Championship Rules
[2024 revision]
The club runs two Championships, a Main Championship which runs all year and a Summer Fell Championship which runs just during the summer months.
The formats and rules for these are as follows:-
Main Championship
The Main Championship consists of 18 races which take place throughout the year. The races will be on a variety of terrain - road, trail and fell, and over a number of distances which are classified as Short, Medium, or Long according to their FRA distance category. Other races are classified as Short (under 10k), Medium (between 10k and 20k) and Long (over 20k).
The Championship is split into a number of categories. These are Men’s Overall, Men’s V40, Men’s V50, Men’s V60, Women’s Overall, Women’s V40, Women’s V50 and Women’s V60.
Everyone who enters the Championship is entered into the Overall Championship. In order to be entered into an age category as well you need to be that age before the start of the Championship year i.e. before 1st January.
The first Strider home scores 60 points, the second scores 59, the third scores 58 and so on. If there is a tie, then both runners will get the same score with the next person getting the next but one score. If a Strider does not wish to be entered into the Championship, they must inform the Championship Secretary. Their points will be omitted from the table.
Chip times will be used to determine places if chip timing is available. Otherwise, timings are taken from the published official results. In cases where the Championship states that runners may enter on more than one occasion e.g., Park Runs, positions will be determined by ordering everyone’s best time.
To qualify for entry into the Championship it is necessary to complete at least one race on each terrain and at least one race of each distance. Hence the minimum number of races required to enter the Championship is three. For example, if someone completes a short road race, a medium trail race and a long fell race then they would have completed all of the required categories.
Everyone’s best eight scores count towards their final Championship placing, subject to completing all of the required categories.
If a Strider does not finish a race for any reason and receives a DNF result, no Championship points will be awarded. This includes cases where the race organisers fail to notice a discrepancy, but fellow GVS runners do - e.g., unintentional shortcut. This also includes runners who fail to finish inside the race cut-off time if there is one. Similarly, any disqualification e.g., due to kit check failure will result in no points being awarded.
If there is a major race issue acknowledged by the race directors which lead to a later change in finishing places, the changed official places will be used to award Championship points.
New for 2024: To get championship points for a race, you must represent GVS in that race. This means you must enter with Goyt Valley Striders as your club (or let the Championship Secretary know if this is not possible). You must also wear a Striders top during the race. This rule may be relaxed for certain races.
Changed for 2024: If you take part in at any 5 of the races, you can receive a GVS Championship T-shirt at the next AGM. This is optional and, as part of our sustainability programme, you will only receive one if you say you want one.
Any other issues or disputes regarding the Championship will be considered by the Committee on a case-by-case basis as they arise. The Committee’s decision is final.
Summer Fell Championship
The Summer Fell Championship takes place on midweek evenings during the summer months on fell terrain. The Championship consists of 9 races and your best 5 scores count to your final place. As with the Main Championship, the first Strider in scores 60 points, the second scores 59 and so on. The Championship is split into male and female categories, but there are no age categories for the Summer Fell Championship. There are no distance requirements for this Championship.
All other Main Championship rules will apply.