GREATER MANCHESTER XC Championships at Leverhulme park .
Good luck to all runners ,the selectors for the Inter-counties Fell Champs will be keeping an eye on results ......if you are keen but not running let us know .
GREATER MANCHESTER XC Championships at Leverhulme park .
Good luck to all runners ,the selectors for the Inter-counties Fell Champs will be keeping an eye on results ......if you are keen but not running let us know .
Excellent racing today ,conditions were extremely testing ..well done to all who ran ,
Hope the young lady with the broken ankle recovers quickly .
Loads of great performances today the battle for men's first place between Salfords Carl Hardman and Horwichs Chris Farrell was epic ..Carl pulling away just before the last treachous hill to be crowned Champ Well done Salford first men's team and Horwich in Silver .
With Salford also winning the Lancs team trophy the Northerns are looking a real prospect ..
Big well done to Louise Rudd winning the ladies in fine style for Stockport ..
How can the same club win GM and Lancs titles???
Could CV enter next year because they are close to the boarder in Tod???
CV are (one of 13 clubs) only registered for Fell, so couldn't enter XC races(?)
Interesting to see how other fell runners did at their respective County XCs
Nic Barber. Downhill Dandy
I've had this argument before and its ridiculous. It should be wherever the club is based. For example you could have Leeds city winning the lancs title if they had 6 Runners from Lancashire. The lads from lancs that run for clubs outside lancs should be able to compete as individuals but not in the team section.
I was slightly confused on Saturday when I ran at the Lancs Champs and a Leeds runner won, along with Salford (GM now, formerly Lancs though)...now I understand why but I can see why people get confused!
I hope they all run at the Northern's though, would be great to see (and be lapped), by the lads at the top of the game up North.
Even more confusing down here in Hampshire - winners were Guernsey Island AC. Apparently Channel Islands are part of Hampshire as far as UKA are concerned. Pleased to report that the course was a good mudbath for a change
It is very confusing and I've discussed this with Chewbacca recently and on many occasions with others over the last few years, going back before I joined Lancs AA.
You can find the rules here if interested.
UKA Rules are broken down by discipline eg 100+ is Track and Field, 200+ is Road, 400+ is Fell and 500+ is cross country.
However General Rules 1-24 apply to all disciplines and Rule 9 applies to County Champs.
Eligibility to participate in a County Champs is nothing to do with your membership of a club. It is to do with your status as an individual and is typically but not only by birth or residence.
Unattached athletes are allowed to take part.
The Leeds athlete who won our Senior Mens Cross Country, Simon Deakin grew up in Preston, I think as Preston Harrier and despite moving away to Yorkshire has continued to contest the Lancs Champs and represent Lancashire at the Inters. He also had a team-mate Martin Roscoe who has retained his old County links and is also Leeds AC and a phenomenal VET runner.
(6) County Inter-Team (including relay) Championships are open to:
(a) any Club affiliated to the County Association, fulfilling the appropriate requirements of
Rule 2(4).
(b) any Unit of HM Forces stationed in the County.
(c) any school, college or business house in the County.
NOTE: Every member of a team must hold a County qualification as defined in (2) above.
(7) A County may at its discretion limit Team Championships to affiliated Clubs.
These are the rules regarding team competition at County level. It is clear that EVERY member of a team must hold a county qualification AND the club must be affiliated.
A Club automatically holds a County Affiliation (free of charge) to the county in which it resides. A club can then also affiliate to another county, a dispensation which I believe is set up for clubs that are on the county borders. Clubs such as Manx and the Channel Islands were allocated a county in the past.
A few years ago, Horwich would have won the ladies team at our Lancs champs, but the club were not then affiliated to Lancashire. Now they pay the small fee and affiliate each year.
No County association can refuse the affiliation of a club from outside of it's area.
Salford won the Mens - well done to them - we were 2nd and will try to regain the title next year.
I would say we need to consider a couple of points.
1. All 6 counters for Salford are Lancs runners, ex Lancs Clubs and some if not all still hold 2nd claim status with a Lancs club.
I think we need to look at why these athletes felt the need to move on. Could we have done more to keep them?
I personally doubt it. The Senior Endurance scene in road, cross country and fell is dominated by specialist elite clubs that draw in athletes from other clubs. It has always happened and will continue to do so.
2. The rules generally for champs, 1st claim, 2nd claim, transfer of athletes..... are largely devised to deal with issues from 30+ years ago and I think a general overhaul of certain parts of the rulebook should be done to simplify the rulebook.
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
It's all come about because they invented a new "Greater Manchester" county rather than sticking with the county boundaries from 1972 like everyone else does. The county boundaries presently used are an anachronism from the past.