What happens on a morning at Cross Country?

Warmup for our athletes begins at 8:45am. Races will start at 9:00am and usually conclude around 10:30am. Cross Country races are run in the following order, 500 metres for Under 6 athletes, 1000 metres for Under 7 & 8, 1500 metres for Under 9 & 10, 2000 metres for Under 11 & 12 and 3000 metres for Under 13+ athletes & big kids!

The first round of the 2026 season of Cross Country is at Lillydale Lake on Saturday the 2nd of May. We have 4 locatons we rotate through during the winter season. The 2026 XC calendar is available under the calendar tab. Wear comfortable running shoes and appropriate clothing based on the weather! Athletes from 5 years to 16 years are welcome to run with us every Saturday from May till August. 

For insurance, any athlete competing must be registered via Little Athletics Victoria or Athletics Victoria.

All summer Track and Field registered members do not need to pay any more to run Cross Country season. Your registration is covered from October 2025 till August 2026. New athletes joining us for the 2026 Cross Country season can join for $80 via Little Athletics Victoria website. https://lavic.com.au/membership/ New athletes who have not trialed or been members with Little Athletics Victoria are welcome to 1 free trial before joining for the full season. https://lavic.com.au/membership/new-member/trial-athlete-offer/ . Registrations open from the 1st of April 2026.

Parents and big kids are welcome to run on a Saturday morning. You will need to have a membership with Athletics Victoria. The 'YRA crew' membership is $30 and you can run at our local rounds. Please join through our seniors membership on our website https://www.revolutionise.com.au/yarraranges/registration

All parents/guardians are asked to volunteer a couple of times during the season to help Cross Country run. Set up starts at 7:30am. We need a number of marshalls out on the course to direct athletes. Timers/ place tags and recorders are needed at the finish line. We ask that parents/guardians use the SignUpGenius that is shared on Facebook and the Newsletter to register your assistance.

All races are timed and PB's are awarded with Chocolate Frogs or Minties. As each course is different, times between venues are not easily compared. Once we have run at every course once, then PB's are awarded.

Results - Those registered with LAVic can view each weeks result through ResultsHQ, just like track season. For insturctions how to access your athletes results follow the instructions here https://lavic.com.au/competition/results/centre/ . We will also publish each weeks results on our Facebook group 'Yarra Ranges Athletics Clubhouse'.

We have marshalls out on course and hares (race leaders) & tortoises (race sweeper) to make sure all athletes are safe while running on the Cross Country course. Courses are well marked with yellow and pink flags. Our maps are available under the competition tap on the website.

At the end of the Cross Country season we celebrate our athletes success at Presentation Day! All athletes who have attended more than 50% of the Cross Country season will receive a trophy and we award those with a Gold (100%) attendance, Silver (75%) attendance and Bronze (50%) attendance. We also award the athlete with the most PB's during the XC season, our champion athletes, encouragement awards and 'That's what Cross Country is All About' Family award. We would love to have everyone join us at the end of the season for a BBQ and to present awards to our amazing little athletes!

Training is optional for our athletes. Many of our little athletes only compete on Saturday but everyone is welcome to training during the week. Tuesday & Thursday from 5:30-7pm with coach Jamie Strudley. 

Join our YRA Clubhouse Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/yraclubhouse page for updates on results, events, weather, cancellations and more...

In accordance with Little Athletics policy, please no dogs at Little Athletics events.

Cross Country is a family friendly event and we look forward to a wonderful season of Fun, Family and Fitness with our YRA athletes!