Grand Prix
2011 Grand Prix Information!
See attachments below :
Club Grand Prix 2011 – grading levels
Club Grand Prix 2011 – Nominated races
Grand Prix 2011 – Race Time Grading Chart
Grand Prix Presentation – 2011
2010
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!
2010 Grand Prix results – FINAL
Regards,
Steve
2009
I am delighted to announce the three prize winners, as follows…
1st place: ANDY ROSE 194 points
2nd place: ANDY FOOKES 178 points
3rd place: SIMON HACKETT 134 points
Many congratulations and well done to all!!
All three athletes have made substantial improvements during 2009; benefitting not only from more structured training, but also from greater competitiveness, improved focus and stronger determination. Having joined the club in late 2008, Andy Rose and Andy Fookes have made dramatic steps forward, and have certainly realised their potential during the past year. Simon Hackett has made an exceptional comeback following a serious knee injury. Incredibly, Simon had previously claimed one of the prizes in the 2008 competition – finishing in 2nd place last time around (with 83 points)!
The annual Grand Prix competition – of which this was the sixth 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 order to qualify for one of the top three prizes, runners had to complete nominated races in ten required categories This can be quite difficult to do, and takes some planning to achieve! For example, you will see from the final standings (see the ‘League Table 2009’ tab on the spreadsheet) that Matt Conroy ended the year with the third highest number of points, but had only scored in eight categories; thus leaving third place open to Simon, who had ensured completion of all ten! Krish Mahadevan (on nine events) might also have been in with a look-in had he completed just one more qualifying race last year!
It’s also worth pointing out the effect that bonus points can have… while runner-up, Andy Fookes, scored the highest number of race points, winner Andy Rose eclipsed Andy’s overall score through accumulating a whopping 44 bonus points during the year. This included two 10 point ‘double-bonuses’ awarded for completing all five cross-country league and summer league races; a feat also achieved by two other runners this year – Steve Meath and Rob Norman. (Thanks for your superb support for the club guys!)
As in previous years, I will be carrying out the 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. Sam and I will also be reviewing last year’s nominated races by category, and will consider additions and deletions based on 2009 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.
Trophies (including the famous ‘Golden Trainer’) will be presented to all three winners at the Belper Harriers AGM on February 2nd. (Speeches are optional!!)
I would like to thank Sam Lowry for her sterling 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 be extremely difficult!
Regards,
Steve
2008
Here are the results of the 2008 Grand Prix. Prizes were presented at the AGM to the following Belper Harriers…
1st Place – Theresa Hempsall (112 points)
2nd Place – Simon Hackett (83 points)
3rd Place – Ian Hays (67 points)
Well done and congratulations to all three!
Theresa, who was absolutely delighted with her success – and even made a speech – received the perpetual Golden Shoe Trophy (which I’m sure will have pride of place in the Hempsall household over the next year) along with a personal award to keep for ever. Simon and Ian received personal trophies for their 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Simon’s 2nd place was well deserved, and just shows what can be done even after suffering problems with injury. Ian’s 3rd place followed on from his winning the competition in both 2006 and 2007, and demonstrates that it is possible to keep improving, and remain competitive, year after year.
As most of you will be aware, the Grand Prix competition is designed to encourage our runners to compete over a spread of distances, and over varying surfaces. It also incorporates an element of reward (the bonus points) for those who support the club through running in club races (i.e. league races and relays). The three winners have certainly all demonstrated their versatility and loyalty during 2008.
As I pointed out on the night, there were also some other scores worthy of note from last year’s competition…
Robert Norman accumulated the highest points score of 122 from nine events. Had he been able to also complete the 10 mile + category, Rob would have been the Grand Prix winner for the 2nd time in its five year history!
Steve Meath’s excellent score of 114 from just seven events was no surprise when bearing in mind the substantial improvement he has made over the past year. I’m sure that he will be monitoring the tables very closely this year with a view to getting his name on the Golden Shoe for 2009!
Rose Sensecall was another runner one short of the required ten events; and her 81 points would have put her in 3rd place had she completed the 10 mile+ category. (As Rob also missed out on the same category, it looks like it was simply a case of bad planning with the Rob ‘n’ Rose Roadshow tour dates!
Sometime over the next few weeks, I will be completing the annual review and re-grading exercise for everyone who was included in the 2008 Grand Prix, and also calculating the grades for our newer runners, in order to re-level the playing field and set up the competition for 2009.As minuted at the AGM: thanks very much to Sam Clarke, who continued with the time-consuming job of updating the GP tables during the year, despite the small matter of becoming a mother to twins back in March!! As everyone will appreciate, this impacted greatly on time available for Sam, and meant that we were not able to send out updates as regularly as we would have liked (although the competition continued to run as normal in the background). We hope to be able to provide regular updates in 2009 to help keep the competition at the forefront of people’s minds.Please see the attachment for the final results of the 2008 Grand Prix. Note that there are six tabs along the bottom of the spreadsheet and also that freeze frames are incorporated in the first three for ease of viewing.
Regards,
Steve
