This weekend's World Cross Country Championships presented elite athletes with a chance to measure themselves in the universe's oldest struggle - man versus nature.
Athletes are judged by their ability to pit their wits against the elements, the undulating route and the obligatory pools of sticky mud.
 Edinburgh's Holyrood Park provides a stiff test for cross country runners |
Times are not important. Reputations and past successes are rendered irrelevant in the fight to be first past the post.
"Cross country running is tough," says Alan Storey, UK Athletics technical director for endurance events. "There is no place for wimps to hide.
"The people who shine are just tough nuts who don't know when to give in. As soon as the gun goes they will keep going until they fall over. Hayley Yelling comes into that category."
Yelling spearheaded Great Britain's challenge at the worlds after another dominant season in which she claimed the European cross country crown - her first major international title.
And the 30-year-old shows very obvious signs that she is one of the different breed of athletes who can conquer cross country.
"I probably hate the tough, old courses when I'm running round them," Yelling admits. "They're absolutely grim.
"But afterwards I think, 'yes I quite liked that challenge. I'm covered in mud, I'm soaking wet but it's fun.'"
 Yelling feels the pain as she wins the European cross country crown |
The gruelling nature of cross country is clearly what makes the discipline so attractive to Yelling but it also arguably contributes to the event's comparatively lowly status on the track and field stage.
While this summer's World Athletics Championships in Helsinki will be surrounded by hype and expectation, the world cross country championships have arrived with barely a splash of, er, mud.
"Most athletes would not be too happy to be cast as cross country specialists because it is possibly considered to be the less important part of the year," admitted Storey.
"They would prefer it if they could reproduce that form in a different arena. For most people, winning the 100m at the Olympic Games would be their first wish."
Yelling, whose best international result on the track was fifth place in the 5,000m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, also admits she hankers after more summer success.
"I would prefer to run quicker on the track," says Yelling. "I'm up for the track as much as cross country, but it just hasn't gone my way."
But how easy is it for athletes who excel at cross country to translate their wintry achievements to the sunnier climes of the summer circuit?
Paula Radcliffe has come full circle, winning the world junior cross country title in 1992, building herself a successful track and road career, before taking the senior world cross country gold over 8k in 2001 and 2002.
 Radcliffe won the Junior World Cross Country title in 1992 and went on to track success |
In contrast, three-time English champion Glynn Tromans, who is making his record ninth appearance at the worlds, has seen his best results come in cross country while his track success has been limited.
"Cross county doesn't require the same blazing speed as the track," explains Storey, who has coached Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan to both cross country and Olympic medals.
"The way some athletes put their feet down can also determine which discipline they are successful in.
"Some people are just better at running slower for longer or they enjoy the freedom running in the country gives them."
In 2004, Kenenisa Bekele used his winter warm-up to win both the 12k and 4k world cross country titles for a third straight time - no other athlete has achieved that feat.
The Ethiopian then strolled through the summer to claim his first Olympic gold in the 10,000m before settling for silver in the 5,000m
And Bekele extended his record even further by winning both the long and short course titles at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships for a fourth straight time.
Given the differing demands of the two disciplines, any athlete who doubles up in search of cross country and track domination in the space of a year could reasonably be accused of setting themselves an impossible task.
Not so Bekele, although endurance expert Storey concedes he is the exception rather than the rule.
"Bekele has a marginal superiority on the track which enables him to win cross country races even when he is not at his best," says Storey.
"He can run with the top runner in the world until they get close to the finish but he is still nowhere near tested.
"He has been significantly better than anyone else around him - and that's an advantage over cross country or on the track."
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