RHAC Cross Country Championship – Rules 2025/26 Season

Introduction: These are the rules applicable to the Rochdale Harriers & A.C. Cross Country Championships for the 2025/26 season (“the XC Championships”).
Scoring System: Men and women shall be scored separately. Points will be awarded based on the athlete’s position relative to other Rochdale Harriers in the same race – 1 point for 1st Rochdale Harrier, 2 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd and so on. The athlete with the lowest score in a category at the end of the XC Championships will win that category.
Tie Breakers: In the event of a points tie in a category the tiebreaker will be decided as follows, working down the list until a winner is found:
- The Head-to-Head victories record of the tied athletes.
- Number of minimum point hauls.
  
  If still level then a tie will be awarded and the next athlete’s position shall remain unchanged.
Categories: The categories are as follows: men’s Open Category (all ages), a women’s Open Category (all ages), a men’s U23 Category (age 20 – 22), a women’s U23 Category (age 20- 22), FSEN and MSEN categories (age 23 to 34) and 5-year Veteran Categories starting at age 35 for both men and women (i.e. starting at FV35 for women aged 35 to 39 and MV35 for men aged 35 to 39 and increasing in 5 year increments thereafter). In addition there shall be the following junior categories:

Age: Your age as at 31^st August determines your age category for the entire XC Championship.

Membership Requirement: You are required to be fully paid-up, first claim member of RHAC on race day for your result to count towards the XC Championships.

Wear a RHAC Racing Top: An official RHAC Club racing top must be worn for your race result to count. Training tops are not acceptable.

Use own Number: For your result in a race to qualify for the XC Championships you must run with your own number such that you appear in the official results for that race.

Counting Races (SEL, RR and GMAA XC): We expect that there will be six races across the South East Lancs League and the Red Rose League. In addition, we have included the GMAA XC race on 13th December to increase the number of race options. Your best four results from these seven races will count.

Chip Timing:– When chip times are available in a race, these will be used to calculate positions (not gun times).

Trophies: A trophy will be awarded to the top three (i.e. lowest point scores) male and female athletes in each category. You will receive only one trophy if you finish in the top three in more than one category, e.g. an Open Category and a Veteran Category. Where possible both achievements will be acknowledged on the trophy.
Requirement to assist at Our Races: In this second year (2025/26), in order for Seniors (age 18+) to qualify for the XC championships you will need to have assisted personally at at least one RHAC-organised race during the year in which the XC season starts (an exemption may apply to new members who joined late in the year and were therefore unable to assist. TBD case-by-case). If an established member has not assisted at any of our races this year, you will not qualify for the XC championships even if you do enough races. As with all of our other Championships, we expect all established members to ‘do their bit’ by helping at the races we organise.
Everyone gets something: A memento will be awarded to all athletes who complete the XC Championships (i.e. finish the required number of and type of XC races and assist at at least one RHAC Race) but do not qualify for a ‘top 3’ Open/age group trophy.
Dispute Resolution: If a dispute cannot be resolved easily by reference to these rules then the matter shall be referred to the RHAC Committee whose decision shall be final.