Prize purse approaching £4000 for first Home Countries International since 1990
A total of almost £4000 prize money will be on offer for the first Home Countries International since 1990, a race first contested at Hamilton Park Race Course in Scotland in 1903.
The race - which BBC television will record with short highlights shown the following day - will take place on the afternoon of Saturday 29th March in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, the day before the IAAF World Cross Country Championships at the same venue.
Prize money for both make and female races is as follows: 1st (£500), 2nd (£200), 3rd (£100) and 1st team (£1000).
The women will race 6km, with the men racing a total of 8km.
Teams will consist of six athletes made up of three senior and three under-20s, with four to count. At least one under-20 must be part of the scoring team, in keeping with the youth-orientation focus intended throughout the weekend.
Scotland's selection will be based on performances in the ScottishPower National Cross Country Championships at Falkirk on Saturday 23rd February 2008.
Mike Johnston, National Endurance Manager said:
"The return of a Home Countries International will provide a real competitive opportunity for Scottish distance runners at the end of the cross country season. Since the rule change that prevented individual Home Countries competing in the World Cross Country Championship there has been a noticeable decline in UK endurance standards. Providing a meaningful annual competition at the time of the IAAF World Championships will increase the competitive opportunities for Home Countries athletes and should help improve performance standards."
The last Home Countries International was held on 7th November 1990 at Beach Park in Irvine, Scotland.
All four nations have already accepted the invitation to compete in 2008.
