A look ahead to what is set to be another cracking event at Mansfield's Berry Hill Park

Guy Fawkes gatherings won’t be the only place where fireworks will be exploding this weekend as Berry Hill Park in Mansfield once again stages the Saucony English Cross Country Relays on Saturday (November 5) and well over 1000 teams will be battling it out for medals.

Most of the country’s leading distance runners have cut their teeth on the domestic cross-country scene and the national relays have been an increasingly popular test for more than 30 years.

Eleven years ago Mo Farah ran the second-fastest senior men’s stage of the day behind Nick McCormick, for example, while last week’s AW cover star, Chris Thompson, was a regular competitor at Mansfield just over a decade ago.

This year the long-time relays organiser Ian Byett says a total of 1178 teams have entered the 10 championship races.

"This event is now part of the build up to the trials at the end of November to get into the GB team for the European Cross Country Championships so many a potential athlete for that team will be in action," wrote Byett.

"The mixture of good parkland, a wooded section with lots of undulations and a fast finishing section make it a good course for the event and some exciting competition is expected."

In the battle for medals, the defending champions in the senior races are Morpeth Harriers (men) and Leeds City (women), but they will face tough opposition in order to maintain their crowns and, when it comes to big names, Andy Vernon has suggested he might have a run for his club Aldershot, Farnham & District.

» See the November 3 edition of AW magazine for more and the November 10 issue for coverage