THOUSANDS of runners will brave the elements at the Lindsays National Cross-Country Championships in Falkirk today.

The course in Callendar Park has to be altered earlier this week due to the recent weather conditions but that seems not to have deterred many.

A record 2460 names are on the start-lists, with over 100 Scottish clubs represented.

The women’s entry is particularly positive, with 433 entries the highest ever, beating last year’s tally by 27 runners and last year’s silver medallist, Moira Stewart, will be the name to watch out for

Chief executive Mark Munro admits he is delighted by the strong entry and believes it is an indication of the health of the sport in this country.

“The weather recently has given us a number of real challenges in the organisation of the event but hopefully things go off to plan and we have some great cross country action,” he said.

“The National XC has grown significantly in recent years and clubs have been galvanised to getting athletes out to compete and to have 100 or so clubs represented is tremendous. With the age span of the runners, I honestly don’t think there can be a more inclusive national championship event in Scottish sport.

"We’ve seen that growth in the Senior Women’s race. It is well over 400 entries now when a few years ago it was not many more than 200 and we’d love to see the trend continue.”