The date of 10 December 1994 continues be remembered as one of the most important landmarks in the annals of European Athletics and cross country history.
Under cloudy skies over the northeast of England and beneath the walls of the historic Alnwick Castle – built almost 900 years before with construction starting in 1096 but made famous in more recent years for being featured as the filming location for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films – Ireland’s Catherina McKiernan and Portugal’s Paulo Guerra were crowned the first European cross country champions.
Since this pair had gold medals hung around their necks 30 years ago, the event has progressed from strength to strength over the next three decades.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships wasn’t the first continental competition in the discipline – there had been a one-off African Championships in 1985 and the following year saw the first South American Championships – but the success of the inaugural edition added a new dimension to cross country running on the continent where it had its roots.
Just two races in 1994
In contrast to the current programme which has no less than seven races spread over approximately four hours involving around 600 runners and 40 countries, 1994 had a compact schedule as only two senior races needed to be accommodated and there with 180 runners from 23 Member Federations standing on the start line.
McKiernan started the women’s race as favourite after having taken the silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships on three successive occasions from 1992-94 but was made to work hard for her European title on the tough and testing 4500m course that was shortened from 6000m at the last minute.
Portugal’s Fernanda Ribeiro, who was to become the Olympic 10,000m champion less than two years later in Atlanta, was the early leader but soon the race became a head-to-head duel between McKiernan – who had quickly recovered after following a TV camera truck off the course in the opening kilometre and having to duck under the course-marking tapes to get back on track – and Spain’s Julia Vaquero.
However, with a strong wind in their faces, McKiernan had the strength to outsprint her Spanish rival on the incline to the finish line and came home in 14:29 with Vaquero one second behind.
"I was determined not to finish second again. I had a little psychological advantage because I have beaten her already this winter but it was still tough and I had to dig in hard.
"I'm pleased it wasn't 6km after all. I have not run on such a tough course for a long time. The course felt longer than it was because it was so hilly and demanding," said McKiernan.
Elena Fidatov was a further six seconds further back in third but led home the three Romanian scorers to team gold with 26 points, just two in front of France.
In contrast to the women’s race, Guerra won in a canter over the second half of the race.
The lead changed hands frequently during the first four kilometres of the 9100m contest with Portugal’s Antonio Pinto and Spain’s Alejandro Gomez leading the way at the halfway point.
However, shortly afterwards, with 16 minutes having elapsed on the clock, Guerra made a decisive surge that took him clear of his rivals.
Guerra goes through the gears
It may have been that others in the high calibre field expected 24-year-old Guerra to tire on the soft and rutted course that had been cut up by regional events and the women’s race earlier in the day, even though he had been the first European home at the World Cross Country Championships earlier in the year albeit in 13th place.
However, Guerra had recovered his form after a disappointing summer when he finished out of the 10,000m medals in fifth place at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, and gradually extended his lead over the final 3.5 kilometres of the race.
He was able to build up a winning margin of 16 seconds by the finish, crossing the line in 27:43, with his compatriot Domingos Castro second in 27:59 and Spain’s Antonio Serrano third in 28:03.
With their four scorers finishing in the top nine, Guerra climbed to the top of the medal podium for a second time in the afternoon as Portugal won the team title with just 20 points.
Guerra would go on to win four individual titles at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, a record which was matched and then surpassed by Sergiy Lebid who would go on to win nine individual titles. Incidentally, Lebid took part in the first edition in 1994, finishing 79th out of 101 finishers at the age of 19.
Almost a quarter of the way into the 21st century, athletics aficionados almost take it for granted that there will be a SPAR European Cross Country Championships in early December every year.
However, it was not always the case. Even in the early 1990s it was thought by many that a continental championships would be surplus to requirements.
The impetus for having a European-only event came initially from the prestigious French sports daily L’Equipe which continued its tradition of promoting new sporting events, including having been the instigator of cycling’s Tour de France, by suggesting such a competition in the wake of the 1991 World Cross Country Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
The theme was taken up by some other members of the media in countries where there was a strong tradition of cross country running, notably Great Britain and Belgium.
Prague Congress approval
European Athletics was quick to respond and developed the concept as a way of encouraging the development of the discipline among Member Federations beyond its traditional heartlands and adding another event to its calendar which could generate income and publicity.
As an aside, it’s also worth noting that the European Cross Country Championships were not originally created, as it is commonly misconstrued, as a direct response to the growing African domination of cross country running with European runners still regularly impressing on the global stage.
At the 1992 World Cross Country Championships, European runners took six medals with Paula Radcliffe taking the U20 women’s title, McKiernan silver in the senior women’s race while France and Romania took the senior men’s and U20 women’s team silver medals respectively.
The extraordinary European Athletics Congress in Prague in October 1992 approved the creation of the championships and in May 1993 it was decided that the first edition would be held in December the following year.
Not long afterwards, Alnwick – with successful international cross country races having been staged in the northeast of England for many years prior to 1994 – was chosen as a highly appropriate venue.
Thirty years later, it’s now the turn if Antalya and Türkiye to show its prowess at hosting what quickly became the most important continental cross country competition in the world.
Phil Minshull for European Athletics