Rules and Regulations

Updated November 2021

NAME AND OBJECTIVES

1. The competition shall be called the Kent Fitness League. It shall be a winter cross country league whereby the average runner shall have the opportunity to compete for his/her club in a mixed team event off the road.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE TEAM

2. The League shall be administered by a management committee team comprising 7 individuals who shall be elected each year at the AGM. Their duties shall cover the overall running of the competition, race results compilation, management of accounts and final results presentation.

The League shall hold a yearly pre-season AGM inviting a single representative (Team Captain/Manager) of each registered club to attend, which shall discuss any proposed changes to current format of rules, fees, prizes and shall settle any disputes arising therefrom by a majority vote.

CLUBS TAKING PART

3. Subject to Section 4, the team competition shall be open to any Kent CAA - affiliated club from which a registration fee has been paid, fixed by the Committee at the start of the season.

The registered clubs for the 2021/22 season are Bromley Veterans AC, Canterbury Harriers, Dartford Harriers, Dartford Roadrunners, Deal Tri Club, Gravesend Roadrunners, Istead & Ifield Harriers, Larkfield AC, Maidstone Harriers, Medway and Maidstone AC, NEJ Running Club, Paddock Wood AC, Petts Wood Runners, Plumstead Runners, Sevenoaks AC, Sittingbourne Striders, Swanley & District AC, Thanet Roadrunners.

Registration fees (last reviewed in 2021) are £50 for all clubs. This fee may be waived at the discretion of the committee by a majority decision at an AGM. Payable by bank transfer to the league account immediately post AGM.

Each club will nominate a team Captain/Manager at the time of registration and provide contact details (email address).

ENTRY TO AND REMOVAL FROM THE LEAGUE

4. Clubs wishing to enter or withdraw from the League may do so on a majority vote of the Committee. In exceptional circumstances, a club may be removed from the league by a 75% vote of the committee for reasons of misconduct or repeated failure to comply with the league rules.

QUALIFICATION

5.

  1. The individual championships shall be open to any qualifying 1st Claim member of a registered club (subject to b, c, d & e). Clubs may also field 2nd claim members who are 1st Claim to clubs not taking part in the league.
  2. Elite Runners are excluded from the competition. Elite is defined as men who have, on two or more occasions in the 12 months prior to 1st October preceding the start of the current season, run a measured 10K on the road in under 34 minutes (or equivalent pace for other road race distances between 5 miles and Half Marathon*) and ladies who have, on two or more occasions, in the 12 months immediately prior to the start of the current season run a measured 10k on the road in under 38 minutes (or equivalent pace for other road race distances between 5 miles and Half Marathon*).
  3. For the purposes of this assessment, the Macmillan Running Calculator (www.mcmillanrunning.com) will be the appropriate benchmark for determining "equivalent pace" and the following standards are to be used.
    Men: 5ml: 27.07; 10k: 34.00; 10ml: 56.58; HMthn: 1.15.39
    Women: 5ml 30.19; 10k: 38.00; 10ml: 63.40; HMthn: 1.24.33
  4. The athlete's "Elite" status is determined on his/her form immediately prior to the start of the cross country season. This means that if he/she has road, track or cross-country form from the 12 months previous which suggests that they are faster than the requisite standard, they should be classed as "Elite" for the whole of the cross country season. Someone who did not reach this standard before the season, but then improves during the course of the season to what may be classed "Elite" should not be penalised for doing so and should be allowed to continue through the remainder of the cross country series as non-Elite.
  5. For athletes who have deemed to be "elite" in the past and therefore banned from competition, a minimum of 2 years must elapse from when the ban takes effect (during which time they have been out of competition or their form has been shown to remain below the standard of an "elite" athlete) before they become eligible to take part once again.
  6. The onus is on the Team Captain/Manager to prevent any member of their club planning to take part who may fall into the "Elite" Category. Any individual failing to comply with the guidelines for elite runners may be brought to the attention of the Committee and, on a 75% vote, will be disqualified from race results and will be asked not to participate in future races.
  7. Additional to the b,c,d and e above a runner who wins the Individual Championship for two consecutive seasons (male and female) shall be deemed to fall into the elite category and shall not compete as a scoring athlete for the next two seasons.
  8. No runner under the age of 17 years will be permitted to take part in the competition. Any participants under 18 years of age must provide a Parental or Guardian permission form in advance of their attendance. This shall be held by the cross country representative of their respective club.
  9. All runners are to wear appropriate footwear for X Country; this includes running shoes, spikes or five finger shoes. Running barefoot is not permitted.
  10. The KFL is affiliated to England Athletics and all races are subject to an EA race licence. As such, all runners are to comply with all EA rules and regulations. For information, these include:
    1. No spitting in, or around, the finish funnel.
    2. No headphones of any type are to be worn.
    Infringements of these are at the Race Referee's discretion, but may include disqualification.

REGISTRATION

6. Prior to participation in the League, all competitors must be individually affiliated to England Athletics through their respective clubs. Cross Country Captains will be required to check the current status of their athletes prior to submitting their team registration sheets. All runners wishing to take part in team or individual competitions must be registered with their Team Captain/Manager at the start of the season or as soon as is reasonably possible after joining the club. It will be the responsibility of the Team Captain/Manager to ensure that all their entrants are pre-registered (which is submitted prior to start of season electronically to allow for organisation / purchase of race timing chip / numbers). Failure to properly register will prevent a runner from receiving a finishing position or scoring at each race event. The management team will maintain and update the register of runners, which can be examined at any time by all Team Captains/Managers.

RACE TIMING

7. To participate in the League events, an individual race number must be purchased prior to the start of season from the committee. There will be an annual fee which will be fixed for the entire season, The same race number must be retained and worn at each event, clearly visible on the front of the club vest. The nominated Team Captain/Manager is responsible for collecting individual payment from each participant and then arranging electronic transfer to the league bank account. They are also responsible for the distribution of race numbers to participating runners.

Due to timing chips, "home made" replacement numbers are not acceptable. Replacements must be purchased from Race HQ at a cost of £5.

Race numbers are strictly non-transferable. Unregistered competitors who compete using another person's race number will be disqualified. Competitors found to be wearing someone else’s number will also be disqualified.

EVENTS

8. A series of races shall be staged during the period October to February each year. Each race shall be predominantly off-road over an approximate distance of between 5 and 6 miles. Host clubs will take full responsibility for providing appropriate parking, signing, toilets, changing, marshalling and officials at each event. We aim to make results available on the league website within 5 days of race day.

The typical role of a Race Director will vary among host club and venue, but should include getting any local consents or approvals, registering the race with the local authority and police, making available paramedic services for runners, arranging a race HQ, registration area and parking, plotting and setting up the official race route, and notifying all these details to the KFL organisers in advance. They would also need to obtain a UKA race license for their club’s race. Currently this costs £30 and is obtained through the Run Britain website. This ensures the host club and all competitors are covered by the UKA insurance. See the separate KFL race setup guidelines document for further information (please contact the Committee if you don’t have this).

ENTRY FEE

9. The race entry fee is £2 per runner (last revised in 2021) to be passed onto the host club of each event. The host club is responsible for providing bank details to Team Captains/Managers to allow for bank transfer payments after events.

Entry fees are to be paid to the host club by BACS transfer only.

SCORING - TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

10.

  1. There is no limit to the number of runners a club may enter. Points shall be awarded to individuals in accordance with finishing position as follows - 1st 1 point; 2nd 2 points etc. There will be a separate points scale for male and female finishers; guest runners are not awarded points.
  2. The Combined team race will be decided on the lowest total of 8 men and 5 ladies from each club including at least 2 male veterans over 40, 2 male veterans over 50, 1 male veteran over 60, 1 female veteran over 35, 1 female veteran over 45 and 1 female veteran over 55. There will also be a separate ladies' championship with 5 ladies to score (1 female veteran over 35, 1 female veteran over 45 and 1 female veteran over 55). From the 2021-22 season there will also be a men's team championship. There will be 8 male scorers for that with the same requirements as for the combined team male scorers.
  3. Age categories for team results will be based on each runner's age on the day of the race. This has not changed from previous seasons, but the wording has been clarified.
  4. Points will be carried forward in the team championships based on a descending scale of club positions after each race. Assuming there are 18 clubs taking part, the team winners from each race will get 18 points, and subsequent teams will score 17; 16; 15 and so on.
  5. The team championship awards at the end of the season are based on points accrued from a team's best (total number of races - 1) scores in the series using the points system as described above. So for a 7 race season the best 6 scores will count and for a 6 race season the best 5 scores will count. Awards will be made at the end of the season to the Champions and Runners-up in both leagues.
  6. If teams are tied on their best sets of scores then the following criteria will be used to break the tie:
    1. Total scores for all races.
    2. The head-to-head scores over all races between the teams involved.
    3. The total placings for the teams across all races with the lowest total winning.
    4. The position of the teams in the last race in the season.

SCORING - INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

11.
  1. Percentage points shall be awarded to individuals in the mens and ladies' races to go towards the individual championships. These shall be on a descending scale based on the formula:
    Rating = [(Number of Finishers + 1) - Individual's place] / Number of Finishers
  2. In this, the ladies shall be separated out from the men and will have their own percentage points. The championship rating will be the average score over the season based on the individual's best 5 races *. The percentage obtained from the above method will be used to decide all age categories within the men and women's competition.
  3. Awards will be made at the end of the season for top five Males, top three Females, Male Veteran (cat V40, V45, V50, V55, V60, V65 and V70) Champions; Female Veteran (cat V35, V40, V45, V50, V55, V60 and V65) Champions, most improved Male, most improved Female. More than one award can be made if a runner finishes in the top five males or top three females and are also top of their veteran category. Further awards to be presented as may be decided by the Committee.
  4. For Individual championship awards at end of season, a runner’s age will be based on their age on the date of the first race of the season.

* This assumes a total of 7 races in the series. It this number is to be increased or decreased, the number of qualifying races for the Individual Championships may be revised upwards or downwards by the Committee.

ACCEPTANCE

12.

By using the race number supplied and participating in any KFL Race, you accept the terms and conditions, rules and regulations of the KFL organisation and of the individual participating Clubs and venues, all of which are available for you to inspect on the KFL website.

Please do not compete if you feel at all unwell on the day of race. If during the day of race you become unwell or injured, please make a marshal aware so assistance can be provided.