Valley Striders |
Grand Prix Handbook Revised January 2019 |
The Grand
Prix is an annual competition established in 1989. It is open to all adult
members of Valley Striders Athletics Club and is made up of a selection races
predominantly in the Yorkshire area and of internal club handicap races.
The
competition aims to encourage participation of club members in selected events
throughout the year and provide internal competition for all. The Grand Prix
includes different types of races categorised below.
Races to be incorporated in the Grand Prix
The internal
competition committee agree upon the races to be included at the start of each
12 month season based on popular events and a spread across the categories.
Occasionally it may be decided to change or exclude an event owing to a clash
of dates. Suggestions are welcomed from club members for consideration.
The number
of events to be incorporated is currently approx 35-40
each year, from the following 7 categories:
The season
runs from early December to the end of the following November
Awarding of Points
100 points
are awarded to the fastest runner in an event followed by 99 for the second and
so on,
·
so in a race with 31 Striders the last runner
scores 70.
As good
notice will always be given of forthcoming qualifying events there will be no
minimum restriction on the number of Striders participating for points to be
awarded. Thus in a turnout of one that runner would score maximum points.
However, in
a race where 20 or fewer Striders compete, points are scaled down as follows
·
In a race with 20 or
fewer Striders, the first Strider in the race scores 100, the last scores 80
and the others are equally spaced.
·
Example in a race
with 5 Striders, the scores would be 100,95,90,85 with 80 for last
In a race
where 51 or more Striders compete, points are scaled up as follows
·
In a race with more
than 51 Striders, the first Strider in the race scores 100, the last scores 50
and the others are equally spaced.
·
Example in a race
with 76 Striders, the scores would be 100,99,99,98,97,97,
down to final places of 52,51,51,50.
Groups
There are 7 groups
A-G. All club members will be entered into the Grand Prix automatically and
will be placed in a group based on their best performance from the Performance
Database over the previous year.
The placing
will be based on their pace per mile in 10k races with groups being based on
bandings of 30 second intervals with Group A being sub-6 minute mile, B being
6:00 – 6:30 mile pace , C being 6:30 – 7:00 mile pace, D being 7:00 – 7:30 mile
pace, E being 7:30 – 8:00 mile pace, F being 8:00 - 9.00 mile pace, G being
slower than 9.00 mile pace.
Groups will
be set and published at the start of the Season.
New-comers
(and other Striders with no recent form) will be placed into group
"U" (unclassified) until they have run 3 races and then their
grouping assessed on this performance. This way new club members have the
opportunity to complete a qualifying number of events if they join the club mid
way through the year.
Awards
Runners must
run a minimum of 8 events to qualify for any award. For each runner we will
calculate a total based on their best 8 points scores with the following
conditions
·
The
8 scores must come from at least 5 different categories. So if for example, a
runner's 5th category is their 9th best score, the calculation will exclude the
8th best and include the 9th best
·
If
a runner races in fewer than 5 categories their total will be reduced by 5
points per category less than 5 (e.g. by 10 points if only 3 categories run)
·
Points
awarded for the club handicap race will be based on time run, not position
finished.
Awards are
made as follows:
·
Overall
Grand Prix Male Champion (highest points scored)
·
Overall
Grand Prix Female Champion (highest points scored)
·
First
Male and Female in each of the age groups – Senior, 35-44, 45-54, and 55 and
over.
·
First
in each of the 7 groups.
In the event
of a runner winning more than one of the above categories only one award will
be made with their age group win taking precedence. Example a runner achieves
first 35-44 category male and first in Group B - no award will be made for
Group B winner. Notwithstanding this each Group winner, other than of group A,
will automatically be promoted to the group above for the following year.
Publicising the Grand Prix
The Newsletter
will be used to publicise forthcoming events and invite suggestions.
Information will also be sent out on Facebook. The website will include a Grand
Prix table showing points awarded for each event and total scores to date.
Runners
taking part in runs falling within the Any Other Marathon/Half Marathon/Ultra
run should send their results to the [email protected]
to ensure their performance is included in the competition.
Information
about the Grand Prix is included in the information sent to new members after
joining.
Grand Prix Co-ordinators
The Grand
Prix co-ordinator is responsible in consultation with the Internal Competition
committee for compiling a schedule of events each year, collecting results and
resolving queries.
Alan
Hutchinson [email protected]
Questions and Answers
Q1. Why
aren't handicaps scored on finishing position rather than time?
A1 Points
are determined throughout the competition based on running times, handicap
positions would not provide a fair or consistent basis for awarding points.
Q2 Why are 5 points deducted per category of run where a runner has
achieved points from fewer than 5 categories from 7 over the season?
A2 This is considered a preferable approach to avoid excluding
the runner from eligibility for a prize where they have competed in at least 8
Grand Prix events. It also provides incentive to take part in a wider spread of
events.
Q3 Why
aren't women scored separately e.g 100 for 1st woman,
99 for 2nd etc
A3 Because we'd then have to do the same for all the other
groups i.e. the age groups (MV40), and the "pace" groups (A-G).
Runners would get 4 different scores for each event! There are opportunities
for all runners to aim to achieve a prize, based on age groups and 7 groups A-G.
Q4 How are points allocated for cross-country when the men and
women run different races and different distances?
A4 On pace.
This is easy where the men and women run a different number of laps of the same
course - the women's time is just scaled up. Otherwise we estimate the
distances and calculate accordingly.
Q5 Why are there so many races?
A5 To ensure a wide spread of events eg.
Road and off-road providing opportunity for all members to identify a selection
of races spread across the season. New members joining in the first half year
often have sufficient Grand Prix events still available to select.
Q6 Is it possible to win a prize by only running 8 races?
A6 Quite
possible, although competing in more events will improve chances of achieving
better scores than in the first 8 events.
Q7 Do second
claim members qualify for Grand prix points?
A7 Second
claim members score points in club handicaps and in races where they run in a
Striders vest. Other than this, they do not score points.
Q8 Do new
members joining from another club score points for races with their previous
club?
A8 No