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, Cross-Country Series and Parkrun Challenge. 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 Club Competitions 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 Club Competitions 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 application of the rules stated below will be managed by the Results Manager and supported by the LRC Club Captains (Men’s, Women’s, Cross-Country & Relays). This group will ensure the rules are applied in a consistent and fair way, and be responsible for making decisions where required to ensure the spirit of what was intended has been achieved.

The wearing of a LRC club top for external events (not LRC organised Time Trials) is an important part of our club culture and required to participate in Inter Club Leagues (for example; BDSL & Cross-Country). For clarification a LRC club top can either be a running singlet or t-shirt version (long and short sleeve versions).

If you are a new member then please make every effort to borrow a LRC club top if you are participating in a Club Competition that requires a LRC club top, prior to you being able to purchase a LRC club top. Where this has not been possible the Results Manager with the support of Club Captains will review the individual situation and make allowances for new members who are awaiting club kit, however for Inter Club Leagues all members must be listed as Lichfield Running Club in the event results to count towards Club Competitions.

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.

_____________________________________________________________________
Time Trial Rules

  • 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.
  • The target time is the personal best time over the course during the previous twelve months.
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.

  • You must be a registered runner with EA either as a first or second claim member of LRC.
  • You must have marshalled at least one race.
  • The best five events to count.
  • 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.
  • 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 pagefor 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.

_____________________________________________________________________
Grand Prix Rules (Men’s and Women’s, two separate competitions)

  • 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.
  • The best six events to count.
  • If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise, the gun to finish time will be used.
  • 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.
  • 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 (see earlier note).
  • 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 our club’s 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)
  • 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.

___________________________________________________________________
Bob Connor Rules (men and women competing together on an age-related handicap basis). Grand Prix eligibility applies.

  • 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.
  • If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise, the gun to finish time will be used.
  • The best six events to count.
  • 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 win; if necessary, the next highest age graded percentage will be considered.  This count back will continue until there is a clear winner.
  • 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 Grand Prix Competition) members must run in the club’s racing vest (see earlier note).

_________________________________________________________________________

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
    1. It is recognised that distances are often approximate in this series but the distance stated by the organisers will be used.
    2. 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.
  • If electronic chip timing is used at the event, the chip time will be used; otherwise, the gun to finish time will be used.
  • The best three events to count.
  • 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.
  • To be considered for points, members must run in the club’s racing vest (see earlier note).
  • 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.

_________________________________________________________________________

Parkrun Challenge (2026)

  • Once a month take part at one of our local parkruns.
  • Both Standard Points and Bonus Points will be awarded as follow and added together:
  • Standard Points

    10 points       Running or volunteering at a Challenge Event.
    10 points       Setting a Challenge PB at a Challenge Event.
    5 points         Running with 20 seconds of your Challenge PB at a Challenge Event.
    20 points       Running at Christmas Day parkrun within current Challenge year.
    25 points       Running a parkrun outside England within current Challenge year.

  • Additional Bonus Points for the number of Parkrun Challenge Events completed as follows:

    100 points        12 Events
    80 points          11 Events
    60 points          10 Events
    50 points           9 Events
    30 points           8 Events
    15 points           7 Events

  • In addition to the points above a further 40 points will be awarded for participation at 2 events nominated each year. These will be highlighted in the events list at the start of the season.
  • A Challenge PB can only be set at a Parkrun Challenge Event. The setting of your Challenge PB for the current Challenge Year will either be your Challenge PB at the end of previous year you competed in a Parkrun Challenge or the first Challenge Event that you participate in in the current Parkrun Challenge year. If you beat your Challenge PB the new time will become your latest Challenge PB. The focus is on consistent improvement of your performance.
  • To make the process simpler for the results compiler and Parkrun Challenge Lead please note the following guidelines:
  1. Please ensure your parkrun profile is updated with the club name (Lichfield Running Club).
  2. Use Spond to notify people you will be attending a Parkrun Challenge Event.
  3. Enter your official parkrun time for in the Spond chat for the Parkrun Challenge Event your participated in.

Note: The Parkrun Challenge is a new event and we will continue to develop and refine its format. The focus is to create an opportunity for members to support the parkrun initiative through participation and volunteering.