We host several races and race series for club members including a club championship 10K race which is held on a Tuesday night in July.
Track Mile
The first Tuesday of each month is the club handicap where we run a series of mile races on the track. The races are graded by ability so you’re running with people of a similar standard but the final results are based on your age group and official handicap on UK Athletics’ Runbritain website. This means anyone has a chance of winning the race as it’s about bettering your own predicted times rather than being the fastest runner on the night. Twice a year we replace the mile with a 400 metre sprint and there are no races in midwinter.
Relays
As a club we love a relay race! There are plenty to choose from in our area with local clubs competing against each other in teams of three, four or six, over cross country, trails and road races. Relays are very inclusive and are a great way for juniors, seniors and veteran runners to get started with racing. They’re very social events and it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, we’ll find you a place. Normally we aim to get the fastest teams possible in each category and then balance our remaining teams out for a bit of inter club competition and so no one team is out racing long after everyone else has finished. Some clubs will only enter one or two teams in a relay but we like to give everyone a chance and will usually take the maximum spaces available to us. We’ve had some successes in recent years with our Male Veteran Over 55 and Over 65 teams and also our Senior Ladies team performing very well. We’ve had some great victories in Mixed categories too where your team has to include both male and female runners.
Inov-8 Handicap
In conjunction with the Inov8 outlet shop in Crook we run a series of Thursday night 5K handicaps where runners are set off at intervals depending on previous times or predictions, slowest first, fastest last. The idea being that if the handicapper has done their job perfectly, you’ll all cross the finish line together! The first runner home wins a small prize provided by Inov8 and there’s a end of season overall prize for the series winners!
In 2024, the dates for the Inov-8 handicap are as follows:
- 27th June
- 25th July
- 29th August
- 26th September
- 31st October
- 28th November
- 30th January
- 27th February
There will be 4 summer route handicaps (Farrars – Roddymoor – Lonnen – Farrars) May-August and 5 winter route handicaps (2 laps from Inov8 store same as previous winter) September – February (No handicap in December) .To avoid a penalty of 17 points you need to do 7 in total from the 9 available, at least 2 summer and 2 winter route. The winner is the person with the least amount of points. All dates are subject to weather conditions.
Club Championship
We also run two club championships over the course of the year, one for members under the age of 50, and one for anyone over the age of 50. There are 16 events to choose from, and your best 7 scores count.
In 2024, the events and dates for the Club Championship are as follows:
- Monthly Track Mile (Mar-Dec)
- Any Licensed 5 mile road race
- Any Licensed 10 mile road race
- Any Licensed Half Marathon
- Any Licensed Marathon
- Muddy Roads Pie and Pea 5k / Middridge 5k Trail (Either event, your best score counts)
- Run Through Quayside 5k (Either event, your best score counts)
- Teesdale AC Raby Races (5 or 10k)
- 400m Track Time Trial (June or September)
- Parkrun (29th June at Durham Parkrun)
- Club 10k (2nd July)
- Darlington Harriers Croft Pitstop 10k
- Durham City Run Festival (5 or 10k)
- Sunderland Harriers Silksworth 5k
- Darlington 10k
- Jarrow 10k
Point scoring is compiled by using your age graded percentage on the day of the event, plus your UK Athletics Run Britain Handicap. With the highest scorer receiving 30 points, to the lowest receiving 1 point. If there are more than 30 entries in one event, the positions lower than 30th will also receive one point.
Any other track mile, or track 400m race will be accepted if you send your time through to the Club Championship Sub-Committee.