The Slovenian city of Velenje will stage the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for a second time on 11 December, 12 years after it was a memorable host in 1999.
Having the championships once again are a triumph of ambition and ability for the Slovenian athletics federation, one of the smaller Member Federations of European Athletics with the country having a population of just over two million.
“It's a great honour for Slovenia and the city of Velenje to be the host of the championships again. We are feeling confident that everyone who comes to Velenje will go home with a good feeling,” said Local Organising Committee Event Co-ordinator Luka Steiner.
Early indications are that the overall record number of 34 nations, set at last year's event in Albufeira on Portugal's Algarve coast, and the record total of 468 runners that has been curiously reached on three occasions at the 2006, 2008 and 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, could be topped this year.
As for what might happen in the six races themselves, before the first of this winter's European Athletics Cross Country Permit races gets under way it's difficult to make accurate predictions.
However, two things are already known. The men's and women's champions in 2010, Ukraine's Serhiy Lebid and Portugal's Jessica Augusto, both intend to defend their titles.
Lebid, now 36 and arguably Europe's greatest ever cross country runner, is the only athlete to have competed in every single SPAR European Cross Country Championships since they were established in 1994.
Last year, he took his astonishing tally to nine victories in 17 editions of the event.
“The SPAR European Cross Country Championships means a lot to me, it's a race which established my name more than 10 years ago. It will be a sad day when I can't run in it any longer so I want to keep being on the start line for as long as possible,” commented Lebid recently.
“I feel I still have a few more years left in my legs but, most importantly, I'm not just running to keep my streak going. I wouldn't compete if I didn't think that I had good possibilities for a medal, even though every year there are new faces and tough opponents to contend with.
“Last year, I had to work really hard to beat some good French, Spanish and Portuguese runners. Nobody ever lets me have an easy time,” added Lebid, who remembers his last outing in Velenje very well.
“I also went there as the defending champion, having won my first European title the year before in Italy, but the course was very muddy and I finished seventh. I learnt a lot from the race. It made me think about how to run in the mud and, indirectly, the experience contributed to me winning the silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships two years later in Belgium,” reflected Lebid, turning the clock back.
The silver and bronze medallists 12 months ago, Spain's Ayad Lamdassem and Portugal's Youssef El Kalai also intend to be part of their respective teams and could take up the difficult challenge of trying to dethrone the king of European cross country running.
Augusto also has fond memories of the 1999 championships; it was her first major international cross country championship and she finished eighth in the junior women's race, - returning to take the gold medal in Malmo the following year - and she helped Portugal to get the team silver medals.
Like with the men's race, the two women who finished behind Augusto in Albufeira, Türkiye's Binniz Uslu and Portugal’s Ana Dulce Félix, also hope to compete at this year's championships.
Another potential battle royal, which would be a reprise of what happened at the sharp end of the men's under-23 race 12 months ago, could be between the French pair of Hassan Chahdi and Florian Carvalho.
The gold and silver medallists from Albufeira are still eligible to race again in the under 23 ranks.
However, the likes of Belarus senior champion Siarhei Platonau and Norway's 2011 European Athletic U23 Championships 5000m gold medallist Sindre Buraas, sixth and eight last year, could enter the medal equation in this race.
Türkiye's 2010 women's under 23 champion Meryem Erdogan is also eligible to defend her title but little is known of her current shape as she has not competed since she failed to finish both the 5000m and 10,000m races at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships.
The junior men's race also looks to be wide open. Spain's 2010 winner Abdelaziz Merzougui is now too old to defend his title, although he could be a factor in the under 23 race as showed by the fact that he got a 3000m steeplechase silver medal at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships.
The junior women's race is easier to pick run the rule over.
Serbia's Amela Terzic and Germany's Gesa Felicitas Krause, second and 11th last year, both won gold medals on the track at the 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships and have great credentials to get on the podium again.
Great Britain's Emelia Gorecka and Russia's Gulshat Fazlitdinova, third and fourth in Albufeira, are still young enough to compete as juniors and have also indicated they intend to be in Velenje.