Points Mean Prizes!

It’s not long before the Alchester Club Road Race Championship kicks off again.  The season kicks off with Banbury 15 – a delightful, if slightly undulating run in the country.  As well as being part of Alchester’s club championship, the Club Championship races also form part of the Oxfordshire Grand Prix series, which is where we compete against other Oxfordshire clubs throughout the season.  This means that for every race we compete in we get points as individuals and also as a team.

As an individual, for every Oxfordshire club runner, (of the same gender that is!), that you beat to the finish line, you will get a point. 

For example if there are 100 ladies competing in an event.  The winner will get 99 points.  If you are the 25^th lady, you would get 74 points.

You will score points for every Oxfordshire GP event that you take part in throughout the season.  At the end of the season the person with the most points wins!  Don’t worry if you’re not the Oxfordshire version of Paula Radcliffe though, because all races count so even if you’re not the quickest, if you’ve taken part in more races you will probably have a good chance of doing well.  It’s also worth remembering that you will score well in the more popular events as there are more people running and more people to beat!  For example Charlton-on-Otmoor and the County Road Relays (the relays are an OXON GP event however are not in our club championship) will be more likely to give you more points than Hornton Classic 6 (although please do this one too!)

 Your points are also really important for the team series too.  For the ladies, the first three club representatives score towards the team total.  For the men, it is the first four men that score.  This means that it is really important to make sure we have a full team at all the events.  However, just because you don’t think you will make the top scorers it’s still really important that you take part in these races as if you can beat other non-Alchester club runners this means less points for other clubs!!

At each race there are prizes for teams and individuals including Senior and Vets categories, so even if you don’t think you can beat those whippet like youngsters there’s always a good chance of picking up a vets prize, and failing that a spot prize!

So what I’m trying to say is that it would be great to see as many people taking part in our club championship and also helping us to do well in the Oxfordshire Grand Prix.  Plus it’s always great to see so many Alchester runners at these events.

 To find out what races are Oxfordshire Grand Prix Races visit: http://www.alchester-runningclub.co.uk/?page_id=15

We will be keeping you posted on team and individual successes this season so watch this space!!

Liz Grolimund, Road Race Secretary and Ladies Captain