These are fun and friendly 5K events that take place throughout the summer, with each club hosting one event. Every runner for the club scores a point, and the top five men and top five ladies for each club score additional points (see the scoring explanation below!). There is always a great atmosphere and plenty of support for nervous first timers! The competing clubs are Cambridge & Coleridge AC (C&C), Cambridge Triathlon Club (CTC), Haverhill Running Club (HRC), Newmarket Joggers (NJ), Ely Running Club (ERC) and Saffron Striders (SS). This year there are two new clubs, Histon & Impington & Royston Running Club, who have been invited to attend three of the six races with a view to possibly joining the league next year.
2019 Fixtures:
| 18th April – Cambridge Triathlon Club, Impington – 7:30pm | Chivers Farm, behind Spire Hospital, New Road, Impington CB24 9EL |
| Venue: Chivers Farm, behind Spire Hospital, New Road, Impington. CB24 9EL There are toilets but no changing facilities. Parking: Some parking is available at the back of the Spire car park and at Impington Village College sports complex next door. Please only use the back of the Spire Hospital car park, do not fill the rest of hospital car parking or we will not be able to host the event again. Race details: Two lap route then a right turn to the finish. Course is mainly concrete tracks but may be muddy in parts if wet. Venue opens at 6pm. Allow 10 minutes to walk from HQ to race start (1Km). A horn or whistle will warn you to move to the start. |
| 9th May – Ely Runners, Witchford – 7:30pm | Witchford Village Hall, Bedwell Hay Lane, Witchford CB6 2JN |
| This is a single loop, figure-eight-type course on disused WWII airfield concrete tracks. Mostly the ground is in good condition for fast running, but there are some pot holes and cracks here and there. Please note that the tracks used are on private land through a working farm and are almost entirely not a right of way. Recce running on the day from 6pm onwards is fine, but please do not recce before race day – doing so may jeopardise future use of the venue. The race HQ, toilets, and parking are at Witchford Village Hall. The village of Witchford is approximately 1.5 miles west of Ely off the A142. Please par k in the recreation ground behind the venue, as directed by marshals on the day. |
| 6th June – Newmarket Joggers, Newmarket – 7:30pm | Rowley Mile Race Course, Newmarket, CB8 0TF |
| Venue: Rowley Mile Race Course, Newmarket, CB8 0TF. Please note there are no toilets or changing facilities at the course, however there is a Shell garage half a mile from the start which has toilets. Directions to Newmarket 5k Parking: Parking on site Race details: 1 lap 5km course, over grass and hard(ish) sand. |
| 11th July – Saffron Striders, Carver Barracks – 7:30pm | Carver Barracks Airfield, Wimbish CB10 2YA |
| Venue: Carver Barracks Airfield, located between Newport and Debden villages, Elder Street. There are toilets and limited changing at a Sports Pavilion near the start/finish area. The location is a decommissioned airfield next to the Carver Barracks Army HQ, the airfield has its own separate entrance.Parking is available within the airfield site, through a metal gated entrance, which will be signed with Saffron Striders markers – note this is about 200m away from the main Army Barracks entrance. The gates will be opened from 18:30 onwards.Race details: One lap of a largely flat course with markers at the Km points, concrete and tarmac surface, some potholes and loose stones in places. Start and finish at the same location, finish funnel will be to the right of the start line on the grass area. The route starts on the main runway facing north; turns right onto the second runway and then left onto a perimeter road of the airfield at about the 1Km point. The remaining 4Km will be on this road until re-joining the main runway to the finish. |
| 1st August – Haverhill Running Club, Kedington – 7:30pm | The Meadow, Arms Lane, Kedington, CB9 7QQ |
| Venue: The Meadow is situated just to the left of the Barnardiston Arms in Kedington village. There are toilets but no changing facilities. Turn off the A143 towards Kedington (signposted). Continue on this road and take the third turning on the left at the top of the hill onto King’s Hill. At the bottom of King’s Hill you will see the Barnardiston Arms on your right – turn right into Arms Lane immediately after the pub and follow the lane into The Meadow.Parking: Parking will be available on The Meadow. Please follow signs and marshals’ instructons, and car share where possible. Race details: The 5Km course is mainly on road apart from the start and finish sections, which are on grass. The route heads out of The Meadow, over the river bridge into Silver Street before turning right into Rectory Road. From here it leaves the village, turning left on to the infamous Cock Hill, climbing quickly onto Simms Lane and open countryside. At the halfway and highest point, just shy of the Plough Inn, the route turns left again to start the long welcome descent back to the village, before turning left onto Westend Lane that becomes Silver Street, back over the bridge to finish in The Meadow.The majority of the route is on quiet country roads but runners should remain alert for traffic (particularly in the village) and follow marshals’ instructions at all times. |
| 5th September – Cambridge & Colleridge, Cambridge – 7:00pm | Cambridge University Track, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0B9 |
| This is the last event of the year! There will be a buffet and award presentation afterwards Everybody is welcome! | |
| Venue: Cambridge University Track, Wilberforce Road. There are toilets and changing facilities. Cambridge & Coleridge have directions on their website or you can use this handy PDF Parking: Parking will be available the track. Race details: See this PDF for details. |
1) Every runner earns a point
No matter how fast or slow you run, you WILL score a point for the club if you complete the race. It’s simple – the more runners we have, the more points we get. This is the one competition in which every single one of us can contribute to the team score. That’s why we love it!
2) The fastest 5 ladies and 5 men from each club earn additional points
This is where we get the calculators out…our fastest runners get additional points based on their finishing positions.
The winning team gets 6 points, second 5 points and so on, its these points you see in the league table.
So that is basically how it works, but do not assume that your position doesn’t matter if you are not one of our fastest runners, because…
3) Even if you are not one of our fastest 5, you can still reduce other clubs’ scores!
Every time you pass a competitor, you are pushing them back by one place. Even if you are not in our top 5, you may be ahead of other clubs’ fastest runners!
Using the ladies’ competition as an example, the last ‘fastest five’ runner at Kedington last year ran a time of 27:58 (a Saffron Strider). Therefore every HRC lady who was faster than 27:58 helped to push back that lady, and others, thereby reducing their club’s score. Twelve of our ladies did this – so please do not assume you are ‘just’ a point! Every time you pass a competitor it can really make a difference!
4) Ladies can reduce men’s scores! (But not vice versa)
The men’s competition is calculated using their OVERALL placing, whereas the female competition is based on GENDER position. This means that if our fastest ladies are able to get ahead of other clubs’ fastest 6 men (which we did at Newmarket and Kedington!), we can help the men by depriving the other clubs of points.
That’s it, easy! But if ever in doubt, just run as fast as you can!
Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible for the 2019 series!!