Keighley & Craven’s Joe Hudson has been selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB&NI) as part of the men’s senior squad at the 2025 European Cross Country Championships.

The 2025 European Cross Country Championships will take place on Sunday 14th December in Portugal and will see over 500 athletes from 37 countries come together across 7 different races, which consist of men’s and women’s categories in senior, U23 and U20 races, as well as a mixed relay event.

The 31st edition of these Championships will see Hudson wear his first GB senior men’s vest as he continues his fine form in 2025.
On being selected for his first senior GB championships, Hudson said: “very excited for my first senior GB vest, so that’s a brilliant one to tick off. To be part of a pretty solid senior men’s team going out there, there’s a good history of winning team medals at Euro Cross Country, so hopefully we’ll come back with another team medal. I’m just very happy to be on the plane and to be able to pull on a GB vest.”

Hudson joins five other athletes in the men’s senior squad consisting of Scott Beattie, Jacob Cann, Calum Johnson, Rory Leonard and Richard Slade.

The six senior men’s GB&NI athletes had their place in the European Cross Country Championships team confirmed after producing superb runs at the Liverpool Cross Challenge, in which Hudson finished 5th.

On the men’s senior squad ahead of these championships, Hudson said, “There’s kind of a mix of experience in the team. There are two or three guys who have run for GB quite a bit and me and two others who maybe aren’t as experienced. Hopefully a good blend of experience and new people coming through.”

“I was out in the States and cross country out there is team based and over here it’s less so, so it’s just exciting, and for me personally, I’m not really in the conversation for an individual medal, so it’s nice to be able to go and run for a team again and hopefully help contribute to getting a good team result.”

Hudson’s 2025 season has seen him go from strength to strength in both cross country and track & field events, as he has broken numerous Keighley & Craven club records including the Senior Track & Field 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m during his time in the USA earlier in the year.

He has also had a standout autumn and winter which saw him finish with one of the fastest lap times at the National Road Relays as well as an exceptional performance in Cardiff which saw him finish as one of the top Europeans at the IAAF Label XC Meet.

On his season so far in both the UK and the USA, Hudson said: “I’ve raced quite a bit over this cross-country season and had some kind of pretty solid results and I was able to back that up with 5th place at Liverpool.”

“In the USA, it’s very different; the depth is pretty crazy. You’ve got guys at the front end who are coming top 10 at the Olympics, so it’s humbling in a way being in those races, but then it prepares you quite well to then come back to the UK and be close to the front end, and it’s been quite refreshing to come back and be thinking more about top 5 and podiums at more domestic races.”

He will be hoping to showcase the strength of West Yorkshire’s cross country as he represents his club, Keighley & Craven, on the international scene against some of the best long-distance runners in the world, including 10,000m world champion Jimmy Gressier (FRA).

There are also key contenders for medals from Switzerland, Spain and Portugal through Dominic Lobalu, Thierry Ndikumwenayo and José Carlos Pinto, respectively, as Europe’s contenders hope to put their best foot forward ahead of next year’s World Athletics Cross Country Championships in the United States of America.

On representing Keighley & Craven, Hudson said: “Keighley’s quite a small club and it feels like it’s gaining some good momentum. We had a good result at the National Road Relays in the autumn, so it’s nice to be able to come back and help contribute to that team, and hopefully they’ll be able to keep progressing and keep juniors coming through.”

This Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships will be streamed live on the European Athletics website from 9.00am local time, with the Senior Men’s race concluding the event just after the Senior Women’s race.