If you run cross country in Florida, Apalachee Regional Park is where the season is supposed to end. The FHSAA state championships are run here every November, the FSU Invitational/Pre-State gives teams a look at the course in October, and in the last few years the same trail has hosted the NCAA Division I championships and the World Athletics Cross Country Championships. This guide covers where it is, what the course is like, what has been run here and what to know before meet day.
Where Is Apalachee Regional Park?
The park is at 7550 Apalachee Parkway (US-27), Tallahassee, FL 32311, on the east side of Tallahassee in Leon County. Put the park name or the street address in your maps app; the entrance sign on the Parkway carries the 7550 street number. Leon County Parks and Recreation runs the park, and its listed number is (850) 606-1470.
Leon County says the park can hold more than 3,500 vehicles at once, which is why a state meet with eight 5K races and thousands of spectators can be run here. If you are making a trip of it, our guide to the best places to run in Tallahassee covers shakeout routes, and every race in Tallahassee is on our city page.
From Landfill to Championship Course
Leon County bought the land in 1979 for a landfill and a buffer around it. Florida State had run its FSU Invitational on the Miccosukee Greenway, and when that stopped being an option in 2009, the county, FSU Athletics and the Gulf Winds Track Club opened a running trail at Apalachee instead. The first cross country race on it was that October.
The county has kept building on it since:
- 2012: $300,000 to widen the course to 10 meters, the width NCAA championship races require.
- 2021: about $3 million for a multipurpose building with restrooms, a permanent finish-line structure, an awards stage, landscaping and accessible sidewalks.
- 2026: the World Athletics Cross Country Championships on January 10, with the senior races over about 10K.
The rest of the park is used every day: four multipurpose grass fields (two lighted) for soccer, lacrosse and youth football, a remote-control airplane and helicopter airfield, and a dog park with an agility course that opened in May 2025. When nothing is scheduled, the trail is open for public running.
The Cross Country Course
Leon County describes the trail as a multi-surface course through rolling hills, lowlands and pine forest, with several course and distance options cut from the same network. The race loops are grass with wooded sections, and the trail is 10 meters wide, so big fields can spread out after the start.
- High school: 5K for every FHSAA state race and for the Pre-State varsity and JV races.
- Middle school: 3K at the FSU Invitational and at the Nights of Thunder meet.
- College: 6K, 8K and 10K; the 2021 NCAA championships were 6K for women and 10K for men. MileSplit's venue page has the 5K and 8K course maps.
- Warm-up: a separate 1-mile warm-up trail stays open during meets, even when the race course is closed.
For the 2026 World Championships the course was rebuilt into 2 km loops, and World Athletics described the result as grass, sand and dirt with water crossings, mud and "rollercoaster" undulations. That version was made for that meet. The high school course you race in November is not a flat Florida field course, but it is not the World Championships course either.
Is Apalachee a Hard Course?
It is honest rather than brutal. The hills are rolling, not long climbs, but there are enough of them, with turns in between, that you rarely settle into one rhythm the way you can on a flat course. It rewards runners who are strong in the last mile. Every course rating in our Florida XC rankings is measured against the state meet here, using the runners who raced both, so a time at Apalachee is the yardstick every other Florida course is compared with.
The FHSAA State Championships
All eight FHSAA state cross country races, boys and girls in Classes 1A through 4A, are run here. The 2026 state championships are on Friday, November 20, 2026, after the district and region meets.
2025 State Champions
The 2025 meet was on November 22, 2025. Classes are the 2025 classifications; team scores are from the official results.
| Race | Individual champion | Time | Team champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boys 4A | Preston Sangely, Spanish River | 15:22.5 | Buchholz (58) |
| Boys 3A | Marcelo Mantecon, Belen Jesuit | 15:03.3 | Belen Jesuit (49) |
| Boys 2A | Will Moss, Montverde Academy | 15:35.3 | Bolles (62) |
| Boys 1A | Evan Spreitzer, Holy Trinity | 15:16.0 | Providence (60) |
| Girls 4A | Madison Muller, Riverview (Sarasota) | 17:37.7 | Creekside (136) |
| Girls 3A | Annabella Tomasic, Bishop Moore | 17:35.5 | Chiles (107) |
| Girls 2A | Selah Vignier, West Shore | 18:14.6 | Bishop Kenny (32) |
| Girls 1A | Eliana Black, Northside Christian | 17:50.0 | Providence (132) |
The fastest times of the day were Mantecon's 15:03.3 and Tomasic's 17:35.5, run as a junior and as a freshman. Providence won the 1A girls title on the sixth-runner tiebreak; it and Oak Hall both scored 132.
Tickets, Parking and Streaming
For 2025 the FHSAA sold tickets only through GoFan, $13 in advance and $16 on the day, with no ticket sales at the park, and the $2 parking fee was included in each ticket. The races were streamed on the NFHS Network. The FHSAA posts the 2026 ticket details and race schedule on its cross country page in the weeks before the meet.
Other Meets at Apalachee
FSU Invitational/Pre-State. The park has hosted the FSU Invitational since 2009, and 2026 is the 15th straight year it has been designated the Pre-State meet: the last chance to race the state course before the postseason. The 2026 edition is October 9-10. Middle school 3K and high school JV races are Friday evening; the high school Elite, Select, Varsity A and Varsity B 5K races start at 7:40 a.m. Saturday. Individuals can enter the Elite race with a verified sub-16:00 (boys) or sub-19:00 (girls), and the Select race with sub-17:00 or sub-20:00. The course is open for preview on Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m. Registration closes Sunday, October 4.
HOKA Nights of Thunder. A night meet in September. On September 12, 2026, lightning ended the night before the high school varsity races, after the middle school races had been run. See the 2026 Nights of Thunder results.
College and national championships. Apalachee has hosted:
| Meet | Date | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| World Athletics Cross Country Championships | Jan. 10, 2026 | Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda), 28:18; Agnes Ngetich (Kenya), 31:28 (both 10K) |
| NJCAA Cross Country Championships | Nov. 12, 2022 | Division I and II junior college titles |
| NCAA Division I Championships | Nov. 20, 2021 | Conner Mantz (BYU), 28:33.1 for 10K, a course record; Whittni Orton (BYU), 19:25.4 for 6K; teams Northern Arizona and NC State |
| USA Cross Country Championships | Feb. 2, 2019 | Shadrack Kipchirchir, 28:53; Shelby Houlihan, 32:47 |
MileSplit's venue history also lists NCAA South Region, ACC and NAIA championships and FHSAA district and region meets here. World Athletics counts more than 100 cross country meets at the park.
Meet Day: Parking and Spectator Tips
- Buy tickets before you leave. State meet tickets are sold on GoFan only, with no sales at the gate, and parking is in the park itself, which holds more than 3,500 cars.
- Walk the course the day before if you can. The Pre-State opens the course for preview on Friday afternoon, and it is the only time many teams see it before state.
- Restrooms and the awards stage are at the multipurpose building added in 2021.
- Dress for the day, not the season. A late-November morning in Tallahassee can start cold and end warm; October meets can still be hot. Our guide to running in Florida heat has Tallahassee's month-by-month averages.
How to Prepare to Race at Apalachee
- Train on rolling ground. Most Florida courses are flat. Short hill repeats and runs on rolling trail in the weeks before get your legs used to changing rhythm.
- Be patient on the first loop. With a big, fast start and rollers early, it is easy to spend too much in the first mile. The last mile is where places are won here.
- Race the Pre-State if you can. A race on the course in October tells you more than any workout, and your time there compares directly with what state will ask of you.
- Check the spike rules with your coach. The course is mostly grass and dirt; spikes are normal, and each meet sets its own length limit.
For another big Florida course, see our Florida Horse Park course guide or, in Southwest Florida, Kelly Road Soccer Complex in Fort Myers, or browse all Florida running venue guides.
Photo: the entrance sign on Apalachee Parkway, by The Bushranger, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.