Spectrum Striders Running Club

Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire

Club Road Race Standards

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Introduction How they Work The Club Standard Times Applying for an Award

Introduction

The Club Standards were first introduced in 2000. The idea behind them is to have road race time targets (the standards) to which club members of all abilities can aim. The benefits are that they can help us to improve our own race times and our success in achieving a standard is recognised within the club.

The basic idea is that we have a range of 5 different levels which we have called copper (the easiest), bronze, silver, gold and platinum (the hardest). We have defined standard times for each level for all the major road race distances and for each age, both male & female. To achieve a standard, you need to equal or better the standard time in 3 different distances during the year.

The standards are currently administered by Janet Redpath.

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How they Work

Race Distances
Standards apply to the following standard road race distances: 1 mile, 5k, 5 mile, 10k, 10 mile, Half Marathon and Full Marathon, but you don't need to run all of these! To qualify, you need to equal or better the standard time for your age in 3 different distances during the year. What's more, you can qualify from any races of these distances - you're not limited to races in our club championships or other club supported events. All you need is a copy of the official race results as proof of your time.  If the race is in the club championships, then there is no need to forward a copy of the results as Janet will already have one!

Age Groups
From 2004, the standards are now applied for each year band rather than in the 5 year age bands for vet competition.

How the Standard Times are Determined
We have based all the club standards on the World Standard Times published by the WAVA. These are times that a world champion athlete might expect to run and figures have been produced for every age at every standard distance. They are approximately the same as world records but are not actually records themselves.

Each of our standards is defined against the World Standard as follows:

• PLATINUM - World Standard + 20%
• GOLD - World Standard + 35%
• SILVER - World Standard + 50%
• BRONZE - World Standard + 65%
• COPPER - World Standard + 85%

We have one set of standard times for the open age category and one set for each veteran age. So if you are a 42 year old, your time is compared against the world standards for a 42 year old.

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The Club Standard Times

It is not practical to put the standard times in a neat table as there is a time for each distance for each age and each gender - that's an awful lot of information!  If you want more information about the standard times for your age, please contact Janet.

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Applying for an Award

Rules

• To qualify for an award, you need to achieve the same standard at 3 different distances in one year.
• The standards year runs from 1st December to 30th November.
• You can only qualify for the award of one standard level in any one year.
• Any properly measured and certified road race can count - you are not limited to championship races or club supported races.
• The time achieved must equal or better the standard time.
• Your time should be taken from the official race results.

Making a Claim

• Claim forms are available here in PDF format (15KB, single page of A4).
• Complete the claim form, providing copies of your times from the official results and return the completed form and attachments to Janet Redpath.  If your time was set in a club championship race, there is no need to provide a copy of the results as Janet should already have them; if the race is not in the club championships, please send a copy of the results sheet for the race with your claim.
• You can make a claim at any time but applications should be received by Janet by 14th December.
• Awards are presented at the annual championship presentations just before Christmas.

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This page was last updated on 04/01/09