Traditionally, the World Cross Country Championships consisted of four races: one each for men (12 km) and for women (8 km); and one each for junior men (8 km) and for junior women (6 km).

Scoring was done for individuals and for national teams.

In the team competition, the finishing positions of the top six scorers from a team of up to nine are summed for the men and women, respectively, and the lowest score wins.

For the junior races, the top three from a team of up to four are scored.

The Polish city of Bydgoszcz plays host to the 40th edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on Sunday.

The Kenyan hegemony of the 2010 edition, which was also held in Bydgoszcz, should be tamed as the Ethiopians arrive buoyed after a much better Olympic Games than their Rift Valley rivals and ready to challenge the Kenyans, who have dominated recent editions.