There are 16 clubs in the Frostbite League and to make things interesting these are club-vs-club races as well as being an excellent multi-terrain, all-weather romp through the regions parks and woodlands. Werrington Joggers automatically pay for club members entry fees for these races so you don't have to enter them online - just turn up on the day. Remember; because its a league you must wear your Werrington Joggers top, and you must have paid your club subscription. Additionally be aware that the wearing of headphones is not permitted under any circumstances and this will lead to a disqualificaiton.

Teams are not picked by clubs and every club can have as many runners as they like, although for reasons explained below, the more runners that turn out for a club the more likely they are to do well in the league.

A team's score is simply the combined total of the finishing places of the first 10 across the line. A club with runners in 3,5,10,20,35, 70,75,100,150,151 places would score a cumulative total of 619 points. After each race the team with the lowest score for that race gets awarded 16 points, the team with the next highest gets 15 points etc. until the team with the largest total gets one point. After six races the teams will be awarded first, second and third place prizes.

Example :

Club A gets 619 race points earning then 16 league points by being best on the day.

Club B gets 700 race points earning them 15 league point by being second best on the day.

You can see that even if a club has a really excellent days running, and gets a really low score of race points this doesn't mean they can get an unassailable lead - they have to be consistent over the whole season.

Because the points awarded at a single race are the cumulative total of the first 10 finishers, clubs with a few fast runners but no consistency can actually end up scoring very poorly on the day. In most clubs it is the position of the 10th finisher that can have more impact on the club's score than the position of their first finisher.

With 16 clubs in the league its clear that at least the first 160 finishers are all scoring for their clubs - but in reality it is more complicated than that. A club with a few very fast runners might also not have a large turnout on the day, and their tenth scoring team members might be at 300 or 400th position. That means that every runner from every other club between 160th and 300th position might not score directly for their club, but will be adding points to the opposing clubs total - effectively making our teams score better by making another teams score worse.

Example:

Club A has places 3,5,10,20,35,70,100,200, .... 250,251

Club B has places 15,25,26,27,31,50,210,211,213,220

It looks like the Club B finisher at position 220 has earned 220 points for their team ? Yes - they have, but they also have pushed Club A's last two finishers from a possible 249,250 to 250,251. It gets more interesting when you look at where the 11th place onwards finished for Club B

Club B has places 15,25,26,27,31,50,210,211,213,220,.... 230,235,243

You can see that Club B's 11,12 and 13th finishers also forced Club A's last two finisher back down the field. Although 11,12 and 13th finishers didn't get into their club's scoring team, they have effectively made their clubs score better by making the other clubs score worse. If Club B's 11,12 and 13th finishers didn't turn up that day they would be gifting four race points to Club A (and every other club with scoring team members with later finish postions).

Whether a Werrington runner makes it into the first 10 club finishers or not, there is a very good chance that by turning out and competing that they will be scoring with as much effectiveness irrespective of their finish time. Its also an important consideration that of the first 10 finishers from a club, at least 3 have to be men and 3 have to be ladies. This means that its not often the first 10 across the line that count, but the last of the correct gender that count. On many occasions a Werrington runner finishing in 200th position have been in the WJ scoring team because we need at least 3 men and 3 ladies.

If by mischance any team does not have 3 ladies (or 3 men) turn out at all on the day they are penalised by having the score of the last (plus one) finisher used as the score for their missing team members. This has happened on many occasions and means that every runner that day from every other club effectively scored.

This is why these are some of the best supported and most fun competitions - more or less everyone is in with a chance of making a difference.

If none of the competitive side of the league appeals to you, just come along and have a great run with a bunch of like minded local club runners. Wind, rain, snow or sunshine - turf, woodland trails, mud and road sections; you wont be bored.