The announcement that Bathurst had been selected to host the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) cross country world titles in 2021 was stunning both for the sheer scale of the event and the sheer audacity of our bid in the first place.

First, Bathurst will become just the second Australian city to host an IAAF world event.

The first was Sydney, which hosted the 1996 IAAF world junior athletics championships in 1996 - as Sydney was preparing to host the 2000 Olympics.

In the 23 years since, the IAAF has not brought any of its events to Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth - or even back to Sydney.

They've not gone to the Gold Coast, to Wollongong, to Geelong or Newscastle.

But it is now bringing an event to Bathurst. That's simply astonishing.

Perhaps even more stunning, though, is the fact this is the second time Bathurst has won the rights to host a major event without having a venue in place to run the event.

The city did it back in 2015 when it was announced as the host city for the 2016 BMX National Championships, despite having no BMX track to run it on.

Bathurst Regional Council immediately committed $1.5 million towards building a world class track and that investment will reap further rewards when we host the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in February 2020.

Similarly, the cross country track for the 2021 meet has not yet been built, but it will take advantage of both the contours and the lure of Mount Panorama.

I keep finding myself writing that Bathurst is winning an envied reputation as a "big thinking" city, but the city keeps delivering.

And while the city keeps delivering, I will keep shouting its praises from the rooftops.

Bathurst is setting an example that other cities - regional cities, in particular - will strive to follow, but we have the jump on them all in terms of infrastructure, accommodation and pure know-how.

Outside of Race Week in October, Bathurst used to be regional Australia's best-kept secret, but it's a secret no longer.

We love living here, and the rest of the country is quickly catching on to just why that is the case.