Information about the cross country season 2018-19

The 2018-19 cross country season is almost upon us! Forget the roads for racing from October to February - it's off road and often in the mud where all the fun is to be had.

Picture from Information about the cross country season 2018-19

What races are there?

Our primary competition is the Metropolitan League which has one meeting per month. Races are on Saturdays for every age group from U11 to seniors and vets. The league is primarily a team competition. The team scoring the least number of points, according to the finishing positions of the runners, is the winner. There are separate races for men and women. The men's races are ~8km and the women's ~6km and for juniors each meeting includes races for U11 boys and girls (~1.5k), U13 boys and girls (~3km), U15 boys and girls (~4km) and U17 men and women (~4km).

We also take part in the Sunday League which has one meeting per month but on Sundays. This is a senior only league with mixed races for men and women over around 8km.

Both these leagues are 'turn up and race'.

In the early part of the season, before xmas, there are also a number of minor championships that you must enter in advance. Watch out for emails from Daisy Gladstone who is doing all our championship entries this season and follow her instructions. You cannot race if you do not have an entry!

After xmas, in January there are the county championships, then the southern championships, and finally in February the national championships. All these races are open to any Serpie and are advance entry. Again, watch out for emails from Daisy about how to register.

All of these races need you to be registered with England Athletics so if you have not renewed/bought your licence for 2018-19 please go to Serpiebase and buy it now. Despite it looking like an easy online purchase, our website only collects the payment and behind the scenes Malcolm has to manually re-key all the information, which takes time, so don't delay!

Pretty much all the races are now on the planner so please check there for the details.

Finally, as you may know, I am leaving the committee in September after 16 years so the club needs someone to take over my role. Most urgently, we need someone to do the Metropolitan League declarations (registrations in advance and on the day). If this role is not filled we cannot take part in the Met League! Please get in touch with me for more information.

Ian Hodge
athletics@serpentine.org.uk

Submitted: 12 September 2018

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