SOAR Suffolk Winter League

The SOAR Winter League is a cross country club team event, it is made up of clubs from the county of Suffolk. There are six races approx 5 miles long with venues and courses spanning the County. They take place from the beginning of December to the end of April and are held on Sunday mornings starting around 11am.

Newmarket Joggers competes in this league as a composite team with Sudbury Joggers.

These races are open to all senior members (excluding social-only members) and all juniors U12 School Years 5 & 6, U14 School Years 7 & 8, U16 School Years 9 & 10.

 Club vests must be worn.  The club pays your entry fees so the races are “free” to enter.

Age group rules for the series are:

  • Age Groups:

    • Junior age groups (U16, U14, U12) are determined by the runners age on the day of the first event – 25th October 2026
    • Senior age groups are determined by the runners age on the date of the first race in the series (25th October 2026).
    • Rule change for 2025/6: Men and Women age groups are aligned, the youngest veteran age group is V40. Women V35 is no longer a category.
    • Runners must be aged 17+ (on 26th October 2025) to take part in a senior race (age 16 on 26th October 2025 must run in the junior race).
    • RUNNERS REMAIN IN THE SAME AGE CATEGORY FOR THE WHOLE SERIES regardless of any ‘significant’ birthdays that may occur over the course of the winter
 
Age groups for the junior race are U12, U14 and U16.  Under-11s and below may not compete although a fun run for younger athletes is available at some events.
 

The League has its own website at https://suffolkathletics.org.uk/suffolk-winter-league which provides more details.

2026/27 Season Fixtures

DateVenueHost Club
25th October 2026FramlinghamFramlingham Flyers
29th November 2026Sutton HeathWoodbridge Shufflers RC
10th January 2027To Be ConfirmedStowmarket Striders
24th January 2027To Be ConfirmedBungay Black Dog RC
7th February 2027To Be Confirmed

Haverhill Running Club

14th February 2027To Be ConfirmedSaint Edmund Pacers

Latest News

SWL – End of season report 25/26

March 14, 2026
The final results are in and the combined team of Newmarket and Sudbury Joggers have had a very succesful Suffolk Winter League XC season and finished 2nd in all 3 leagues (ladies, men and overall).
 
The trophies were presented at The White Hart in Newmarket on the 6th March attended by representatives of the clubs including NJ Events Team Captain Angela Drury who has done a fantastic job over the season keeping members updated.
 
The number of members turning up to each fixture, putting in amazing efforts and supporting each other has contributed to an incredible set of results. It’s certainly been a case of the more the merrier! There has also been an increase in the number of juniors representing the club with pride so the future of the club looks in safe hands. It was fantastic to see so many newer members either completing their first XC race or their first in many years!
 
The full results for seniors and juniors can be found on the Suffolk Athletics website – https://suffolkathletics.org.uk/suffolk-winter-league/
 
 
There were a number of individual awards for our senior members with the following finishing top 3 in their age category.

Seniors:

RUNNERPosition
Isabelle Talbot-Price1st Senior Female
James Smith1st V45 Male
Paul Holley1st V55 Male
Charles Jones1st v60 Male
Sarah Osborne2nd Senior Female
Cienna Carter2nd v50 Female
Helen Wass2nd v60 Female
Neville Clarke2nd v70 Male
Mark Hayward3rd v40 Male
 
The main take away from the season has been the amazing atmosphere and teamwork displayed at all the Suffolk Winter League races – everyone who ran really played their part and the team trophies are the result. So a big thank you to you all. Roll on the 2026/27 cross country season!