Championship 2009

Click here for a printable PDF version of this information

This year’s championship reverts to a scoring system similar to that operated a couple of years ago.  It continues to recognise and reward effort and achievement and takes the “ageing effect” into account.  The championship has two main components for allocation of points – and the total number of points on 31 Dec 2009 is what gets the prizes. 

Points are awarded for the completion of races.  The longer distances races get you more points because they (for most runners) take more out of you and mean that you cannot perform as well on a regular basis.  Points are also added based upon the “Star System”.  If you compete in a race distance that is recognised in the Riverside Runners star awards process, your finish time also gets you points according to the star performance value. 

Points for completion

• 5k................... 1 point
• 5m.................. 1 point
• 10k.................. 1 point
• 10m................ 2 points
• Half Marathon.... 3 points
• Marathon........ 4 points

Races that are of other distances still get you points.  These are awarded using the next shorter distance value but will always get you at least one point.  So for example the Yaxley Seven Mile race (between 10k and 10m) will score 1 point.  The Oakley 20m will score 3 points.  Races longer than the marathon will all score four points.  Races that are shorter than 5k will still score 1 point.

Star Points
Riverside Runners makes Star Awards for 10k, 10m, half marathon and marathon distances using times in a variety of age bands.  These points are awarded for the 10k, 10m, half marathon and marathon and in these race distances, you have the opportunity to gain additional points based upon your performance.  If in your age band you achieve the necessary “two star time”, you will get two additional points.

First Time Star Certificate Points
Yet more points are awarded for those performances that earn you your “Star Certificate”.  Irrespective of which star award you achieve, two more points will be awarded for a race event that earns you a star certificate.

Two Fully Worked Examples

1. A female member aged 42 (on the day of the race) completes a 10k in 48 minutes.  Their previous best time was 51 minutes and so they gained their “3 Star Certificate”.  For this event they score:
   
   
   • Completion of a 10k race............................................. 1 point
   • Attained a three star time for this sex and age............. 3 points
   • Awarded their three star certificate............................. 2 points
   
   In this example this female gets a total of six points

1. A male runner aged 46 completes a half marathon in 1hr 30 mins.  Their previous best over this distance was 1hr 31mins.  This means that they have completed the race in a “4 star time”, but they had already some time earlier been awarded their 4 star certificate for their 1hr 31min time.  For this event they score:
   
   
   • Completion of a Half Marathon race............................. 3 points
   • Attained a four star time for this sex and age............... 4 points
   • (But no “first time certificate points” because they already had their four star certificate)
   
   In this example this male gets a total of seven points

From the outset, the championship scores and the running total will be available on the club website.  This is to enable all to see the operation in the early days.  However, from Easter Monday until the August Holiday weekend any further updates will only show the points awarded to individuals and the running total will not be made available on the website.  After the August Holiday weekend until the end of the year, updates will not be made available so as to heighten the tension in the championship stakes. 

To make this successful, runners must post their results on the club website within a week of the event (although extenuating circumstances will be taken into account) if they want to get the points.  This is to prevent any secretive soul competing in a wide range of events unbeknown to their main rivals (and also to prevent Maurice from having a huge workload calculating the results in one go on 31 Dec 2009). Note that the Riverside Runners St Neots Half Marathon does not attract any championship points.