Following on from my announcement of the provisional standings of the 2010 Club Grand Prix competition at Tuesday’s AGM, I am now be able to confirm the final results. As I explained at the meeting, the provisional Top 3 listing was ‘hot off the press’ and thus subject to challenge and final scrutiny/confirmation. (Please see the attachment for full details).
I am therefore delighted to announce that, having since provided verified details of completing a qualifying race in the 10 mile + category, the CHAMPION(for the second time in 3 years!) is…
**************THERESA HEMPSALL****************
with 126 points from all10 categories
Second place goes to the 2009 winner….
**********ANDY ROSE**********
with 90 points from all 10 categories
The third placed athlete… and new to the roll of honour is…
*******LEONARD FOULK*******
with 97 points from 9 categories
Well Done & Many Congratulations to all three!!!
Note that had Len run a 1 mile race (of which there were eight opportunities last year) he would have completed all ten required categories and overhauled Andy to finish as runner-up! Gemma Irvine and Alex Duthie – in 4th and 5th place respectively – would also have been in the running for the 2nd or 3rd spots had they completed just one more category.
I will be organising for the presentation of the individual awards – including the perpetual ‘Golden Trainer’ trophy – to take place at the Dev on the night of the February 22nd Handicap event.
By way of explanation for those who are relatively new to Belper Harriers… the annual Grand Prix competition – of which this was the seventh edition – is designed to encourage our runners to challenge themselves across a range of disciplines and distances, while entering into healthy competition on a level playing field with their fellow club members. It also rewards loyalty to Belper Harriers through awarding additional bonus points for representing the club in league and relay competitions etc. (In 2010 nineteen of our runners earned double bonus points by completing a full series of either the BDL cross-country or the BDLsummer league races…. with one – Robert Norman – racking up a complete set of the available bonus points!).
In order to qualify for one of the top three prizes, runners must complete nominated races in ten required categories This can be quite difficult to do, and takes some planning to achieve!
As in previous years, Sam and I will be carrying out a re-grading exercise for all runners who have recorded performances in last year’s Grand Prix. This will ensure that everyone starts off on a level footing in readiness for this year’s competition. We will also be reviewing last year’s nominated races by category, and will consider additions and deletions based on 2010 participation levels. Once all this has been completed, I will communicate the new grades, along with the full details of this year’s Grand Prix competition, to all members.
To re-iterate my comments from the AGM – I would like to thank Sam Lowry for her hard work in collating and inputting all of the qualifying race results once again this year. Without her much appreciated efforts, keeping the competition going would prove extremely difficult for me!