Heads off inland, races around north in the country (4)
I believe the answer is:
iran
'the country' is the definition.
(Iran is a country)
'heads off inland races around north' is the wordplay.
'heads off' says to take the initial letters (the 'heads' of the words).
The first letters of 'inland races around north' is 'IRAN'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for iran that I've seen before include "foreign land" , "Previously known as Persia" , "Tehran is its capital" , "Nation" , "Farsi-speaking country" .)