For the first time since 1995, European runners took both the men’s and women’s titles at the famous Almond Blossom Cross Country in Portugal, the penultimate fixture on the 2014-15 IAAF Cross Country Permit calendar, with Moldova’s Roman Prodius and Poland’s Dominika Nowakowska winning in the Portuguese town of Acoteias on Sunday (22).

After hosting various continental competitions in recent years, Albufeira will once again welcome its most prestigious event on Sunday (22): the Almond Blossom Cross Country, the penultimate fixture on the IAAF Cross Country Permit calendar.

Ukraine’s Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko will return to the Osaka Women's Marathon on 25 January and bid to become just the second woman to win in the Japanese city on three successive occasions, after organisers of the IAAF Silver Label Road Race announced their elite field on Friday (26).

Russia’s Mariya Konovalova was an authoritative winner of the 2014 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 2:23:43 on Sunday (9).

The 2014 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, can boast of having two sub-2:23 marathon runners and three sub-2:24 marathon runners who will stand on the start line in the Japanese city on Sunday (9).

Eight months after her impressive Half Marathon victory in Newcastle, Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba put in another commanding performance on British roads and won the Bupa Great Manchester Run over 10km with a world-leading time of 30:49 on Sunday (26).

The 2013 Nagoya Women’s Marathon will be on Sunday (10) and the big question in many people’s minds is: can Ethiopia’s Werknesh Kidane finally fulfill her potential over the classic distance at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race?