November saw the cross country season start in earnest with five European Athletics Cross Country Permit meetings in four different countries and also many national cross country championships being staged as a prelude to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria, on 14 December.
European runners also made an impact in road races around the continent and the rest of the world.
European Athletics is consequently pleased to announce that athletes from 14 different countries have been nominated for the November award.
At the end of each month, a panel of experts produces a short list of the outstanding athletes and performances achieved by European athletes during that month, which is then mailed to the European athletics media and thousands of fans who have signed up to receive news from European Athletics.
The European Athlete of the Month fan voting takes place through our Facebook page, while members of the media can cast their vote on our website.
Fans are also able to vote through the European Athletics mobile applications on iPhone and Android phones.
The public, media and a group of expert statisticians cast their votes for the European Athlete of the Month with each category counting as 33.3 per cent of the vote.
For example, the winner of each poll will be awarded 10 points, second 9 points, etc. and the athlete with the most points after the three different polls have been counted will be declared the winner.
In the unlikely event of a tie, Hansjörg Wirz, the president of European Athletics, will have the casting vote.
The voting will close on Sunday 24 December at midnight.
The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe.
No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated for the European Athlete of the Month.
Click here to cast your vote for the men's category and here for the women's category.
MEN
Antonio Abadía ESP (cross country): the 2009 European junior 3000m steeplechase champion was the leading European runner at the Cross de Atapuerca on 16 November and also at the Cross Internacional de la Constitución in Alcobendas on 30 November.
Callum Hawkins GBR (distance running): still only 22, in addition to running 29:23 over 10km in Leeds, he won the British Athletics Cross Challenge event in Liverpool and beat all the senior men to make him one of the under-23 favourites in Samokov later this month.
Hans Kristian Floystad NOR (cross country): was a good winner of the senior 9km race at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in the Finnish city of Vantaa on 8 November, crossing the line in 25:53 and coming home four seconds clear of his nearest rival.
Pieter-Jan Hannes BEL (cross country): the 2013 European Under-23 1500m and cross country champion excelled to win the senior 9.4km race in cold and foggy conditions at the Lotto Crosscup van West-Vlaanderen meeting in Roeselare, Belgium, on 30 November.
Serhiy Lebid UKR (marathon): now 39, the nine-time European cross country champion finished fourth at the Joongang Seoul International Marathon on 9 November, running a personal best of 2:08:32, which is the second best time by a European runner this year.
Tadesse Abraham SUI (road running): won the Basel City Run over 7.5km in 21:42 on 30 November and earlier in the month finished second in the famous Corrida Bulloise international road race on home soil over 8km, crossing the line in 23:35.
Vedat Gunën TUR (cross country): 24th at the 2013 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, he could be much higher this year as he won the Balkan cross country title on home soil in Kocaeli on 8 November, covering the 10km course in an impressive 28:23.
Yassine Mandour FRA (cross country): the 2014 European Cup 10,000m bronze medallist was twice the leading European in high quality races on home soil, at the Cross de l'Acier on 30 November and the Cross le Maine Libre Allonnes Sarthe the week before.
Yemaneberhan Crippa ITA (road running): seventh in last year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships junior race and still only 18, he ran the fastest 10km by any man of any age this month when he clocked 29:17 in the Italian city of Cuneo on 9 November.
Yury Shayunou BLR (hammer): the 2007 and 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships gold medallist reached a 2014 best of 76.86m at the traditional winter meeting in Novopolotsk, Belarus, on 28 November.
WOMEN
Almensch Belete BEL (cross country): running on home soil, she defended her women's title over 6.25km at the Lotto Crosscup van West-Vlaanderen meeting in Roeselare on 30 November, winning in 21:14 and coming home 19 seconds faster than in 2013.
Amela Terzic SRB (cross country): the former European junior cross country champion was the top women’s performer at the 58th Balkan cross country championships in Kocaeli, Türkiye, on 8 November and won the under-23 6km race in a fast 19:15.
Catarina Ribeiro POR (cross country): won at Corta-Mato Cidade de Amora cross country race on home soil, covering the 6km in 21.25 on 9 November, and then finished third in the women’s 8km race at the 21st Cross Internacional de Soria in Spain on 23 November.
Kate Avery GBR (cross country): a student at Iona College in the USA, she won at the prestigious American collegiate (NCAA) cross country championships in Terre Haute on 22 November, hitting the front after the first kilometre and covering the 6km course in 19:32.
Lisa Nemec CRO (road racing): she improved her national record to 1:09:16 at the 28th Ivan Starek Half Marathon in Zagreb on 16 November, the fourth fastest time by a European woman over the distance this year and stunningly beating the best men as well.
Liudmyla Olyanovska UKR (race walking): the 2014 European Championships 20km silver medallist improved her own world-leading time over 10km with a national record of 41:43 at the Ukraine race walk cup meeting in Mukachevo on 1 November.
Sara Moreira POR (marathon): made an excellent debut over the classic distance when she finished third at the New York City Marathon on 3 November in 2:26:00 on a cold and windy day; she also won at the famous Cross de Torres Vedras cross country meeting.
Sifan Hassan NED (cross country): the 2014 European 1500m champion showed impressive form to defend her women’s title over 6km at the International Loket Warandeloop in Tilburg on 23 November, finishing 36 seconds clear of her nearest rival.
Sophie Duarte FRA (cross country): the 2013 European cross country champion was the leading European twice on home soil when she finished fourth at the Cross de l'Acier on 30 November and third at the Cross le Maine Libre Allonnes Sarthe the week before.
Tirhas Gebre ESP (cross country): finished second and was the leading European at the 33rd edition of the famous Cross Internacional de la Constitución in the Madrid suburb of Alcobendas on 30 November, covering the 7.9km course in an impressive 27:09.