I’ve only done the Pett Cross Country a few times and that was to support my club. For anyone who has also done the Christmas Pudding Dash at Pett with Nice Work, it’s almost the same course.

The distance has varied in the past, and generally falls somewhere between 4.5 – 5 miles. The race HQ is the Pett Village Hall and in 2025 is once again marked the conclusion of the East Sussex Sunday Cross Country League.

Parking can be a little bit of an issue so bear that in mind and car share if you can. The route has around 110 metres of elevation and you can CLICK HERE to view the map, as ran by 2024/25 ESSXC champion Steve Gates, a runner I was lucky to coach (still do at the time of posting) to that title.

You need to wander slightly along the main road to find the start line in a nearby lane, the first km is downhill and does include some gravel paths. A total descent of -34 metres in the first kilometre.

The following part of the race includes some grass field and km 3 includes 15 metres of elevation. The toughest part of the race is towards the end as you enter Guestling Woods. Here it can be very muddy so you should not attempt to run this race in road shoes.

There will always be a few who make that mistake and they generally return to the village hall muddier than those wearing trail shoes.

The finish is a good one as you come out of the woods into the field adjacent to the Village Hill, unless you are one of the front runners there is normally a good reception at this stage of the race cheering you in.

As with any cross country, expect plenty of mud, plenty of hills and plenty of smiles. If you work hard then this is a really good training session. Combined with a good warm up & cool down (10-15 mins or 1-2 miles), you can expect a training load of anywhere around 350 for this race. That’s equal to a tough 10k session. Be sure to work hard though to hit that target and keep going up the hills when the route is at it’s toughest point.