Eventually as a cross-country competitor? (2,3,4,3)
I believe the answer is:
in the long run
'eventually' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'as a cross-country competitor?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found in the answer.
'cross' could be 't' (shape) and 't' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for in the long run that I've seen before include "marathon effort" , "Finally" , "some time later" , "When all is said and done" , "If fit, where Radcliffe will be seen this summer" .)