The Lotto Cross Cup is an annual series of international cross country running

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 competitions in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The inaugural season was in 1982–1983. The series comprises Belgium's foremost cross country competitions, including the IAAF permit meeting in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 (Lotto Cross Cup Brussels

Lotto Cross Cup Brussels

The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in mid-December in Brussels, Belgium...

) and the European Athletics sanctioned meeting in Roeselare

Roeselare

Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke....

 (Lotto Cross Cup van West-Vlaanderen) – Belgium's only world and European level meetings.

The series previously featured six meetings (legs), but this expanded after 2003 and by 2009 the series had eight competitions in its schedule. The series typically begins in October and concludes in March. Throughout the series, athletes can earn points based on their performance, ranging from 25 points for first place and one point for fifteenth place. These points are then combined at the end of the series and the male and female athletes with the greatest totals are declared the winners.

In addition to the main men's and women's senior races, there are junior, masters and student competitions, as well as an under-23s competition sponsored by EuroMillions

EuroMillions

EuroMillions is a transnational lottery, launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris...

. There are also short-course cross country competitions, which are worth half the prize money of the longer races.

The series attracts mainly Belgian athletes, although British athlete Roger Hackney won the men's series in the 1988–89 edition. Furthermore, the meetings in Brussels, Roeselare and Hannut

Hannut

Hannut is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Hannut had a total population of 14,291...

 often attract many high-calibre international athletes.

Competitions

Lotto Cross Cup 2009–10 calendar

Leg	Date	Meeting	Location	City	Status
1st	25 October	Lotto Cross Cup Gand	Blaarmeersen	Ghent Ghent Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
2nd	7 November	Lotto Cross Cup Mol	Provinciaal Domein Zilvermeer	Mol
3rd	29 November	Lotto Cross Cup van West-Vlaanderen	Schiervelde Stadion Schiervelde Stadion Schiervelde Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Roeselare, Belgium. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of K.S.V. Roeselare. The stadium holds 9,075....	Roeselare Roeselare Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke....	EAA meeting
4th	20 December	Lotto Cross Cup Brussels Lotto Cross Cup Brussels The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in mid-December in Brussels, Belgium...	Park van Laken Royal Castle of Laken The Royal Castle of Laeken is the official residence of the King of the Belgians.-History:...	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...	IAAF permit meeting
5th	3 January	Lotto Cross Cup Hulshout	Sportcentrum Sportiva	Hulshout Hulshout Hulshout is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Houtvenne, Hulshout proper and Westmeerbeek. On January 1, 2006 Hulshout had a total population of 9,167. The total area is 17.35 km² which gives a population density of 528 inhabitants...
6th	14 February	Lotto Cross Cup Hannut	Stade Lucien Gustin	Hannut Hannut Hannut is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. On January 1, 2006 Hannut had a total population of 14,291...
7th	27 February	Lotto Cross Cup Dour	Site de la Machine à Feu	Dour Dour Dour is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 16,810 inhabitants. The total area is 33.32 km², giving a population density of 505 inhabitants per km²....
8th	14 March	Lotto Cross Cup Ostend	De Schorre (Quartier Stene)	Ostend Ostend Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....	Lotto Cross Cup Final/ Belgian Cross Country Championships

Past meetings

Meeting	Location	City	Years
Lotto Cross Cup Wachtebeke	Provinciaal Domein Puyenbroeck	Wachtebeke Wachtebeke Wachtebeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Wachtebeke proper, and a smaller town: Overslag. On January 1, 2006 Wachtebeke had a total population of 6,881...	2005, 2006

Past series winners

Season	Men's winner	Women's winner	Short race winner	U-23 winner
1982–83	Leon Schots	—	—	—
1983–84	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Francine Peeters Francine Peeters Francine Peeters is a retired female long-distance runner from Belgium. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There she ended up in 29th place in the women's marathon...	—	—
1984–85	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Betty van Steenbroek	—	—
1985–86	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Betty van Steenbroek	—	—
1986–87	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Ingrid Delagrange	—	—
1987–88	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Véronique Collard	—	—
1988–89	Roger Hackney	Véronique Collard	—	—
1989–90	Ruddy Walem	Ingrid Delagrange	—	—
1990–91	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Véronique Collard	—	—
1991–92	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Lieve Slegers Lieve Slegers Lieve Slegers is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who won the Rotterdam Marathon on 28 April 1996 clocking 2:28:06. She represented her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the women's 10,000 metres, where she was eliminated in the qualifying heats. Slegers also competed at the...	—	—
1992–93	Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Brussels, the next year followed by the first...	Ingrid Delagrange	—	—
1993–94	William Van Dijck William Van Dijck William Van Dijck was a Belgian athlete, primarily active on the 3000m steeplechase.-Biography:He was the first Belgian to win a medal at the World Championships, winning the bronze medal at the 1987 World Championships. He won a second bronze at the 1994 European Championships. He became Belgian...	Ingrid Delagrange	—	—
1994–95	Ruddy Walem	Lieve Slegers Lieve Slegers Lieve Slegers is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who won the Rotterdam Marathon on 28 April 1996 clocking 2:28:06. She represented her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the women's 10,000 metres, where she was eliminated in the qualifying heats. Slegers also competed at the...	—	—
1995–96	William Van Dijck William Van Dijck William Van Dijck was a Belgian athlete, primarily active on the 3000m steeplechase.-Biography:He was the first Belgian to win a medal at the World Championships, winning the bronze medal at the 1987 World Championships. He won a second bronze at the 1994 European Championships. He became Belgian...	Stefanija Statkuviené Stefanija Statkuvienė Stefanija Statkuvienė is a retired female long-distance runner from Lithuania. She competed for her native Baltic country in the women's marathon event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, finishing in 40th place...	—	—
1996–97	Mohammed Mourhit Mohammed Mourhit Mohammed Mourhit is a Belgian top cross country, middle and long distance runner who holds two European records, in the 3000 m and 5000 m. He is also a former European 10000 m record holder...	Marleen Renders Marleen Renders Marleen Renders is a retired female long-distance runner from Belgium, who represented her native country thrice at the Summer Olympics: in 1988, 1996 and 2000...	—	—
1997–98	Mohammed Mourhit Mohammed Mourhit Mohammed Mourhit is a Belgian top cross country, middle and long distance runner who holds two European records, in the 3000 m and 5000 m. He is also a former European 10000 m record holder...	Veerle Dejaeghere	—	—
1998–99	Ruddy Walem	Anja Smolders	—	—
1999–2000	Tom Compernolle Tom Compernolle Tom Compernolle was a Belgian runner, who specialized in the 5000 metres. He was born in Bruges.Compernolle finished thirteenth at the 2002 European Championships and tenth at the 2006 European Championships...	Veerle Dejaeghere	—	—
2000–01	Tom van Hooste	Anja Smolders	—	—
2001–02	Tom van Hooste	Anja Smolders	Tim Clerbout	—
2002–03	Tom van Hooste	Fatiha Baouf	Ridouane Es-Saadi	—
2003–04	Tom van Hooste	Veerle Dejaeghere	Ridouane Es-Saadi	—
2004–05	Tom van Hooste	Veerle Dejaeghere	Tim Clerbout	Pieter Desmet
2005–06	Tom van Hooste	Veerle Dejaeghere	Dries Busselot	Kristof Mouton
2006–07	Pieter Desmet	Veerle Dejaeghere	Dries Busselot	Michael Brandenbourg
2007–08	Pieter Desmet	Veerle Dejaeghere	Kim Ruell	Sanne Torfs
2008–09	Pieter Desmet	Veerle Dejaeghere	Kim Ruell	Atelaw Bekele
2009–10	Pieter Desmet	Veerle Dejaeghere
2010–11	Jeroen D'Hoedt	Veerle Dejaeghere