Swinton Running Club
Swinton Running Club
Central Lancs Grand Prix
Background
The Central Lancs Grand Prix has been in existence for some years. Swinton
Running Club joined in 2002. The aim of the Grand Prix is to encourage more
runners to participate in road races. In 2003, Carl Price of Swinton won
Vet 45 category which was a superb result. In 2004, Steve Doxey won
both the overall Mens category and vet 40, and if that wasn't good
enough Steve wins 1st v40 AGAIN in last year's CLGP 2005.
Who
takes part?
There are eight clubs that compete in the Grand Prix including Swinton. The
others are Burnden Road Runners, Chorley Harriers, Horwich RMI, Newburgh
Nomads, Wigan Phoenix, Southport Waterloo AC and Radcliffe AC.
Lostock AC have joined the Central Lancs Grand Prix League, so we will be
competing against them this year.
The first race in the Club Championship and the Grand Prix is the Lostock 6.
What
races are in the series?
Each of the participating clubs put forward one of their own races and so
there are nine races in the series. For 2008, they are as follows:-
Central Lanc's Grand
Prix Race Dates
Lostock 6M Sunday 24th February 11.00 am
Radcliffe 10Km Sunday 27th April 10.30 am
Wigan 4M Wednesday 14th May 7.30 pm
Chorley 10M Sunday 25th May 11.00 am
Horwich 5M Wednesday 16th July 7.30 pm
Newburgh 10Km Sunday 7th September 11.00 am
Swinton Half Mar Sunday 28th September 8.30 am
Astley 5M Sunday 12th October 11.00 am
What are the rules?
The rules are fairly simple to understand. Runners have to be members of
one of the participating clubs. Each club must have at least 10 runners in
each race. All runners count - men, women and vets. There is also a
women's team competition with four to count.
The races are open races and so not all runners will be competing in the
Grand Prix but points are awarded, to those that are, on the basis of their
finishing position out of all the Grand Prix runners. For instance, the
first Grand Prix runner may finish 10th overall in the race but is awarded 1
point. The second Grand Prix runner may finish in 16th position overall in
the race and would be awarded 2 points, and so on. Points awarded to the
first twelve runners for each club are added together to give a score for
the club. Clearly, the club with the lowest score is the winner.
Similarly, the individuals with the lowest scores win their category. There
is a vets team award and so the first 6 vets for each club will not only
count for the 'A' or 'B' teams, they will also count for the vets team. So
if you are a vet, there is even better reason for you to come and race the
Grand Prix events.
Do I
have to run all eight races?
No, but we would like you to. To be eligible for individual awards you have
to compete in six of the eight races - if you compete in all eight your six
lowest scores will count towards your points total for the series. However,
penalty points are awarded to clubs who fail to field 10 runners in any
races and so we really need you to run as many as possible.
Are
there any prizes?
There are team prizes for the first team, for the first 'B' team, the first
vets team and the first women's team. There are individual prizes in the
following categories:-
How
do I enter the Grand Prix?
You do not need to register to run in the Grand Prix. You just enter each
race in the normal way. You should, of course, make sure you put your club
down as Swinton Running Club on the entry form because the Grand Prix
organisers will use that to work out the scores. If you enter the Grand
Prix races on the day of the race you will not be charged the levy which is
normally around £1. However, for the Swinton Half Marathon Autumn race it
would be helpful if you could enter in advance as this eases the burden on
helpers on the day of the race. If you decide to enter on the day, you will
be charged the extra £1 for our race.
How
is the Grand Prix financed?
The Grand Prix is financed by the seven participating clubs. For each of
the races that you enter, 10% of your entry fee is donated to the Grand Prix
prize fund. For instance, this means that if there is 100 Grand Prix
runners in the Swinton Half Marathon Autumn race each paying £5 entry fee,
we will donate £50.
What
about our own Club Championship?
We still run the Club Championship races which generally include most of the
Central Lancs Grand Prix races as well.
What happens next?
Put those dates in your diary now!
Questions?
If you have any questions about the Grand Prix you can contact Steve Doxey