British Relay Classes

[mharky]

I know we have had this befor, but somthing really needs to be done about the rediculous number of Relay Classes at the British.

Men's Premier - 28 Teams
Women's Premier - 13 Teams
M35 - 8
W35 - 3
M40 - 12
W40 - 7
M45 - 19
W45 - 7
M50 - 28
W50 - 6
M/W55 - 23
M/W60 - 19
Short Open - 34
Womens Short - 25
Mini Relay M/W12 - 12
M14 - 10
W14 - 4
M18 - 12
W18 - 7
Ad-Hoc - 67
Junior Ad-Hoc - 11

Is there really a need for 35,40,45,50,55,60???

Here are some facts from Saturday:
M35L and M40L was the same course on Saturday, so why not the same relay?
M45L had 8.43km, M50L had 8.48km, so why not the same relay?
M55L was 6.89, M60L was 6.83m, so why not the same relay
W35L 6.89, W40L 6.83
W45L 5.85, W50L 5.94
W55L and W60L were on the same course

Who decideds what classes are run at the British Relay Championship?
How can they be contacted?

Lets get this changed!

[Simon]

The British Relay Classes were those detailed in the event guidelines (available here). I would guess that this means that if a change is wanted then the BOF Rule Group would have to change them. This means that if a change is wanted by next year then this group of people needs to be contacted soon, so that the planners for next year have plenty of time to plan courses.

[Guest]

Re Mharky's comment. As a club we had a problem or 2 with the relay entries. Once the age is over 50 the relay class need a women. We had 5 M55 no W55, 1M65 1W65. Therefore our only option is to run the 5 M55 plus 1M65 as M50's. in the end our W65 ran Orange in AD Hoc not ideal for her as speed is not really an attribute when you are nearly 70.

The Senior British Classes tend to lead to masses of Ad Hoc runners with people not too happy at the tech level of their leg, or people like me running W45 very badly to make up numbers due to injury and illness.

We tried to be organised and help the organising team and get our declarations in only to have illness and injury withdrawals plus an odd weather withdrawal on the day!!


HOcolite

[Dave H]

Mens Open leg length 5.8k
M35/M40 leg length 5.4 - 5.6k

Does a maximum of 400m really make that much difference? Why not one race with the first eligible team taking the M35/M40 trophy as in any road/fell race? It would have meant nearly 50 teams starting together yesterday and would have improved the relay experience for many runners. It also has the advantage of reducing the planner's work, particularly if it was applied to other class combinations.

[graeme]

For decent relays, come to Scotland!

(Did I mention that already?)

Graeme

[Guest]

What happened when that whole stream of competitors came down from the dunes and crossed the fence. Were they all 1st legs on one relay or what?


Hocolite

[Mrs H.]

[quote=Hocolite] or people like me running W45 very badly
[/quote]
Sorry! You still got round it faster than I would have with my turnip leg

But in view of the fact that the team would have consisted of me and judith "running-up" to W45 in order to run with Lumpy, Mharky is right. A bigger age group means more teams AND more team selection choice. for instance if it had been W50-60 class it might have been a viable choice to put Alison in the team.

Perhaps it is time to look at total age classes at the British like at the JK - it gives a lot of scope to run a range of older and younger (isolated) runners together and still be competative.

[mharky]

I have just been looking at the relay details:

Men's Premier 5.8km
M35 5.3km
M40 5.3km
M45 5.1km
M50 5.1km

Women's Premier 5.1km
W35 3.7km
W40 3.7km
W45 3.6km
W50 3.6km

Surely a 35 class and 45 class would be more sensible.

M/W55 and M/W65 ran the same relay, so this should be the same class, its makes it easier for clubs to get teams.

[Simon]

We tried to be organised and help the organising team and get our declarations in only to have illness and injury withdrawals plus an odd weather withdrawal on the day!!

The organising team appreciated those who attempts to be organised and those who were nice and friendly towards us

Having so many classes also means that a club having one person drop out can cause a cascade through the teams resulting in many many teams having to be altered.

[mat-d]

Why not one race with the first eligible team taking the M35/M40 trophy as in any road/fell race? It would have meant nearly 50 teams starting together yesterday and would have improved the relay experience for many runners.

I like that idea actually, as it brings everyone together in one race, but still has the competative edge for individual classes...

might get a bit hectic with commentry though!

I suppose then the argument would be that there would be too many gaffles and too many incidents of "following" floating around...

[NeilC]

This means that if a change is wanted by next year then this group of people needs to be contacted soon, so that the planners for next year have plenty of time to plan courses.

That level of planning is a long way off yet so still plenty of time.

This is the British Championships and so trophies and classes for 5 year age groups should remain. If it's so easy to win a W40 prize for example, put a team in, if your club can't raise three W40's don't belittle those that can. Certainly as a club captain it's easier for me to sort out teams for 120+ JK-like teams or Graeme's handicap Scottish or the Harvester but the BRC shouldn't be organised for the benefit of us club captains.

Many age classes have already been combined - there are after all only 13 classes of which 8 are TD5. Further simplification might be possible - who would like to start the ball rolling....

[gross2004]

I suppose then the argument would be that there would be too many gaffles and too many incidents of "following" floating around...

too many gaffles with 50 teams... Jukola manages ok with 1200 teams

[Guest]

M/W55 and M/W65 ran the same relay, so this should be the same class, its makes it easier for clubs to get teams.[/quote]

The point was if you don't have a female in the age class you can't run the men. As we have fewer ladies to start with by the time you get to the older classes the numbers have dropped to zero. I know it varies from club to club.

We have 3 W60/W65's and 1 W55 who compete at all at badge events. 1 doesn't do relays, 1 is happy with Ad HOC 1 doesn't travel often so we're left with 1 W65(very good)but not too keen to compete with the top competitors 10 years junior.

Hocolite

[Guest]

too many gaffles with 50 teams... Jukola manages ok with 1200 teams

true!

[Guest]

too many gaffles with 50 teams... Jukola manages ok with 1200 teams

true!

We seemed to manage OK as well in the UK in the days when over a 100 teams ran the Mens Open (e.g. 1986 JK)