Competition Guidelines

Christchurch Runners

Last updated on : 12/04/05

Vital Lap

This race consists of an outward leg, a central 'vital lap', and a homeward leg that retraces the outward leg. Your time taken for the vital lap counts for more, and the return leg should not be slower than the outward leg (any additional seconds are added on to your time).

The vital lap itself should be quite short to allow a lot of effort to be put into it - a long sprint distance

There are many routes and you are encouraged to experiment with this one. We have had very short laps, cross country laps, hill laps and even laps which runnear the changing rooms so that the timer doesn't get wet!

One route uses the first half of the standard (clockwise) cross-country route behind Sainsbury's. For those who don't know it, start from near to where the lane meets the bypass, go under the railway bridge and through the gate, then turn left over the narrow bridge and round the edge of the fields to the right. You should never be more than a few yards from the River Mude. Follow the track round to the right, over a bridge very similar to the one you crossed earlier (not the wide one into the limed field), then into the strip of woodland, on to the farm track, then sharp left up a small hill. Turn right at the top and go down, over the stream, then up again to the triangulation point. This first leg is somewhat over 1.5 miles. The central leg is about half a mile, and follows a good chalky track round in a anti-clockwise circle, back to the triangulation point. The final leg is the reverse of the outward leg. There are some narrow stretches, so please be considerate while overtaking or being overtaken.

Mud Status	can be very muddy.
Brambles and Nettle status	worth putting on tracksuit bottoms if you have them (or keeping your long-johns on).
Irate farmer status	low risk (he's not a very good shot, anyway).

Scoring is usually calculated as follows :

time of outward leg + 6 * time of vital lap + time of homeward leg + extra time of homeward leg over outward leg (if any) all divided by your handicap

What's the Point

Two points this time - the ability to produce a big effort for a short time part way through a run and also the ability to save a little for a hard effort on the return leg.