to get in the top five,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I knew I had it in me and I put myself in an aggressive position at the front of the pack. To my surprise Paula Radcliffe and I dropped the rest of the field after the first loop.&rdquo;
While Radcliffe went on to win the race by nine seconds, Kastor offered stout resistance and led for two-thirds of the 8km distance. The American was elated with the performance &ndash; in which she also helped the US to team silver - and added, slightly surprisingly. &ldquo;It was one of the least taxing World Cross races I&rsquo;ve run.&rdquo;
Twelve months later in Lausanne she returned for another tilt at the iconic race but despite once again winning individual silver - and on this occasion team bronze - she found the experience quite different in Switzerland.
&ldquo;In Lausanne, I ran as hard as I could from the gun, but I couldn&rsquo;t shake Worknesh Kidane of Ethiopia,&rdquo; says Kastor, who after leading for much of the race was outkicked for gold in the latter stages. &ldquo;Both races ended in a silver medal, but one was like a tempo run and the other an all out assault.&rdquo;
Kastor then took a lengthy sabbatical from cross country running to focus on her burgeoning marathon career. At the 2004 Athens Olympics she ended a 20-year US women&rsquo;s medal drought in the event by winning a bronze medal. Then the following year she clinched victory in the prestigious Chicago Marathon before setting a US record mark of 2:19:36, which still stands today, when winning the 2006 London Marathon.
<h3>&lsquo;My best years as an athlete have been when I&rsquo;ve incorporated cross country into my season&rsquo;&nbsp;</h3>
Yet such was her passion for cross country running at the age of 40 she returned for one more crack at the World Cross Country Championships, finishing 34th in the 2013 edition in Bydgoszcz.
&ldquo;I returned to cross because the training and racing are the baseline of all I love about running,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I love the rugged terrain, the stiff competition and, sometimes, nasty weather.&rdquo;
When reflecting on her time cross country running she has little doubt as to its value and importance on his career.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think my best years as an athlete have been when I&rsquo;ve incorporated cross country into my season,&rdquo; she insists. &ldquo;The sport makes you strong in your ankles, hips and arm drive as well as spawning a mental toughness that you can&rsquo;t acquire any other way.
&ldquo;I would encourage any athlete to participate in cross country because of the physical and mental toughness it develops. And any runner should participate because along with the strength it builds, it&rsquo;s the only way we can learn the value of teamwork.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

US marathon record holder Deena Kastor may well be best remembered for her feats on the road, but the seeds for her success were unquestionably honed in the white-hot competitive furnace of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

World Cross memories – Deena Kastor 

The traditional IAAF World Cross Country Championships pre-event press conference took place at the Palac Hotel in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Saturday (23).Ethiopia’s reigning senior men’s champion Imane Merga and Kenya’s 2010 senior women’s winner Emiy Chebet were in positive frame of mind and the pair were joined by USA’s two-time silver medallist Deena Kastor and six-time Polish champion Katarzyna Kowalska.Below are the highlights from the question and answer session:Emily Chebet (KEN) - On facing wintery conditions and an undulating course tomorrow:“I’m really happy to be back here and see it’s a very different to 2010 (when the Championships were also held in Bydgoszcz). There was no snow then so now it’s annoying but I’ll try to run my best.”On whom she thinks will be her toughest competitor for the title:“I really don’t know, but the weather’s not nice.”On her form since winning her title three years ago and her comeback season this winter:“It’s different running on the track (her last track race was in December 2011). I run well over cross country and so I hope to do well here. In my very next cross country race after I won here in Bydgoszcz, which was in Kenya, the next winter, I injured my knee.” Imane Merga (ETH) – On his opinion on the snow and below-zero weather conditions:“I feel the uphill section of the course will be more of a challenge than the snow itself.”On hoping to become the first man to retain his title since fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (the senior men’s champion in 2002-06 and 2008):“I train with Kenenisa and I have my own strategy for tomorrow. I think I can win, but I am not revealing my strategy.”On the frustration of having to watch the Olympic 10,000m final in London from the sidelines last summer:“I was sad not to be there but I was supporting Bekele (who finished fourth behind his brother, Tariku who took the bronze medal) and was more frustrated for him.”Deena Kastor (USA) - On her return to cross country racing since last competing in 2007:“I think the decision to come back was rooted in me looking at my running logs and noticing that all of my good years happened on the back off a cross country season. There is no comparison in terms of gaining strength and you become a tough athlete from competing in it.”On her useful preparation for the cold weather conditions in Bydgoszcz:I live in a ski resort town in California, where we can sometimes get 60ft of snow so I’m fortunate that I live in a place to prepare for cross country, I’ll feel at home here with the mud and snow.”On whether she believes a non-African athlete can reach the medal podium in Bydgoszcz:“I think that every person on the starting line is a threat. Athletes are hungry for victories and you have got to take everyone seriously.”On the USA senior women’s team’s medal chances after bronze medals in 2010 and 201 :“I don’t feel any pressure but it’s an honour to represent my country, and we’ll die trying. I hope each of us show we’re having a good time so we can win the IOC bid (for cross country to become part of the winter Olympics). On some well-known runners not competing the 2013 World Cross Country Championships:“There’s no doubt that as athletes we look at winners and top athletes as guides to where we want to be so we should feel competitiveness not seeing the event as something to defeat us before we even try.”Katarzyna Kowalska (POL) – On her lack of Polish opponents at cross country:“In Poland, runners use cross country as a way of preparing for the (outdoor) season but most prefer to train indoors so for the time being, I don’t have any major opponents for the Polish championships and so have won a succession of (six) national titles.”On her hopes to break into the top 20 here:“That will be a big challenge, three years ago I wanted to make the top 30 and finished just inside the top 40 (36th) but we had three USA runners in the top 20. I do think I can make it.”On her experience of the course:“I won the national title here two weeks ago and, like Mr Merga, I shouldn’t disclose my tactics but I believe it is a different course to three years back.” &nbsp;Nicola Bamford for the IAAF &nbsp;

IAAF athletes' press conference highlights - Bydgoszcz 2013

The traditional IAAF World Cross Country Championships pre-event press conference took place at the Palac Hotel in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Saturday (23).

Last year, it was the men who stood in the 10K spotlight at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University in California.&nbsp; Abraham Chebii's memorable win, the fastest ever in a US competition, ended up the year as the season's best, as Mebrahtom Keflizighi toppled a 15-year-old American record in the race.&nbsp; This year, it was the women's turn to shine in the 10K event, and a pair of national records resulted from an emotion-packed finish on Friday 3 May. Japan's Yoko Shibui held off a determined finish by American Denna Drossin to win in a national record of 30:48.89.&nbsp; It was the fastest performance in the world during this young season, but more tellingly, it was the best since the Sydney Games, eclipsing anything that the World Championship season of 2001 had to offer.&nbsp; By coincidence, Shibui's clocking was exactly one minute--to the exact hundredth--better than her previous best of 31:48.89. Drossin's futile last-gasp challenge to Shibui still produced a 30:50.32 clocking for an American record, almost a half minute faster than Lynn Jennings' existing US standard of 31:19.89, which came ten years ago in a bronze-medal performance at the Barcelona Olympics.&nbsp; Drossin's previous best had been 31:51.05 in her 2000 Olympic Trials win.&nbsp; For both women, Friday's race was a reaffirmation of their new membership in distance-racing's elite.&nbsp; Shibui moved to the number-seven position all-time in the event, with Drossin just behind in the number-eight spot. As is the case with all record-level performances in distance events, the accomplishments did have some assistance, on this occasion from Seattle-based Lyudmila Vasilyeva of Russia, herself a top-rank 1500 runner (eighth-fastest in 2001). With few exceptions, such European-style pace making organization is all but unknown in America, but at Stanford it is starting to become de rigueur. Vasilyeva completed her work just before the 3K mark, after she was convinced that Shibui's and Drossin's mental metronomes were accuately set.&nbsp; What evolved from that point was a riveting duel of 73- and 74-second laps, as the two protagonists pushed and tugged each other to previously unknown levels on a windless, 11C-cool evening, with Shibui doing most of the tugging.&nbsp; The Japanese runner, who missed a medal by just 15 seconds in the Edmonton World Championships marathon with her fourth-place finish, has been highly touted of late by her country's cognoscenti as their next great marathon runner.&nbsp; Since last year, much of the 23-year-old's training has been done in 1700-metre-high Boulder, Colorado.&nbsp; Drossin has gone to even higher country, as she now maintains residence in the ski resort of Mammoth Lakes, at a 2400-metre elevation in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range.&nbsp; With her second-place finish at the recent World Cross Country Championships, plus last year's win at the New York marathon, the Boston-born and California-raised Drossin has quickly shot to the top of American distance running.&nbsp; Both of the 10K races were dedicated to the memory of the late athletes' coach and manager, Kim McDonald of Great Britain, who died suddenly while on holiday in Australia last November.&nbsp; For the past several years, McDonald had utilized the Stanford facilities as an off-season training site for some of his top proteges, and a moment of silence honoured his many contributions to the sport.&nbsp; There were other noteworthy results during the evening's programme.&nbsp; Martin Keino of Kenya held the lead much of the time in the men's 5000 metres, and he easily won in 13:22.91, a personal best.&nbsp; Chasing Keino to the finish was a trio of young Americans who all posted their top career times--Jorge Torres (13:26.00), Dathan Ritzenhein (13:27.77) and Jonathon Riley (13:29.15).&nbsp; Apparently still full of adrenalin after his PB race, Keino returned to the track an hour later to help pace the men's 10K, won by his countryman Albert Chepkurui (27:19.79) in a close battle against Mebrahtom Keflizighi of the US (27:20.15).&nbsp; Nicole Teter's move to Stanford to train with retired Georgetown coach Frank Gagliano and the Nike Farm Team keeps looking better with each track outing.&nbsp; Her 1:59.76 world-leading win tonight in the women's 800 was even more noteworthy in being the earliest an American has ever recorded a sub-2:00 on American soil in any season.&nbsp; The 28-year-old Teter, who broke Mary Slaney's 22-year-old indoor 800-metre record in March, was herself dipping under two minutes outdoors for the first time in her career.&nbsp; An Atlanta Olympian and a member of the US team in Seville three years ago, steeplechaser Robert Gary spent the past two seasons off the chart.&nbsp; In his season steeple debut here, the 29-year-old amazed with a world-leading 8:23.12, less than four seconds off his career best which came during the 1996 season.&nbsp; Leading tonight's contest for much of its seven-plus laps, Gary ran the final kilometer far ahead of the field and enjoyed a victory margin in excess of twelve seconds, which would indicate that the European season should lead him to his best-ever year.&nbsp; Easily the standout of the field events was Toby Stevenson's 5.71 pole vault performance.&nbsp; The Stanford assistant coach had one nearly successful attempt at 5.81 to close the competition.&nbsp; Ed Gordon for the IAAF

Last year, it was the men who stood in the 10K spotlight at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University in California.  Abraham Chebii's memorable win, the fastest ever in a US competition, ended up the year as the season's best, as Mebrahtom Keflizighi toppled a 15-year-old American record in the race.

Japanese and USA records set in thrilling women's 10,000m duel in Stanford 

&nbsp;Championships director Mike Scott announced today that all four reigning champions have confirmed that they will be present in Tacoma to defend their crowns at the 13-14 February USA Winter Cross Country Championships, presented by adidas. National 12k champion Tim Hacker (Madison, WI) and 8k champion Deena Drossin (Alamosa, CO) will run in the long course races, while 1998 USA World Cross Country Team 4k Trials winners Dan Browne (Boulder, CO) and Amy Rudolph (Kane, PA) are slated to run in the short course events. Veteran Tim Hacker, who won his first US harrier title 14 months ago in Portland's harsh conditions, first exploded onto the national scene back in 1985 when he won the NCAA cross country title for Wisconsin. In 1989, Hacker nearly caught 8-time US champ Pat Porter, garnering runner-up honours in a torrential rainstorm after winning the US 5000 crown earlier that year. 1991/1993 US champ Todd Williams (Knoxville, TN), 1994/1996 US champ Reuben Reina (Fayetteville, AR), 1998 Fall Nationals winner Andre Williams (Washington, DC), 1996 NCAA 5000 champ Alan Culpepper, and hometown favourite Rob Cook (Seattle, WA) are expected to challenge Hacker for the title. Former Arkansas standout Deena Drossin also won her first national cross country title in Portland, when she thwarted 9-time champ Lynn Jennings' (Newmarket, NH) bid for an unprecedented 10th US harrier crown. Drossin won the gold medal at the 1997 World University Games 10,000. Drossin will have to hold off the likes of 3-time world champion and 1992 Olympic bronze medallist Jennings--who is making another try at winning her 10th US cross country title--1995 US cross country champion Joan Nesbit (Chapel Hill, NC), and 1992 Olympian Gwyn Coogan Boulder, CO). Dan Browne's win at last year's US Trials marked the beginning of a stellar year for the West Point grad. Highlight's of Browne's year included US titles in the Indoor 3000, Outdoor 10,000, as well as at 5k and 10k on the roads. Browne, who has already recorded a sub-4:00 mile indoors this year, is expected to face stiff challenges from US outdoor 5000 champ Mark Davis and from NCAA harrier champ Adam Goucher in Tacoma. Former 5000m American record holder Amy Rudolph edged Indoor 3000 champ Elva Dryer (Albuquerque, NM) in the stretch to win last year's US Trials. 1996 Olympian Rudolph went on to finish a step behind Dryer at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships as the twosome finished 8th and 9th individually. Dryer is expected to challenge for the crown, while Drossin and Nesbit are scheduled to double back from the long course races and could be a factor. The inaugural USA Winter Cross Country Championships, presented by adidas, are scheduled for February 13-14 at Lake Spanaway Golf Course near Tacoma, WA.USATF for the IAAF

Preview of USA Cross Country Championships

World Cross memories – Deena Kastor

IAAF athletes' press conference highlights - Bydgoszcz 2013

Japanese and USA records set in thrilling women's 10,000m duel in Stanford

Defending Champions at USAT&F Cross Country Championships