The virtual cross country is for 2021 for students in South Australian schools aged 5 to 19 years old. Get your school involved or run individually and help all participants reach Tokyo for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The cross country state championships will still be held for district and secondary school teams in June 2021.

How to participate

Entries have closed for the 2021 virtual cross country.

Schools and individuals can run at school or at any location in your local community and submit entries throughout term 2, 2021. Students are allowed and encouraged to enter more than once to achieve their best time.

Courses should consist of running on natural terrain, such as dirt, gravel and grass and avoid running on or crossing roads.

School holiday challenge

We challenge all individuals and schools to help us reach Tokyo. Enter by Wednesday 21 July to go into the running for prizes.

Individuals

• Set yourself a goal.
• Keep a record of the total distance and time if you want.

Schools

• Challenge students to run or walk as many days as possible during the school holidays.
• Get them to keep a record of their total distance covered.

School event

• Organise an event on a designated course catering for different distances to allow as many students as possible to participate. A great course plotting website is MAPS.ie.

Individuals

• Choose a course and run it in your own time.
• Make sure you capture evidence of the distance covered and the time achieved, as you may be asked to verify your time and distance. This could be photos or screenshots of your results:
  • from a phone app
  • GPS watch
  • treadmill screen
  • The MAPS.ie course plotting website or similar.

Age groups and distances

The table below shows the age groups and distances for each gender.

The table below shows the age groups and distances for multiclass athletes and students with disabilities.

Reaching Tokyo

The virtual run will begin at the SA Athletics Stadium in Adelaide, South Australia and finish at the Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan a total distance of 12,422km away across countries and oceans. There are 5 checkpoints along the way, with each checkpoint chosen for its connection to the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Checkpoint 1

• Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
• Distance from start is 657km
• The Melbourne Cricket Ground was the home of the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics

Checkpoint 2

• Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia
• Distance from checkpoint 1 is 704km
• Total distance from start is 1,361km
• Stadium Australia was the home of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Checkpoint 3

• National Stadium ('The Bird's Nest'), Beijing, China
• Distance from checkpoint 2 is 8,959km
• Total distance from start is 10,320km
• National Stadium ('The Bird's Nest') was the home of the 2004 Beijing Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Checkpoint 4

• Jamsil Olympic Stadium, Seoul, Korea
• Distance from checkpoint 3 is 966km
• Total distance from start is 11,286km
• Jamsil Olympic Stadium was the home of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Checkpoint 5

• Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan
• Distance from checkpoint 4 is 1,146km
• Total Distance from start is 12,432km
• Japan National Stadium will be the home of the 2020 (held in 2021) Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Map showing each checkpoint

Track your progress to Tokyo

Regular updates will be posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Results

Schools will receive a certificate for all students who had times submitted by email. Students who entered individually will receive a certificate by email.

All results (PDF 1,150KB) are now available.

Some interesting facts:

• 5,347 students participated
• 31 schools
• 13,414.75kms run in total