
© 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 around 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 14 Girls (4 to score)
- Under 14 Boys (4 to score)
- Under 16 Girls (4 to score)
- Under 16 Boys (4 to score)
- Under 18 Women (3 to score)
- Under 18 Men (4 to score)
- Senior Women (6 to score) including Veteran Women (4 to score) and Under 20 Women (3 to score)
- Senior Men (10 to score) including Veteran Men (4 to score) & Under 20 Men (3 to score)
Division 2:
- Under 14 Girls (3 to score)
- Under 14 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 16 Girls (3 to score)
- Under 16 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 18 Women (3 to score)
- Under 18 Men (3 to score)
- Senior Women (5 to score) including Veteran Women (4 to score) and Under 20 Women (3 to score)
- Senior Men (8 to score) including Veteran Men (4 to score) & Under 20 Men (3 to score)
Mob events:
- Under 12 Boys (3 to score)
- Under 12 Girls (3 to score)
There will be no separate divisions and one set of medals/individual awards for these races.
Age Groups
|
Age Group |
Year group for the 2026/27 academic year |
Earliest DOB |
Latest DOB |
Age on Calculation Date |
|
U12 |
5 & 6 |
01/09/2015 |
31/08/2017 |
Must be aged 10 or 11 on 31/08/2027 |
|
U14 |
7 & 8 |
01/09/2013 |
31/08/2015 |
Must be aged 12 or 13 on 31/08/2027 |
|
U16 |
9 & 10 |
01/09/2011 |
31/08/2013 |
Must be aged 14 or 15 on 31/08/2027 |
|
U18 |
11 & 12 |
01/09/2009 |
31/08/2011 |
Must be aged 16 or 17 on 31/08/2027 |
|
U20 |
13 + following year |
01/09/2007 |
31/08/2009 |
Must be aged 18 or 19 on 31/08/2027 |
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 12 Girls
- 11.45 Under 12 Boys
- 12.00 Under 14 Girls
- 12.15 Under 14 Boys
- 12.30 Under 16 Girls
- 12.45 Under 16 Boys
- 13.00 Under 18 Women
- 13.15 Under 20 & Senior Women
- 13.40 Under 18 Men
- 14.00 Under 20 & Senior Men
Recommended race distances
- Under 12 Boys and Girls – 2000m
- Under 14 Girls 2500 – 3000m
- Under 14 Boys 2500 – 3000m
- Under 16 Girls 4000m
- Under 16 Boys 4000m
- Under 18 Women – 4500 – 5000m
- Under 18 Men 5500 – 6000m
- Under 20 & Senior Women 5500 – 6000m
- Under 20 & Senior Men 8000 – 9000m
These distances are set by UK Athletics.
Marshalling
TBC
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 total of the athlete’s lowest 4 positions out of the 5 races in a season. If two or more athletes have the same total score over 4 races, the order is determined by the lowest 3, or if still equal 2, or if still equal 1, position.
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/U20 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 U12 to Seniors and Veterans belonging to our Member Clubs.
All athletes (including Under 12s) 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?
12s are welcome to run as guests.
However, in line with the updated UKA rulebook, an athlete who is not registered with England Athletics can only compete as a guest for 1 season, after which they must be a member of a Club affiliated to England Athletics and personally be registered with England Athletics.
Please pre-register by emailing the full name of athlete, race category (ie U12 girls or U12 boys) and date of birth to before 7pm on the Thursday evening before race day.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept any registrations after this deadline or any registrations with incomplete details which are not corrected before this deadline.
You will be provided with a race number. The cost of the number will be dependent on which fixture the athlete first runs at since it will can be used for all subsequent races in the season. So for example if the U11 U12 athlete registers for the first race of the season the cost of the number will be £20 as the same number can be used for the remaining four races in the season at no additional charge. The cost is scaled down according to which fixture the athlete first registers, taking into account the declining number of races left in the season as follows:
- Athlete first turns up to run at the second fixture: Cost is £15
- Athlete first turns up to run at the third fixture: Cost is £10
- Athlete first turns up to run at the fourth or fifth fixture: Cost is £5
The charge as set out above is payable by bank transfer before the race number is collected. We regret that we are unable to make adjustments to the above policy based on variations in athletes’ availability to compete during the remainder of the season.
Guest numbers for U12s can be collected on the day from Redway Runners, who have kindly agreed to hand out the numbers early on race day. Please enquire at the Redway tent
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.
Who do I contact if I have a query about the results?
Please send an email to results@chilternccl.co.uk.
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.
Can I wear headphones during the race?
In line with the UK athletics rules of competition, the wearing of headphones, or similar devices (other than those medically prescribed) is not permitted during the race. It is the responsibility of the athlete or their representative to let the officials know in advance if they have a medical condition which permits usage.
What do I do if I have an issue at a match?
The league operates under UKA Codes of Conduct & Rules. If there is anything that occurs at a fixture which you – or your child – feel uncomfortable about or wish to clarify, please take this to the Race Referee in the first instance – on the day as soon as possible.
Please ask any official or marshal to point you in the direction of the Race Referee or – if not feasible – the Race Director / UKA Official. It is very difficult for the Chiltern League committee to do anything after an event unless the Referee was made aware on the day.
