Hi Burndeners,
We’re very excited to announce that, after a productive meeting with the Off Road Captains – Paul and Tony – and the Results Coordinator, Ian; the new race list is now live for 2024!
This year both the Club Championship and the Off Road Championships have 13 races on offer, with a total of 7 races needed to qualify in each. To future-proof the points system, as suggested by Ian, we’re adopting the CLGP points system. This will mean the first Burnden runner to finish will be awarded 1 point (rather than 50 points, which was previously given), then the 2nd person given 2 points etc. This will avoid the situation, if we ever have more than 50 male or female runners completing a race, of us running out of points to award, as our club is growing so rapidly. So, this will mean as points are accumulated over the season, the person with the lowest amount of points will be placed at the top of the league.
In the Club Championship, we have 2 parkruns – both at Alexandra Park – one in February and one in December. These will both count as 2 separate races and will be age graded, as usual. As a Burnden bonus, the runner who has the biggest improvement in age grading will receive a special bonus prize at the awards ceremony in 2025! We encourage you to still put in your greatest effort in the February race to make it fair for everyone.
For some of the races, we’re still awaiting a definite confirmation date so we’ll update the list when we know those dates.
This year, for the first time, as well as any marathon counting we’re also having any ultra marathons to count too. For the Off Road Championships, this must be a trail event. These will all be age related and the Ultra will be graded against the marathons using whatever distance is completed.
Regarding the CLGP, there will now be 12 races and this will include the Last Drop 5k in November, hosted by North Bolton Runners, which is a new addition to the league and extends the Grand Prix season for another month.
Phew, that was a lot of information but we’re happy to explain in further detail at the meeting, or when we see you. We’d also be interested to hear your feedback at the next meeting, in January, we like to think there’s something in there for everybody. We’re looking forward to an exciting season of races and lots of fun as well!
See you all soon,
Linda & Gareth
Ladies & Men’s Captain