Competition Rules

General

All Club Competitions will be run under UK (England) Athletics rules.

There are five club competitions which result in the award of a trophy at the end of a season. These are: Time Trial Series, Grand Prix Series, Bob Connor Trophy, Off-road/Trail Series and Cross-Country Series. Any runner who finishes first in a competition will be eligible to win the corresponding trophy and will not be excluded from winning other trophies if they are successful in other competitions.

More and more of our club runners are competing in the various LRC competitions. Results are being published by race organisers very quickly these days and our members are, quite rightly, wanting to know where they stand in the GP competition in a timely fashion; processing this data can be time consuming and frustrating if our compilers cannot identify our competitors on the organiser’s data. The competition rules are set out below and are in operation so that, firstly, EA rules are complied with, secondly, to ensure prompt publication to our members of the state of our internal competition and, thirdly, to ensure that our volunteer compilers can produce results without constantly having to revisit the data. There will be a 7 day period from the date of the event where members can deal with and notify anomalies after which the results will be published; after this only errors by the compilers will be rectified.

The committee reserves the right to amend these rules as circumstances demand. Any changes will be communicated to the membership via the Competitions section of the official LRC website.
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Time Trial Rules

  1. Points are awarded for the best improvement over the target time on the basis of 100 points for the best improvement, 99 for the second best improvement etc.  All runners taking part will be awarded at least 5 points.
  2. a) The target time is the personal best time over the course during the previous twelve months.
    b) Where a runner has not run the course in the previous twelve months, the target time is the personal best time over the course during the previous two years.
    c) Where a runner has not run the course in the last two years, the target time is the previous best time by any runner of the same sex over the course in the last twelve months.
    d) The difference between the target time and actual time for a race competitor will be converted to a percentage of the target time to calculate the best improvement. The biggest percentage will be awarded the maximum 100 points, the next biggest will be given 99 points and so on.
    For example:
    Runner A: Target time 20 mins, actual time 21 mins, percentage = (20-21)/20 = -5%
    Runner B: Target time 30 mins, actual time 29 mins, percentage = (30-29)/30 = 3.3%
    Runner C: Target time 20 mins, actual time 19 mins, percentage = (20-19)/20 = 5%
    Runner C gets 100 points, Runner B gets 99 points, Runner A gets 98 points.
  3. You must be a registered runner with EA either as a first or second claim member of LRC.
  4. You must have marshalled at least one race.
  5. The best five events to count.
  6. At the end of the competition in the event of a tie, the runner who beats their target time on the most occasions wins. If there is still a tie then the runner who has the largest cumulative percentage improvement over the series wins.
  7. Please note that use of headphones in internal club events e.g. time trials is prohibited, including bone conducting versions (please refer to our Health and Safety page for more details).

As soon as possible after each Time Trial provisional results will be published. Any queries regarding the accuracy of recording should be made known to the compilers within one week of the event.
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Grand Prix Rules (Men’s and Women’s, two separate competitions)

  1. Points are awarded on the basis of 100 points for the fastest time, 99 for the second fastest etc.  All runners taking part will be awarded at least 5 points.
  2. The best six events to count.
  3. If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise the gun to finish time will be used.
  4. At the end of the competition in the event of a tie, the winner will be decided by consideration of the next best results by the runners. This count back will continue until there is a clear winner.
  5. Runners must have competed in at least five Grand Prix events to qualify for a Grand Prix T shirt.
  6. To be considered for points in races other than those organised within the club (i.e. the club’s own time trials, some of which are part of the GP competition) members must run in the club’s racing vest (not the training vest).
  7. You enter external races under your own name as a member of Lichfield Running Club in accordance with England Athletics rules and the official race results confirm this (tip: if the race application allows enough space please enter the club name in full (as above) to help the results compilers find all of our runners easily on the results. Please enter your EA number if there is an appropriate field)
  8. You must be a registered runner with EA either as a first or second claim member of LRC.

*If you are aware that the race organisers have not recorded your details or results accurately please contact the race organisers and LRC’s competition compilers or club secretary no later than 7 days after the race results have been published.
*If you are new member and you have entered a race before you became a member but the date of the event is after you have been voted in then please contact the compilers or club secretary no later than 7 days after the event to be included in the club results.
* Running with another competitor’s number is absolutely NOT allowed under EA Rules. Most events will allow transfer of numbers and will amend their database if contacted prior to races. This is the only situation where swapped numbers will be acceptable, as the correct runner will be shown on the organiser’s results sheet.
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Bob Connor Rules (men and women competing together on an age-related handicap basis). Grand Prix eligibility applies.

  1. Points are awarded on an age related handicap basis, based on the WAVA system: 100 points for the best age related score, 99 for the second best etc.  All runners taking part will be awarded at least 5 points.
  2. If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise the gun to finish time will be used.
  3. The best six events to count.
  4. At the end of the competition in the event of a tie, the runner with the highest age graded percentage in a Grand Prix event wins; if necessary the next highest age graded percentage will be considered.  This count back will continue until there is a clear winner.
  5. To be considered for points in races other than those organised within the club, (i.e. the club’s own time-trials, some of which are part of the GP competition) members must run in the club’s racing vest (not the training vest).
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Off Road/Trail series (men and women competing together on a handicap basis)

  1. Points are awarded for the highest percentage when comparing the runner’s achieved time with respect to their target time, on the basis of 100 points for the highest percentage, 99 for the second highest percentage etc.  All runners taking part will be awarded at least 5 points.
  2. a) The target time is calculated based on the runner’s best 5 mile time in a club event over the previous twelve months pro-rated to the distance of the race. It is recognised that distances are often approximate in this series but the distance stated by the organisers will be used.
    For example:
    Runner A: 5 mile time 30 mins, race distance 14 miles, target time = (30/5)*14 = 84 mins
    Runner B: 5 mile time 40 mins, race distance 8 miles, target time = (40/5)*8 = 64 mins
    b) Where a runner has not run a 5 mile club race before, the target time is calculated from the best 5 mile time by any LRC runner of the same sex within the last twelve months.
  3. If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise the gun to finish time will be used.
  4. The best four events to count.
  5. In the event of a tie the runner’s highest percentage value in the off road/trail series events will be compared; if necessary the next highest percentage will be compared. This count back will continue until there is a clear winner.
  6. To be considered for points in races other than those organised within the club, members must run in the club’s racing vest (not the training vest) unless the conditions of more extreme distance/terrain races makes this impractical.
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Cross Country series (men and women competing together on a handicap basis)

This trophy is for men and women taking part in the Derby League Cross Country series representing Lichfield Running Club.

  1. Points are awarded for the highest percentage when comparing the runner’s achieved time with respect to their target time on the basis of 100 points for the highest percentage, 99 for the second highest percentage etc. All runners taking part will be awarded at least 5 points.
  2. a) The target time is calculated based on the runner’s best 5 mile time in a club event over the previous twelve months pro-rated to the distance of the race. It is recognised that distances are often approximate in this series but the distance stated by the organisers will be used.
    b) Where a runner has not run a 5 mile club race before, their target time is calculated from the best 5 mile time by any LRC runner of the same sex within the last twelve months.
  3. If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise the gun to finish time will be used.
  4. The best three events to count.
  5. In the event of a tie the runner’s highest percentage value in a cross country event will be the compared; if necessary the next highest percentage will be compared. This count back will continue until there is a clear winner.
  6. To be considered for points, members must run in the club’s racing vest (not the training vest).
  7. The races included are those for a Winter Season. For example, October 2021 to March 2022, the trophy will be awarded along with the remaining trophies for the club year ending 30th November 2022.