GRAND PRIX RESULTS SO FAR:
NJ Grand Prix TOP TEN 2023 Nov 27
NJ Women’s Grand Prix 2023 Nov 27
NJ Men’s Grand Prix 2023 Nov 27
Latest news November 27th:
Angela Drury did her wild card race in the Zig Zag Barrow 10K on Saturday, 25th November. This has put her even with Suzanne Bailey on 466 points in =5th position. Joanne Bouttell looks safe to finish in 3rd position, even if she were to miss the final XC fixture. She certainly deserves a podium finish, having diligently completed every single fixture that counts for the Grand Prix this year. However, it will be so close between Nicole Smith (currently 560 pts) and Sianie Painter (559 pts) for top spot, if they both run at Woodbridge.
In the men’s Grand Prix, the door is wide open for Jimmy Smith to claim top position, assuming Paul Holley cannot make it to Woodbridge. In that case, Marc Drury would need a top run to claim 2nd position ahead of Paul Holley, but he should be safe for third place. Let’s see how it unfolds at Woodbridge….
Latest news, Oct 23rd: Nicole Smith takes the lead in the women’s Grand Prix, just one point ahead of Sianie Painter, after her 41:45 in the Thurlow 5M race on October 22nd. Caroline Mcintosh moves up to 6th place, with her 1:05:25 in the Duxford 10K on the same day. Meanwhile, Andy Fryatt climbs to 5th place in the men’s Grand Prix after his 43:19 in the same race as Caroline. With the Framlingham XC postponed until next year, due to a waterlogged course, it’s all down to the final XC at Sutton, Woodbridge on December 3rd. Paul Holley can breathe a sigh of relief! Neville Clarke and Mark Hayward have yet to play their wild cards and could easily take a top three place.
Thursday 31st August
Arkwright & Co Summer 5k Series results at Royston:
https://tinyurl.com/5kRace6
A super performance in the 5th Fixture at Ely, to keep NJ men, women and combined teams all in 2nd place. The men’s team soundly fought off Histon & Impington. However, danger is lurking…..Histon & Impington women’s team are a big threat; just one point behind and 3 points gained on us in the last two fixtures. They had an odd result in the July fixture at Carver Barracks, where their women’s team came last (1 point) but in every other fixture they have earned second position (7 points). So we particularly need a top performance and big turnout of women at Royston to try to hold onto 2nd position or at least force a tie. Whatever happens, it looks sure to be the best ever set of results for Newmarket Joggers in this competition. Great work everyone!
First 5 NJ Women: Lilian Corbett 20:45, 13th F of 116; Elke Hausler 22:15, 17th F; Mandy Corbett 23:13, 25th F; Hannah Parsons 23:28, 28th F; Wendy Ancill 25:01, 41st F.
First 5 NJ Men: Richard Dobson 16:43, 3rd M of 196; Mark Hayward 17:02, 7th M; Joey Bendall 17:07, 9th M; Paul Holley 17:40, 16th M; Jimmy Smith 17:44, 18th M.
Paul Holley achieved the top age grade (82.05%) of the Joggers running in the Newmarket 10K, so all volunteers who didn’t run in the race have been awarded 82 points, as agreed by the club beforehand. Please let us know if you volunteered but have not been awarded the points. Thanks: chris.aylmer@newmarketjoggers.co.uk
The NJ Grand Prix Races 2023
Newmarket Joggers Grand Prix 2023 will be based on 1: The results for the last 3 Suffolk Winter XC League 2022-2023 fixtures, at Bury St Edmunds (Pakenham, 12th Feb 2023), Bungay (Southwold, 5th March 2023) and Haverhill (Horseheath, 26th March 2023); 2: All the 2023 Summer Series 5k fixtures, except the one at Newmarket (5 fixtures to count, from April to August, see below); 3: The Newmarket 10K on June 25th; 4: The first two Suffolk Winter XC League 2023-2024 fixtures at Framlingham (Framlingham Castle, November 2023, date TBA) and Woodbridge (Sutton, December 2023, date TBA). 5: The ‘wild card’ is back again this year. So, you should nominate one 5 mile or one 10km external race in advance (advisable to give 48 hours notice before the race, but acceptable if emails are dated and timed before the off). The wild card result is used in addition to the other fixtures for your Grand Prix points total. Please email:
chris.aylmer@newmarketjoggers.co.uk
Please note that for the Newmarket 10K fixture, all volunteer marshals and other helpers will get points towards the Grand Prix equal to the highest scoring Newmarket Jogger in the race. Those running in the race will get just the points they earn. That’s an incentive to volunteer 🙂
There will be 12 races to count in all. Each club member will be scored according to their age grade percentage figure earned for each race, based on their age on the day of the race, rounded down to the nearest whole number; e.g. anything from 59.00% to 59.99% will score 59 points. There will be a separate women’s and men’s Grand Prix championship. Club members need to take part in all the fixtures to earn the most points; there will be no allowances for missed fixtures. A link to the current standings table will appear on this page, once up and running. There are normally prizes for the first three men and women in the Grand Prix, presented last year at the NJ Christmas Party in December. Good luck!
Fixture 1: Bury St Edmunds XC at Pakenham, 12th Feb, 2023.
Fixture 2: Bungay XC at Southwold, 5th March, 2023.
Fixture 3: Haverhill XC at Horseheath, 26th March 2023.
To come, at venues and dates:
Fixture 4: Thursday 27th April, Summer Series 5k CTC/HI (Cambridge Triathlon Club)/(Histon & Impington Runners) in Impington, CB24 9EL. Parking off New Rd, through Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital entrance and 500m along driveway. Do not park in hospital car park! The site was once used to grow fruit for the jam makers Chivers Hartley. The concrete service roads provide a reasonably good running surface for the two lap course.
Summer Series 5k NJ, Thursday 8th June (Newmarket Joggers), on the training grounds behind the Rowley Mile racecourse. THIS FIXTURE DOES NOT COUNT FOR THE NJ GRAND PRIX, in fairness to those who are volunteering to help organise and marshal the event. It does of course count towards our points total and position in the league, so we are still very grateful for a big turnout of Joggers in the race, as well as for the help of our faithful volunteers.
Fixture 5: Newmarket 10k, June 25th 2023. As explained above, volunteers can claim the same points as the highest scoring NJ competing in the race.
Fixture 6: Thursday 13th July, Summer Series 5k SS (Saffron Striders) at Carver Barracks in Wimbish/Debden, to the south of Saffron Walden, CB10 2YA. This is a disused wartime airfield handed over by the RAF to the British Army in 1974, currently home to 33 and 101 Engineer Regiments. The almost flat tarmac course (in the shape of a cross) is fast and in excellent condition….perfect for 5km PBs.
Fixture 7: Thursday 3rd August, Summer Series 5k HRC (Haverhill Running Club), at Horseheath Racecourse, CB21 4QP. It would be useful if people car shared from an environmental point of view, although the venue does have ample space. The start line is only a few mins walk from the car park and the marshals there will point you in the right direction. The course has an early elevation but has a decent 1km downhill descent at the end. The route is one lap and is predominantly on farm track. Between 2km and 3km is single file track.
Fixture 8: Thursday 17th August, Ben’s Yard, Stuntney. Summer Series 5k ER (Ely Runners).
Fixture 9: Thursday, 31st August, Summer Series 5k RR (Royston Runners). The venue is Therfield Heath (also known as Royston Heath by locals) at the Heath Sports Centre, SG8 5BJ, Royston, off Baldock Road.
Fixture 10: Framlingham XC at Framlingham Castle, 29th October 2023.
Fixture 11: Woodbridge XC at Sutton, 3rd December 2023.
PLUS: Wild Card of your choice; an external race of 5 miles or 10km, to be completed at any time before the end of November 2023, with 48 hours advance notice by email, as explained above.
NJ Grand Prix TOP TEN 2022 Final, Dec 14
NJ Women’s Grand Prix 2022 Dec 14
NJ Men’s Grand Prix 2022 Dec 14
NJ Grand Prix TOP TEN 2021 Final Nov 17
NJ Women’s Grand Prix 2021 Final Nov 17
NJ Men’s Grand Prix 2021 Final Nov 17
KH-C&C_2021_Final League Table
NJ Grand Prix TOP TWENTY 2020 Final
NJ Women’s Grand Prix Championship 2020 Final
NJ Men’s Grand Prix Championship 2020 Final
Suffolk Winter League XC info & results 2020
NJ Grand Prix TOP TWENTY 2019 FINAL
NJ Women’s Grand Prix 2019 FINAL
NJ Men’s Grand Prix 2019 FINAL
NJ Grand Prix 2018 FINAL Top 20
Previous Grand Prix results:2016
Rules:
These are the current rules (2013 onwards).
The Grand Prix Series is intended as an added incentive to participate in club races and have some fun in the process. At the end of the series, a trophy will be awarded to the top scoring male and female.
The scoring will be calculated using the WMA age grading system and your score for the race will be calculated from your age grade % achieved in each race. You may enter as many of the races as you would like to and all results will contribute to your final score. Obviously, the more races you enter, the higher your score will be!
To be eligible, you must be a paid up member of the club and must race wearing a club vest in organised real events. The league table will be updated and posted on the website so you can all see how you are doing.
Good luck to you all!
* The age used is your age on on the day of your race. The spreadsheets update your age automatically and we need your DOB details from your membership form to give you a score. Technically, your score is calculated from your age- and gender-adjusted speed as a percentage of the world record speed for the event. We are using the most up-to-date WMA 2015 tables to calculate the age grade %, using the free online calculator supplied by:
http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup15.html
Although the XC courses are supposed to be approximately 5 miles in distance, they can vary significantly. The age grade % calculator we are using can cope with non-standard distances, so we can get reasonably accurate performance ratings for XC, a lot better than assuming that the distances were exactly 5 miles. All the Kevin Henry races are accurately measured courses and, from experience, are as near 5km as you can reasonably expect.
Archived information on other running venues we have used in the past and may do so in the future: Hockeys 5K Ely Runners (Witchford) Bedwell Hey Lane CB6 2JN. Park in field off Bedwell Hey Lane as directed by marshals. The site is a disused wartime airfield which ceased operations in 1943. It is now used as a farm for crops such as sugarbeet. The concrete service roads are not in particularly good repair, so watch out for cracks, loose stones, lumps and potholes!