After a 5 year break, lets do this again.

It starts the same as it ever used to... You're in the Shoulder of Mutton surrounded by fellow runners. You've just remembered that you need to get together a team of four runners for the 2018 championship races. At least one of the four runners has to be a man and at least one has to be a woman.

You turn out your pockets and you've got enough cash for 13 pints of Black Sheep, with which to bribe your way to a team. Some runners take several pints before they can be persuaded to join your team, others are yours for a single swift pint.


From the date that you select them, your runners score points at every race in the English or British championships:
1 point just for finishing the race;
20 points for the 1st man, down to 1 point for the 20th man;
20 points for the 1st woman, down to 1 point for the 20th woman;

(NB: for this year I am not going to allocate vet points - to cut down a bit on the work. That'll be under review for future years.)


In addition, your runners will score points at the Lakeland Classics. These additional races don't score as many points as the national championships, though:
1 point just for finishing the race;
10 points for the 1st man, down to 1 point for the 10th man;
10 points for the 1st woman, down to 1 point for the 10th woman;


During the year you can make 2 substitutions - either swap 2 of your runners for another pair who cost the same total number of pints, or twice swap one of your runners for another one of the same pintage.


Anyone who puts in a team late (i.e. after the first championship race) will only be allowed one substitution during the year, and will not score points for races that have already happened.


There will also be a cup-style knockout competition for all teams, just as we used to do.

At the end of the year, if there have been sufficient teams we will split into two leagues - the top teams going into the premier league and the bottom teams into the second tier.


So post your team of four to this thread, with a team name. Remember: you have 13 pints to distribute.

My next two posts will list the runners in the pub and how many pints they'll cost you.