Race of angry people (12)

I believe the answer is:

crosscountry

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'race' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Open race' mean 'crosscountry' so perhaps 'race' could also mean 'crosscountry')

'angry people' is the wordplay.
'angry' becomes 'cross' (cross can mean annoyed or angry).
'people' becomes 'country' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cross'+'country'='CROSSCOUNTRY'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for crosscountry that I've seen is " Open race".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).

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