Gwent League - www.gwent-league.org.uk

The Gwent X-Country league is a series of 5 races over a six month period, usually Oct - Mar. The league is a very competitive league, but also incorporates all age, type and pace runners.

 Event Venues ** Age Groups ** Race Distances ** Competition Rules

Why race!

This is a team event as well as an individual event. When finishing a race a competitor will be awarded points based on their finishing position and the number of entries. For example in a race of 400 entrants finishing in 50th place will earn you 350 points. The points from all the races you enter will be accumulated at the end of the season and an overall position obtained.

As a team event your points are added to the other members of your team at a particular event and at the end of the season all the event totals added together to ascertain the club total. Unlike the individual results, which are all in one league, the teams are in certain division.

As you can see from this, is that your participation is on both an individual level as well as team level. Even if you do not enter all the races your points may still help the team. Also vice-versa, you may not score for the team in an event (outside first 5 club members), but you can still impact on your own position in the individual table. In addition to this your individual position will be categorised as well, so you can compete for vets prizes as well.

Family Day Out

The other good side to X-country leagues are they involve all age groups, the entire day only takes about 3 hours, so there is constantly a race to watch and support before you own race.

Finally the league title may suggest that the events are in Gwent, South Wales, but in fact at least one race if not 2 fall outside this area.

 

Event Venues The five races are selected each year from the following locations
Bath University	Dare valley Country Park, Aberdare
Blaise Castles, Bristol	Singleton park, Swansea
Newbridge Fields, Bridend	United Counties ShowShowground, Carmarthen (rarely)
Pembrey Park, Llanelli	Tredegar House and Country Park, Newport
Leckwith Stadium, Cardiff	Woodhouse Park, Almondsbury, bristol
Margam Park, Port Talbot	Bracelands, Forest of Dean

Age Groups
Novice	Must be at least 9 years old on the day of competition and be under 11 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Under 12	Must be at least 11 years old on the day of competition and be under 12 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Under 13	Must be at least 12 years old on the day of competition and be under 13 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Under 15	Must be at least 13 years old on the day of competition and be under 15 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Under 17	Must be at least 15 years old on the day of competition and be under 17 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Under 20	Must be at least 17 years old on the day of competition and be under 20 years old on 1st September prior to the fixture.
Senior	Must be at least 17 years old on the day of competition.
Male Veterans Over 40 Over 50 Over 60 Over 70	Must be at least the age indicated on the day of competition
Female Veterans Over 35 Over 45 Over 50 Over 60	Must be at least the age indicated on the day of competition

Approximate Race Distances
Age Group	Male	Female
Novice	1600m - 2000m	1600m - 2000m
Under 12	2000m - 2500m	2000m - 2500m
Under 13	3000m	3000m
Under 15	4500m	4500m
Under 17	6000m	5000m
Under 20	6000m	5000m
Senior	10000m - 12000m	6000m - 7000m
Over 70	6000m - 7000m	6000m - 7000m

 Rules for Competition

Only first claim members of a Club, College or School may take part in the Gwent Cross Country League.

Athletes competing for Welsh Clubs must be registered with the Athletics Association of Wales (AAW) before the day of the race.

All competitors over the age of 11 years must wear the registered colours of the Club, College or School being represented.

No "Guest" runners from within the catchments area will be allowed to compete in the Gwent Cross Country League, except on a 'once only' basis at the discretion of the League Management Committee, on payment of the requisite fee.

"Guests" from outside the area will always be welcome, on the payment of the requisite fee.

Entry fees must be paid as decided by the League Treasurer.

All Teams and Individuals must be properly declared at least 15 minutes before their race.

Athletes in the Under 23 and Veteran age groups should be declared as such.

Junior Teams

These will comprise of a maximum of 6 to count, with the first 4 of these scoring towards Team totals. If there are more than 6 runners then the declaration should indicate the runners in the scoring team and which runners are in each subsequent Team. Note: A Declared team may consist of less than 6 runners.

Senior Teams

These will comprise of a maximum of 8 to count, with the first 5 of these scoring towards Team totals. If there are more than 8 runners then the declaration should indicate the runners in the scoring team and which runners are in each subsequent Team. Notes:
A Declared team may consist of less than 8 runners.

Scoring will be dependent upon the number of starters in each race. For example, if there are 80 starters in a race, then the first runner home will score 80 points, the second runner 79 points and so on. Only the first 4/5 runners score towards a Team total while the other 2/3 may usefully reduce the points to be scored by other teams! Furthermore Clubs, Colleges or Schools unable to enter complete teams may still achieve good scores through the efforts of a few talented individuals.

Note:
Guests and Disqualified athletes do not score any points.
Veterans and athletes under 23 are additionally scored in their own sections.

Veteran Teams

There is a Veteran Team competition in the following age groups: Men Over 40, Men Over 50, Women Over 35 and Women Over 45. In these cases the first 5 runners will constitute the scoring team and the next 5 the 'B' team and so on.

Note:
There is no team competition for Over 60 or Over 70 Males and Over 50 Females nor athletes under 23.

Within each age group or section, the totals for teams and individuals will be carried forward to the end of the season.

The League Champions (Teams or Individuals) will be those gaining the highest aggregate scores from the (5) fixtures held throughout the season.

If there is a tie (for Teams or Individuals) the relative finishing positions on a fixture by fixture basis will be taken into account.