cross country

As a competitive sport, cross-country running began in England with a game called "hare and hounds" or "the paper chase" in the early 19th century. In this game, a runner or group of runners laid a trail by dropping pieces of paper or other markers while following a random course, and a second set of runners then set out in pursuit, trying to follow the paper trail.
The first formal competition was the Crick Run, first held at Rugby School in 1837. Many other public schools soon established similar events, followed by Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Although hare and hounds continued to be popular at schools, in important competition the game became a cross-country race along a course laid out in advance over open country.