By Lincoln Shyrack

Boston’s Franklin Park has hosted competitions since 1914 and is home to many cross-country meets each year, from high school state meets to NCAA regional championships. You may remember that Ed Cheserek started his journey to the 2013 NCAA cross country title by winning the inaugural Battle in Beantown meet last year at Franklin Park.

When you add cross-country to the storied sports rivalry between Boston and New York, Franklin Park has one event on its resume that not even historic Van Cortlandt Park can claim.

In 1992, the IAAF World Cross Country Championships were run at Franklin, and names like Hicham El Guerrouj, Haile Gebrselassie, and Paula Radcliffe competed in what is still the most talented field ever assembled on U.S. soil. All three of the aforementioned runners were still juniors at that meet 22 years ago – Radcliffe took gold in the junior women’s race and Gebrselassie silver in the junior men’s race – but each went on to become world record holders and are among the best runners of all time.

While no such meet has been held at Franklin Park since, cross country fans in the Boston area can find a meet at Franklin nearly every weekend in the fall.

Course: Franklin Park

Location: Boston, MA

Usage: High school and College

History: Founded in 1885, Franklin Park is a 527-acre establishment located in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Named after Benjamin Franklin, the site is the largest piece of the Emerald Necklace series of parks that wind through the Boston peninsula. Franklin Park was created by Frederick Law Olmsted, the famed landscape architect credited with the design of New York City’s Central Park.

The Franklin Park Zoo opened in 1912 and is still a major Boston attraction. The zoo is home to many exotic animals and is the second largest zoo in the New England area. Located in the Long Crouch Woods portion of the park, the remains of the former Bear Dens mark a famous point in the Franklin Park cross-country course. Due to deterioration and negligence by the Parks Department, the dens were closed in 1954. However, the empty cages still remain and provide the name for “Bear Cage Hill.”

Layout: The Franklin Park cross-country course is built to handle distances from 5-K to 10-K. Races start in the open area known as “Playstead,” which was widened in 1992 in preparation for World Cross. The first loop is known as the “Stadium Loop,” which goes around the “White Stadium” and sends runners back toward the start/finish before the climb of “Bear Cage Hill.”

This hill rises 194 feet in elevation but provides a significant downhill once runners crest the top. In last year’s Battle in Beantown, Edward Cheserek and Jake Leingang used the downhill to blow open the race and finish 1-2.

After completing “Bear Cage Hill” for the first time on an 8-K layout, runners head to the wooded area known as the “Wilderness Loop.” This loop begins at the “Wall of Stone” and leads runners through a quiet portion of the park before heading back to the open grounds of “Playstead.” From there, the race either heads back for another “Wilderness Loop” in an 8-K race, or goes around the start area to head for the 5-K finish.