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A Victoria, BC group led by two-time Olympian Bruce Deacon has submitted its bid to host the 2026 and 2027 Canadian Cross Country Championships.
The group, the Victoria International Cross Country Association (VICCA), hosted the Pan Am Cross Country Cup in 2020 to great success. The meet held at nearby Bear Mountain was considered the best small international meet of all time.
“The Pan Am Cross Country Cup followed the World Athletics effort to make international cross-country meets more compelling,” shared a representative with VICCA. “We ramped up the difficulty factor, with large steep hills, created a festival-like environment and hosted in a beautiful setting.”
If the bid is won by VICCA, the meet will be hosted at the iconic Hatley Castle in nearby Colwood. Hatley Castle is the site of many Hollywood movies, including X-Men, Smallville, Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Currently, the location is hosting the movie starring Harvey Keitel and Faye Dunaway called Fate.
The provincial high school cross country championships have been held on the stately grounds.
“To the south, there is an epic view of the snowcapped Olympic Mountain range, to the east, downtown Victoria and the Jaun de Fuca Straight. It’s jaw-dropping.”
Other events
The University of Victoria Vikes are hosting the USport Canada West Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2025. The Vikes head coach, Hillary Stellingwerff, also an Olympian, is part of the VICCA team. The Vikes last hosted a major university event in 2017, when the team held the USport Cross Country Championships in Beacon Hill Park.
The Prairie Inn Harriers Running Club (1978) is hosting a global parks challenge starting May 19 on Victoria Day.
This event will last until the final day of summer on September 22. Competitors at all levels can tag parks on their runs to challenge for the title of top Parker, which holds two categories:
Highest number of individual parks (unique) and highest number of parks (repeats allowed). A beta version of the event took place in 2024. The winners ran through more than 800 and 500 parks, respectively.
Included parks are national, state, provincial, municipal, and city parks as well as UNESCO and National historic sites and more.
Registration will be open soon
