Off-Road Championship

The championship table is updated on a regular basis by the Club Championship Administrator (Helen Price), usually soon after a given race has taken place.

Details of the Off-Road Club Championship are below, please take the time to read the rules as they’re quite different from our more familiar Road Championship and have been revised for 2019.

Races:  There are a total of twelve races to choose from, each is categorised as SHORT, MEDIUM or LONG.  They’ve been selected to be accessible to beginners as well as offering a challenge to more experienced off-road runners, all are recognised by either the FRA or BOFRA.

Rules:  You have to do a minimum FIVE races in order to qualify for a finishing position in the Championship, although if you do six your points will count.  If you do more than six, your best races will determine your final position.

From that minimum requirement of five races, you must do at least one short, one medium and one long race – it’s that simple.   So, you could qualify for a finishing position in the championship by doing three short, one medium and one long (five races in total) but obviously your chances are better if you do six races.

Scoring:  Scoring is straightforward, the first Harrogate Harrier man and woman to finish any given race get 20 points each.  If you are the only person in the race, you still get 20 points.  The second-placed man and woman get 19 points, the third 18 and so on.  If there are more than 20 men or 20 women to finish a race (unlikely), each finisher will get 1 point.  It follows therefore, that if you were the first Harrier to finish in all of the six races you contest, the maximum you can get is 120 points.

Unless indicated otherwise, the points will be awarded based on gun time, i.e. if you cross the line first, you get the points no matter what.  Few off-road races of this nature are chip-timed in any event.

Championship Winners: The winning man/lady will be the ones that score the most points, but there will also be mens/ladies v40, v50 and v60 categories.

Second Claim Members:  You must enter any given race as a Harrogate Harrier in order for it to count towards the Club Championship.  For example, if your first claim club is Wetherby Runners and you run a given race under those colours, it will NOT count.  You MUST have entered as a Harrogate Harrier and wear our club colours.  No arguments.

NOTE:  The FRA Executive Committee have voted to introduce a new race category relating to the use of GPS devices for navigation, meaning that if a race is classified ‘non-GPS’ (NG) then the use of any electronic device to delineate a route, to display current position on a map, or as a compass, will be prohibited. The use of such a device to display distance travelled, time, speed or altitude will be allowed, as will recording of an actual route for post-race analysis. If such a device is used in an emergency situation then that competitor should retire from the race and declare themselves non-competitive.  Just to be clear, GPS is not allowed in FRA registered races in England unless the race is categorised as “G”; by the race organiser.