The Tuskys Wareng Cross Country is an annual 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...

 competition that takes place in November near Eldoret

Eldoret

Eldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...

 in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. The name is derived from the sponsor, Tuskys Supermarket, which is based in Wareng County.

The event was inaugurated in December 2006 with its soft grassy course located in the Huruma area four kilometres west of the centre of Eldoret (a town renowned for long-distance running). The first edition was known as the Tuskermatt Cross Country, but this changed to its current title the year after. The competition's programme of events comprised two senior races (men's 12 km and women's 8 km) and two junior races (boy's 8 km and girl's 6 km). The competition quickly attracted a high number of top level runners in the region and by 2008 the senior men's race alone garnered some 250 entries. It developed into one of the major Kenyan annual races and Kipchoge Keino

Kipchoge Keino

Kipchoge Keino , chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee , is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist...

, head of Kenyan Olympic Committee, was present that year.

Although the event attracts almost exclusively Kenyan runners, the calibre of the competitors is very high, such is the country's strength internationally. World Cross Country

IAAF World Cross Country Championships

IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 champions Emily Chebet

Emily Chebet

Emily Chebet is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and cross country running...

 and Vivian Cheruiyot

Vivian Cheruiyot

Vivian Cheruiyot is an athlete from Kenya who specialises in long distance running. She represented Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics...

 have both won the competition, while the men's side has been won by world half marathon champion Wilson Kiprop

Wilson Kiprop

Wilson Kiprop is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres and half marathon. He was the world champion at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2010 and was the 10,000 m gold medalist at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics.He started competing at the...

, World Cross runner-up Moses Mosop

Moses Mosop

Moses Cheruiyot Mosop is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics...

, and World Cross team medallist Hosea Macharinyang

Hosea Macharinyang

Hosea Mwok Macharinyang is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and cross-country running. He won three consecutive team titles with Kenya at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 2006 to 2008...

. Among those to have won the junior races, Leonard Komon

Leonard Komon

Leonard Patrick Komon is a Kenyan long-distance runner and the current world record holder in the 10 kilometres and 15 km road races....

, Mercy Cherono

Mercy Cherono

Mercy Cherono is a Kenyan middle distance runner. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres and has also won gold medals at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games...

, Daniel Salel and Purity Cherotich Rionoripo have gone on to win World Junior Cross Country medals.

Past race winners

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Women's winner	Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... )	Men's junior winner	Women's junior winner
1st	2006		33:12		21:29
2nd	2007		35:48.5		27:19.6
3rd	2008		36:34.6		28:33.8
4th	2009		34:16.3		25:30.7
5th	2010		33:34.4		25:00.7
6th	2011		34:51.5		27:02.6