CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

BACKGROUND

At Kirkintilloch Olympians, we have been hosting an internal running club championship annually for several years, typically featuring a series of designated races. We are dedicated to ensuring that our championships are inclusive and open to all, whether members are long-standing or new, and regardless of any protected characteristics. In 2025, we are excited to introduce both an open championship and age grading championships, designed to allow our members to participate in both events simultaneously. More details can be found below, with the 15 races in full outlined at the bottom of this page.

The main goals of our championships are to:

  1. Encourage all members to come together and take part in competitive, yet friendly, competition.

  2. Provide a structured racing format that complements the training sessions we hold on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends.

  3. Strengthen the sense of community and belonging within the club, while offering a platform for quality social interaction. This is why having a series of designated races is especially valuable.

  4. Help develop all abilities to compete over a variety of distances and terrains.

  5. Recognise and reward runners who have had an exceptional year, from two distinct perspectives on what defines an outstanding year:

    • i. Achieving the fastest times – our quickest runners - OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

    • ii. Achieving exceptional results based on age grading – AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The open championships are open to ALL members. Detailed information on the rationale behind this and the scoring can be found below:

The rationale behind our open club championship is simple: it rewards the quickest runners in the club, regardless of age or background. This is important for retaining current members, (some of whom represent the club regularly at regional and national level), as well as for encouraging new members to join our fantastic club. By having a ‘first past the post’ system, this then provides a fair platform for our younger runners to compete, whilst remaining inclusive to our older runners.

The scoring system for each race is as follows, with points awarded ranging from 20 to 2. Athletes earn points based on their finish position relative to other club competitors (both male and female).i.e.

  • 1st place: 20 points

  • 5th place: 12 points

  • 10th place : 2 points

The maximum number of points you can score for taking part is 120. The minimum number of points you can score for taking part is 12. Any athletes finishing lower than 10th place will still be awarded 2 points for participating.

Any athletes who volunteer at any of our club races we organise will recieve 2 points for their support.

AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The age grading championships are open to ALL members. More details on the rationale behind this and the scoring can be found below:

Age grading can be further explored through Runners World and the British Masters Athletic Federation (BMAF). This in turn leads to a ‘level playing field’ across ages, and helps ensure that runners are not disadvantaged because of their age. For our younger runners, this still provides a valuable tool to compare performance against a broader and more competitive field. This is why having an OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS running simultaneously with the AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS is essential to then provide a fair representation of performance metrics across ages and abilities.

The points system for the age grading championships is based on the percentage awarded for age grading. As outlined in the Runners World article above, the score is based as a percentage of the world best time for your chosen distanace, and for your specified age and gender. For example, a 44 year old women who runs a 5k in 25:00 gets an age graded score of 62.33%. This percentage would then be transferred over to points for this specific race, which would be 6.2 points in this example.

RULES RELEVANT TO BOTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • A Kirkintilloch Olympian CLUB VEST OR T-SHIRT must be worn during races.

  • There are 15 races as outlined below to compete in. Points for both the open and age grading championships will be capped at a MAXIMUM OF 6 RACES. Both championships will run simultaneously i.e. you compete in both events, but you can’t win prizes in both events - more on that below!

  • To be eligible for points, athletes must finish the race and receive an official finishing result. The results provided by the event organisers are final.

  • You must be a CURRENT CLUB MEMBER at the time of the race. For instance, if you join the club in April, you cannot score points for races completed in February or March.

  • If a designated race is cancelled or postponed, an alternative race may or may not be added at the discretion of the KO Committee.

PRIZES

Prizes will be awarded to a total of 12 athletes with the highest scoring points in each of our championships:

  • OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd - MEN’S

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd - WOMEN’S

  • AGE GRADING CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd - MEN’S

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd - WOMEN’S

In the event that a member places in both championships, they will only receive their prize based on their position in the OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS. For example, if a member finishes 3rd in the open champs and 2nd in the age grading champs, they will only be awarded their prize for the open champs. This would then result in a member who finished 4th in the age grading champs being 'bumped up' to 3rd place - HURRAY!!!

The specific prizes to be given will be at the discretion of the KO Club Committee. Normally this has been a club shield and cash prize for the winner and cash prizes for those finishing 2nd or 3rd.

TIED SCORES

If there are any ties in points accumulated in either the open or age grading championships the following criteria will be applied:

  1. Head-to-Head placing

  2. Number of races completed

If the athletes are still tied after applying the above criteria, the club committee will then decide on next steps to separate or indeed decide to award a ‘joint prize’

2025 RACE CALENDAR

Saturday 15th February - Drumpellier Parkrun

Saturday 2nd March - Allan Scally Road Relays

Saturday 22nd March - Livingston Road Relays

Sunday 30th March - Tom Scott 10 miler - ENTRIES FULL BUT YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE WAITING LIST

Sunday 13th April - DAA 10 Mile Road Race at Clydebank

Wednesday 30th April - Whangie Wizz Hill Race

Wednesday 7th May - SVHC Snowball Race

Sunday 1st June - Palacerigg Trail 10k

Thursday 12th June - Kirkintilloch 10k

June (TBC) - Kenny Stevenson Memorial Trail Race

Saturday 12th July - Springburn Parkrun

July (TBC) - Kenny Phillips 10 Mile Road Race (Millport)

Saturday 30th August - Tom Robb Trail Race

Sunday 7th September - Kilmacolm Half Marathon

October (TBC) - Kippen Trail Race

THE BELOW SPREADSHEET IS AN OLD VERSION AND WILL BE UPDATED IN DUE COURSE.