© Menz Photography
© Mark Easton Photography
© Graham Smith Photography
© Menz Photography
© Mark Easton Photography
© Menz Photography
© Graham Smith Photography
© Mark Easton Photography
© Graham Smith Photography
All the information you need
About our league
League Organisation
The league is organised into two divisions competing in the same races at the same venues. Scoring is done separately for each division. Our dedicated team of volunteers aim to get the RESULTS published as soon as possible after each match.
We currently have over 40 clubs competing in our league coming from the following counties; Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. A list can be found on our MEMBERS page.
We operate under UKA Rules and Code of Conduct – please ensure your members are fully aware of these before taking part. All athletes competing in U13 and above will need to be fully paid up member of England Athletics. Membership numbers can be checked on EA Registraiton Checker.
Teams
Division 1:
- Under 13 Girls (4 to score)
- Under 13 Boys (4 to score)
- Under 15 Girls (4 to score)
- Under 15 Boys (4 to score)
- Under 17 & 20 Women (3 to score)
- Under 17 Men (4 to score)
- Senior Women (6 to score) including Veteran Women (4 to score)
- Senior Men (10 to score) including Veteran Men (4 to score) & Under 20 Men (3 to score)
Division 2:
- Under 13 Girls (3 to score)
- Under 13 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 15 Girls (3 to score)
- Under 15 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 17 & 20 Women (3 to score)
- Under 17 Men (3 to score)
- Senior Women (5 to score) including Veteran Women (4 to score)
- Senior Men (8 to score) including Veteran Men (4 to score) & Under 20 Men (3 to score)
Mob events:
- Under 11 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 11 Girls (3 to score)
There will be no separate divisions and one set of medals/individual awards for these races.
Age Groups
- Under 11 – Ages 9 & 10 years as at 31 Aug 2024
- Under 13 – Ages 11 & 12 years as at 31 Aug 2024
- Under 15 – Ages 13 & 14 years as at 31 Aug 2024
- Under 17- Ages 15 & 16 years as at 31 Aug 2024
- Junior Under 20 – Ages 17, 18 & 19 years as at the 31 Aug 2024
- Senior – Aged 20 years or over as at 31 Aug 2024
Match Timetables
This is the standard timetable for matches 1-4. Please note, times may have to be adjusted if hosts/course cannot accommodate the standard timetable. Please check individual FIXTURES details.
- 11.30 Under 11 Girls
- 11.45 Under 11 Boys
- 12.00 Under 13 Girls
- 12.15 Under 13 Boys
- 12.30 Under 15 Girls
- 12.45 Under 15 Boys
- 13.00 Under 17 & 20 Women
- 13.15 Senior Women
- 13.40 Under 17 Men
- 14.00 Under 20 & Senior Men
For the final match the senior men’s race starts earlier to facilitate early results presentations:
- 11.30 Under 11 Girls
- 11.45 Under 11 Boys
- 12.00 Under 13 Girls
- 12.15 Under 13 Boys
- 12.30 Under 15 Girls
- 12.45 Under 15 Boys
- 13.00 Under 17 & 20 Women
- 13.30 Under 20 & Senior Men
- 14.30 Under 17 Men
- 14.35 Senior Women
Recommended race distances
- Under 11 Boys and Girls – 2000m
- Under 13 Girls 2500 – 3000m
- Under 13 Boys 2500 – 3000m
- Under 15 Girls 4000m
- Under 15 Boys 4000m
- Under 17 & 20 Women – 4500 – 5000m
- Under 17 Men 5500 – 6000m
- Senior Women 5500 – 6000m
- Under 20 & Senior Men 8000 – 10000m
These distances are set by UK Athletics.
Marshalling
All member clubs who do not host a fixture within the season are required to supply course marshals for the entire match day. This can be made up of a rota of marshals with overlapping time slots – so they are able to be at the agreed marshalling post to take over. This should also allow your marshals to also run or watch their children run. Larger clubs (100+ attendees in the previous season) need to cover at least two marshal slots for the match day and those with 250+ or more attend, three marshalling slots for the match day.
Clubs will be assigned fixtures to provide marshal once the venues are confirmed. The allocation by non-hosting club is determined before the start of the season and shared with all clubs and posted on the website. This is done based on proximity to the venue where possible.
The host club will advise their marshal coordinator, contact details, specific meeting place/time and date for receiving names and contact details for the marshals. If a host club has additional marshalling or support requirements – eg. a smaller club, need expertise or equipment, the earlier this is requested the better.
The Fixture Coordinator will share the contact details of the Clubs due to provide marshals with the Host Club. Host clubs should receive the actual names of volunteers so they know who to expect a few days prior to the fixture. Supplying marshals is a requirement of club participation in the league and a success of the league is dependent on clubs respecting this condition.
Please find details of the marshal rota here.
Scoring
Only current members of your club and UK Athletics are allowed to compete and score. (Under 11s do not need UK Athletics membership).
Second claim members are allowed to score as long as their first claim club is not part of the league in either division.
If team managers are aware of members who are not eligible to score for whatever reason, please mark them as NON SCORING on the registration portal.
All races are scored on a reverse scoring basis, i.e. if there are 50 athletes in a race and a club has athletes in 1st, 3rd, 8th and 10th places they score 50+48+43+41 = 182 points. This means that a club does not have to have the full number of athletes to complete a team.
Team scores are calculated from all eligible competitors in each race. Those scores (except U11’s) are added together to create the total match score.
In the Senior races, separate team scores are calculated for Veteran Men, U20 Men and Veteran Women, but are not added into the total match score.
Individual Awards
Leading athletes over the season can win the following awards. The scoring is based on the athletes best 4 races out of the 5 in a season, their positions being added together to give their score.
In each of Division 1 and Division 2
- Senior Men’s Race: First three Senior Men, first three Veterans over 40, first three Veterans over 50, first three Veterans over 60, first three Veterans over 70, first three Under 20 Men, first three in Senior competition regardless of age group.
- First three Under 17 men, first three Under 15 boys, first three Under 13 boys.
- Senior Women’s race: First three Senior Women, first three Veterans over 35, first three Veterans over 45, first three Veterans over 55, first three Veterans over 65, first three in Senior competition regardless of age group.
- Under 20 and Under 17 Women’s Race: First three Under 20 women, first three Under 17 women.
- First three Under 15 girls, first three Under 13 girls.
In the combined Mob match
- First three Under 11 boys, first three Under 11 girls.
No awards are made if insufficient athletes compete in 4 races in a category. However, if a match is cancelled the awards are made on the basis of the best 3 out of 4 races, the overriding principle being that athletes can miss one match.
The Dennis Orme Trophy
The Dennis Orme Trophy was introduced in 2015/16.
The trophy is awarded to the highest percentage increase in the number of performances by runners of all age groups over the previous season subject to the following conditions:
- Clubs can only win the trophy once they have completed two seasons in the League (this is to stop a new club winning that may only have say 50 appearances in its first year and then say 120 in its second year – an increase of 140%).
- To qualify clubs will also have a base line of 70 appearances or more.
History of the league
The League was formed in 1959 and is one of the oldest in the south-east. Visit our History page to read a brief history of the league.
© Graham Smith Photography
Chiltern Cross Country League
FAQs
Who can enter the league?
The league is open to athletes from U11 to Seniors and Veterans belonging to our Member Clubs.
All athletes (except for Under 11s) competing in the league must be currently affiliated to England Athletics (or one of the other home countries) and fully paid up with their club.
Information on scoring can be found above.
How do I work out my age group?
All young athlete’s, junior and senior age groups are taken as under the mentioned age on 31st August preceding the season. Anybody who is 8 years old or younger on 31st August preceding the season is too young to run in the Under 11 category. Within the Senior age group there are veteran sub-categories. Veterans must have reached their age category (over 35, 45, 55, 65 for ladies, and over 40, 50 60 or 70 for men) on the day of the first race of the season. If an athlete becomes a veteran or if they reach the next age category during the season they are still scored in their original category.
Can I run as a guest?
U11 guests are welcome to run as non-scoring guests if they do not belong to a club or are a member of a club that is not in the league. Please pre-register and we will provide you with a race number at a cost of £5 per match.
Please email the following details to
- Full name of athlete
- Race category (ie. U11 Girls or U11 Boys)
- Date of birth
- Your race number (if you have already been allocated one for this season)
You will be asked to pay £5 at least 36 hours before the match. Payment details will be forwarded upon application. Please reference your payment with your surname and race number.
Unfortunately, we are no longer able to accept guests from other age categories with the exception of England Athletics affiliated clubs who are not part of the league but would like the chance to trial it as a non-scoring guest team for a season before deciding whether to formally join or not. Please note that, with the exception of under 11s, all guest runners will require an EA number. Interested clubs should contact the registration team at
What do I do if I forget/lose my race number?
Your team manager will issue you with a race number that you keep and reuse for each of the 5 matches. If you forget or lose your number, ask your Club team manager to:
- Check what your number was and issue you a new number (if they have remaining numbers) and provide you payment details. If your team manager has no remaining numbers, then contact Registration.
- Your team manager will then need to send an email to detailing your name, race category, old number and new number and amend your number on the portal, both before 5pm on race day.
- You will need to pay £5 for the replacement number which must be paid electronically (ask your team manager for bank account details which they can get from the Registration Team). Replacement numbers should be paid for within 24hrs. Please reference your payment with your surname and you new race number.
- If you find your original number at a later date, please destroy it and continue to use the replacement number.
Will photos be available?
We do not organise official photographers but we are lucky to have a number of excellent amature and professional photographers attend matches.
Please visit our PHOTOGRAPY page for a list of photographers featured on our website.
If you do not wish your photograph to be shown online or used in publicity material you should draw a thick red cross across your number.
Further information can be found in our PHOTOGRAPHY page.
Can U20 women run in the senior women's race?
Yes, a female athlete that meets the U20 age criteria can choose to run in the Senior women’s race. Provided they are registered as an U20 athlete they will be able to run some of the races during the season in the U20 race and some in the Senior race using their same race number and will show up in the race results (both for individual and team scoring) for the chosen category.Please note that individual awards are based on the results for 4 races in the relevant age category, so an athlete would need to build 4 races in the same age category in order to have a strong chance of winning an individual award.The option to move between age categories is not available for any other age group or for U20 men