Almond Blossom Cross Country

Almond Blossom Cross Country
The race takes place in a touristic town in the Algarve
Date	Early March
Location	Albufeira, Portugal
Event type	Cross country
Distance	12 km (7 mi) for men 8 km (5 mi) for women
Established	1977

The Almond Blossom Cross Country (Portuguese: Cross Internacional das Amendoeiras em Flor) is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Albufeira, Portugal, in early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It is held in co-operation with the Associação de Atletismo do Algarve (Algarve Athletics Association). The race gets its name from the white blossom which appears on the almond trees native to the Algarve region during the spring.

The competition was first organised in 1977 through a joint partnership of the Federação Portuguesa de Atletismo (Portuguese Athletics Federation), the District of Faro and Turismo de Portugal, with the aim of promoting both sport and tourism in the region. The race relocated to Vilamoura, another town nearby, in 1996 and the competition remained there until 2003. The 2004 edition was not held due to financial problems, causing the race's annual history to be interrupted for the first time. The Almond Blossom Cross returned to its original home in Albufeira in 2005 and has been held there annually ever since.

The race takes place at the Açoteias Cross Country course; a looping track which is 2 km (1.2 mi) in length and comprises sections of both grass and sand. The race distances have traditionally been 10 km (6 mi) for men and 6 km (4 mi) for women, but this was extended in the 2010 edition to 12 km (7 mi) and 8 km (5 mi).

The Almond Blossom Cross Country competition is international in its nature, attracting a large number of foreign athletes each year, but it is also a significant draw for Portugal's top domestic runners. Among the past winners in the men's race are Portuguese world medallists Fernando Mamede and Paulo Guerra, track world champion Charles Kamathi, and Serhiy Lebid – a multiple European champion. On the women's side, past winners include Olympic champions Fernanda Ribeiro and Gabriela Szabo, the 1996 World Cross Country champion Gete Wami, and world champion in the 10,000 m Berhane Adere. Only two Portuguese athletes have won at the World Cross Country Championships (Carlos Lopes and Albertina Dias) and both have been victorious in Albufeira: Lopes won the first ever Almond Blossom race in 1977 while Dias won the 1989 women's race.