Well folks, you had a little taster a few weeks ago at the Farringdon Relays but the Cross Country season is about to kick off in earnest on Saturday, 28th September 2013.
The first fixture of the season is the Sherman Cup & Davison Shield.
As per normal this is a ‘scratch’ race, with no handicaps. Veterans will be competing in with the senior men’s and ladies races, but with their own finishing positions i.e. 1st vet, 2nd vet etc rather than overall finishing position. Veterans in the Harrier league are still 35 for the ladies and 40 for the men. You are NOT allowed to drop down a category and compete as a senior.
The fixture has a new venue this year at Hedley Farm West, Opposite Tanfield Railway, NE16 5EQ (NOT Temple Park as in the past) and is kindly being hosted by Gateshead Harriers. A map showing the location of the event can be viewed here. Parking will be available in the adjacent field (look out for signage and/or marshals) and a course map will (hopefully) follow soon.
A couple of important points for this year.
This season we’re using the following colours for the numbers:
1 – 1200 on red for women
1 – 2000 on blue for men
1 – 1200 on green for juniors (boys and girls)
1 – 250 on orange for U11s (boys and girls)
You keep your number for the whole season including the Davision Shield & Sherman Cup.
Do not throw it out after the first fixture.
If you run in the wrong number i.e. a number from another race, you will be disqualified. Remember if you’re a bloke, and you’re wearing an orange number instead of a blue one, chances are you’ll be disqualified. Same goes for ladies etc. There are no white numbers this year this should reduce the chances of you picking up the wrong race number. If you’re not sure what your number is, please ask your team captain (Paul Hilton for the men, Denise Waugh for the ladies), or check with the officials at race registration.
The provisional timetable is as follows (for Saturday and all other fixtures):
12:15 – Under 11s (all fixtures apart from Saltwell)
12:25 – U13 Girls (Saltwell 1st fixture)
approx 12:35 – U13 Boys
approx 12:45 – U15 Girls
approx 12:55 – U15 Boys
approx 13:05 – U17 & 20 Women
13:10 – Senior & Veteran Women
approx 14:00 – U17 Men
approx 14:10-14:20 – Senior & Veteran Men
As you can see, times are approximate so please don’t take as gospel. Listen out for the whistle calling your race. Make sure you’re up there in time to get warmed up and to the start.
Obviously with courses differing in length across the fixtures these times will change fixture to fixture, but organisors are hoping that it’ll be something around this timetable. Also note that the first fixture may run slightly different with there being no packs.
If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch (either on the website or at a club session this week).
Happy running!!
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