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League Rules

COMPETITION RULES

  1. GENERAL RULES: –

All races promoted in the name of the League shall be run in accordance with the rules of the English Cross Country Association (ECCA).

  • MATCHES: –

At all matches 5 races will be held as follows –

  • Under 12 Boys (Race 1)
  • Under 12 Girls (Race 1)
  • Under 14 Boys (Race 2)
  • Under 14 Girls (Race 2)
  • Under 16 Girls (Race 3)
  • Under 16 Boys (Race 3)
  • Under 18 Women (Race 4)
  • Under 18 Men (Race 4)
  • Under 20 Women/Senior Women/Veteran Women (Race 5)
  • Under 20 Men/Senior Men/Veteran Men (Race 6)
  • All age groups to be as defined by the ECCA.
  • Race distances will not exceed the maximum laid down by the ECCA. 
  • NUMBERS TO RUN AND SCORE: –

Races are not confined to first claim members. Second claim members may run but cannot score for their club. All runners must have entered the race via the Roster Athletics website or App by 3pm on the day before the day of the race.  All runners must wear the race number allocated to them by the League.  Any person found to be running with a race number allocated to another runner will be excluded from the results and the matter may be reported to UK Athletics/ England Athletics.

Clubs may run as many members as they wish in each race.

The numbers to score per team is four in each age group (including Veteran Men) with the exception of Senior Men Divisions 1 and 2 where six runners are to score and Veteran Women, Under 12 Girls and Under 12 Boys, Under 18 Women and Under 18 Men where three runners are to score.

  • SCORING SYSTEM FOR RACES: –

This shall be in accordance with ECCA rules – i.e. 1 point for first place, 2 for second place and so on. Non scoring runners will not be eliminated from the placings.  Veteran Women and Veteran Men can score for both the Senior team and the Veteran team.  The team with the lowest total points from its scoring runners will be the winner and so on. Ties shall be resolves in favour of the team of whose last scoring runner is nearest to the winner. Incomplete teams will be placed below the complete teams on the following basis. Those teams with one runner short will be placed amongst others like themselves based on the total points for all their runners and then placed in that order below the complete teams. Clubs with two runners short will then be placed amongst themselves and then placed after teams with one runner short. The process with be repeated for those clubs which are three, four and five members short.

  • SCORING SYSTEM FOR LEAGUE PLACINGS: –

In each match, and in each age group, the winning team will be awarded 1 point, the second 2 and so on. Teams which do not finish a runner will be awarded points equal to the number of Clubs in the League. The season’s winner will be the team with the lowest four points total over the season (the worst score being discarded). Ties for first place will be decided by the number of wins over each of the teams involved during the series.

  • SENIOR MEN’S AND SENIOR WOMENS LEAGUE: –

From the 2025/26 season there will be three divisions for both the men’s and women’s leagues. 

Division 1 for both men and women will comprise 12 teams to include the top 10 Division 1 teams from last season plus the two teams promoted from Division 2 at the end of last season.

Division 2 for both men and women will comprise 12 teams to include Division 2 teams who finished in positions 3 to 10 at the end of last season plus the two teams relegated from Division 1 and the two teams who were promoted from Division 3 at the end of last season.

Division 3 for both men and women will comprise of all other including the two teams relegated from Division 2 at the end of last season and any new teams affiliating to the League for the first time/teams who did not affiliate to the League in the 2025/26 season.

Promotion/Relegation at the end of the 2026/27 season

At the end of the 2026/27 season the bottom two teams in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 and the top two teams in Division 2 will be promoted to Division 1

At the end of the 2026/27 season the bottom two teams in Division 2 will be relegated to Division 3 and the top two teams in Division 3 will be promoted to Division 2.

  • INDIVIDUAL & TEAM AWARDS: –

After the final fixture of each season: –

  • Individual awards will be presented to the top three runners in each age group. The placings for individuals will be determined by awarding each runner points equal to their finishing place in each race throughout the season. When the athlete has completed all races during the season their worst result will be discounted. Athletes missing one race will score all races completed – those runners missing two or more races will not be considered for any awards.
  • Team awards will be presented to the winning team in each age group up to Under 18’s and Seniors (including Under 20’s) for each Division and Veterans. When a team has finished all races during the season, their worst result will be discounted. Teams missing one race will score all races completed.

Perpetual shields must be returned to the League by the end of the following season.

  • DUTIES OF PROMOTING CLUBS: –

The Member Club(s) promoting a match shall make all the necessary arrangements for that fixture and be responsible for meeting all the expenses involved. The League will however make a subvention payment for a sum agreed at the AGM.

  • The League Secretary will apply for all Race permits and will provide all host clubs with a copy of their permit
  • A programme for that match stating starting times and approximate distances of each race together with travel directions giving location of the venue to be sent to the Cross Country Secretary of all clubs no later than two weeks prior to the meeting.  The Secretary will post race information on social media i.e. the Essex Cross Country League group on Facebook and the League’s website.
  • VIOLATION OF THESE RULES: –

Any violation of these rules or the Constitution may lead to the disqualification of runners or teams involved.

ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

NOTES FOR PROMOTING CLUB(S)

The promoting club for each match is responsible for making all the arrangement, other than applying for the race permit which will be done by the League Secretary.  This includes arranging the course and changing accommodation and any officials required.

Any costs incurred are in the first instance to be paid by the host club.  Following the satisfactory completion of the match the host club will receive a payment from the League to cover the hire of facilities, first aid cover, toilet hire plus any other reasonable expenses incurred by the club.  Invoices/receipts must be provided.

The racing programme as below is suggested, but local circumstances (perhaps the course) may require some slight modification to this.

STARTCOMPETITIONDISTANCE
10:00  Under 12 Girlsup to 2.5k
Under 12 Boys
10:30Under 14 Girlsup to 4k
Under 14 Boys
11:00Under 16 Girlsup to 5k
Under 16 Boys
11:30Under 18 Women
Under 18 Men		TBC
12:15Under 20 Women Senior/Veteran WomenTBC
13:00Under 20 Men Senior/Veteran MenTBC

NOTES

UNDER 12 GIRLS AND UNDER 12 BOYS START TOGETHER

UNDER 14 GIRLS AND UNDER 14 BOYS START TOGETHER

UNDER 16 GIRLS AND UNDER 16 BOYS START TOGETHER

UNDER 18 MEN AND UNDER 18 WOMEN START TOGETHER.

This programme may result in overlapping of races i.e. races starting before the previous race has finished.

If the course layout at the venue makes this impractical to have such overlaps the first race will start at 10.00am and starts of subsequent races can be at a later time. Distances are approximate but should not exceed the maximum set for each age group by the governing body.

The promoting club must send a notice of the match to the League Secretary at least two weeks before the match. This should give the programme of races and approximate distances and also adequate travelling information to enable visitors to find the changing accommodation and venue of the match.

The League is responsible for producing result sheets giving full result of the match which should be sent to the League Secretary and all member clubs within a week of the match. A copy is also required by the Essex Cross Country Secretary to assist with team selection for Inter County fixtures.