Entry Cost

£18.75 per individual competitor

Entry Dates

Entries Open

Tuesday 9 December 2025

Entries Close

Tuesday 13 January 2026 at 23:59 – Student / Competitor Deadline

(Students / Competitors must apply by this deadline)

Thursday 15 January 2026 at 23:59 – Institution Administrator Deadline

(Institutional Administrators are given 48 hours after the student / competitor deadline to approve entries)

Should the competition allow more entries a Stage 2 Entry window will open. Priority will remain with the entries received before the Stage 1 entry closing date. Entries received in the Stage 2 window and accepted into the competition, will be charged an additional 20% fee.

Please see Appendix 1 and Reg 6 for available BUCS Points.

Please rank your athletes in order of entry priority. If the event is oversubscribed, BUCS will look to distribute entry to athletes from all institutions as evenly as possible based on these rankings.

BUCS Athletics Rules and Regulations

All competitors should be familiar with and understand available gender categories and regulations under REG 4.3. Please find further information on gender eligibility here.

This event is a closed university event. There is no requirement for athletes to be registered, and therefore have a URN number, linked to their institution’s Athletics Club registered with the relevant home nation association to compete.

Athlete’s URN numbers will be asked for at the point of entry, however if an athlete does not hold a URN number they DO NOT need to input this information.

If athletes / clubs wish to query this please do this via your Institution Administrator, who should contact the event lead.

Please find more guidance here on what institution's need to do in the club affiliation / athlete registration space.

There are four different races that occur at the BUCS Cross Country Championships. Only the Male and Female Long Races have BUCS Points attached.

Athletes may only compete in one race at the Championships

Female Long Race: approximately 8km

Only six athletes per institution may run in the Female Long Race. This will be declared at the event at the BUCS Registration desk. All participants are to be entered into one category on BUCS Play. The Female Team competition will be determined by the top 4 finishers from an institution.

Advisory note: If competing in the Long Race students should have competed in an 8km Cross Country race before and should be able to complete the course in under 55 minutes. We would not encourage those that are not confident with this in competing in this race.

Female Short Race: approximately 6km

For all who do not wish to run in the Long race and for Universities with more than four female competitors. This will be declared at the event. All participants are to be entered into one category on BUCS Play. The Female team competition is to be determined by the top 4 finishers from an institution. Multiple teams per university may count in results.

Male Long Race: approximately 10km

Only six athletes per institution may run in the Male Long Race. This will be declared at the event at the BUCS Registration desk. All athletes to be entered into one category on BUCS Play. The Male Team competition will be determined by top 4 finishers from an institution.

Advisory note: If competing in the Long Race students should have competed in a 10km Cross Country race before and should be able to complete the course in under 55 minutes. We would not encourage those that are not confident with this in competing in this race.

Male Short Race: approximately 8km

For all who do not wish to run in the Long race and for institutions with more than six male competitors. All participants are to be entered into one category on BUCS Play. The Male Team competition will be determined by the top 4 finishers from an institution. Multiple teams per institution may count in the results.

Please note this is a proposed timetable and may change prior to the event. The final timetable will be released in the Event Guide.

Female Long Race 12:00

Male Long Race 13:00

Female Short Race 14:00

Male Short Race 14:45

Please see REG 7.9 for our withdrawal policy

Anyone wishing to take photos or video at this event must complete the BUCS Media Accreditation Form prior to the event. Once you have completed the form, please go to the BUCS Desk at the event to receive your media accreditation.

BUCS reserves the right to prohibit photography equipment being used at a BUCS event. BUCS reserves the right to request that the individual ceases to take photographs, deletes any images and, if considered necessary, leaves the venue.

Any athletes entering the BUCS Athletics: Cross Country Championships 2025-26 (i) acknowledge that they are bound by UKA’s Anti-Doping rules, (ii) agree to submit to drugs testing in connection with this event in accordance with UKA’s Anti-Doping rules (which may involve providing a blood and/or urine sample); and (iii) confirm that they are either aged 18 years or older or that the person(s) having parental responsibility for them consent to the above testing. To check the status of registered medicines please visit www.globaldro.com. For information on testing procedures please visit www.ukad.org.uk. The UKA Anti-Doping Rules are available at www.uka.org.uk. For general anti-doping queries please contact [email protected].

SAFEGUARDING AT BUCS EVENTS

BUCS’ mission is to provide exceptional student sporting experiences that inspire, develop and unite.

Critical to our success is our commitment to always providing safe, friendly and enjoyable environments for all participants. Whether competing, coaching, officiating, volunteering, working or spectating at these events, the welfare of all is critical to our mission.

To find out more or report a concern, please click here.