FLRUNNERS.COM - 27 Yrs of Florida XC: an Historical Preview

27th FLRUNNERS.COM Invitational Returns To Holloway Park

One of Florida's largest and longest-standing cross country meets returns to Holloway Park in Lakeland on Oct. 2-3, bringing together runners from the elementary, middle school, high school and college levels for two days of racing.

More than a quarter-century after the first runners crossed the finish line at Polk Community College, the FLRunners.com Invitational remains one of Florida's signature cross country events. This year another chapter awaits at Holloway Park. While the venue has changed over the years, traveling from Winter Haven to Tampa, Dade City, Titusville, and now Lakeland, the meet's significance has remained. 

MileSplit will bring live coverage of this year's 27th FLRunners.com Invitational as another generation of runners adds their names to the meet's history.

This year's Elite ROC Boys and Girls fields include seven boys seeded under 16 minutes and five girls under 18:30 with registration still remaining open.

2026 FLRunners.com Invitational At A Glance

Venue History

The inaugural FLRunners.com Invitational was held at Polk Community College in Winter Haven on Oct. 7, 2000. The meet remained at the school, now known as Polk State College, through 2002. It moved to Ed Radice Park in Tampa for the 2003 and 2004 editions, then spent one year at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City in 2005. FLRunners.com returned to Ed Radice Park in 2006 and then moved to Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville for its eighth edition in 2007. Titusville served as the meet's home for 10 years before the Invitational relocated to Holloway Park in 2017.