Winter is coming, but the good news is, so too is the Stragglers Winter Grand Prix!

 

After a challenging 2020/2021 series made up of virtual fixtures, we’re very much looking forward to getting back out into the muddy fields of Surrey. Plus, building on the variety seen in the 2029/2020 series, we’ve added more road races which we hope widens the appeal of the competition to even more members.

 

The Surrey League XC season remains a key part of the calendar, with our women’s team in division 1 and men in division 2. There are also the South of the Thames XC fixtures, plus October’s Kingston Half Marathon, December’s Hog’s Back and the Valentine’s 10k organised by our friends over at 26.2.

 

Simon Brazil and Helene Hill are your team managers and are already recruiting for XC fixtures. For venues and details for the Surrey League see here.

 

The Stragglers pay for entries to all cross country fixtures and are committed to supporting road race entries throughout the calendar year.

 

We are offering 40 free places in the Kingston Half Marathon, please email Andy Howarth andy.howarth31@hotmail.com to request one. Places allocated on a first come, first served basis. If you do not receive one in this race there will be other opportunities across the series.

 

Winter Grand Prix scoring will once again see every participant awarded 10 points, with positional points awarded from 35 (first Straggler) down to 11. Your best four scores across the season make up your overall total, meaning you do not need to complete every fixture. Those who do will contest the hero prize, with the winner of that going to the person who has completed the most if not all. As in the 2021 Summer Grand Prix, if there is a tie for the hero prize, the award will go to the person scoring the fewest points and we hope this widens the chance of winning to not just the fastest runners.

 

Defending Winter Grand Prix champions are Sophie Biggs and Rob Eveson. You can see tables from last year for women here and men here.

 

The full fixture list is as follows:

 

October

Saturday 16: Surrey League Cross Country Fixture 1 – women Richmond Park, men Epsom Downs

Sunday 24th: Kingston Half Marathon

 

November:

Saturday 13th: Women’s Surrey League Cross Country Fixture 2 – Wimbledon Common

Sunday 14th: Men’s Surrey League Cross Country Fixture 2 - Denbies

Sunday 21st: South of the Thames Cross Country Championships - 5 miles - Morden Park

 

December:

Sunday 5th: Hogs Back Road Race

Saturday 18th: South of the Thames Cross Country Championships 7.5 miles - Beckenham

 

January:

Saturday 15th: Surrey League Cross Country Fixture 3 – women Mitcham Common, men Richmond Park

22 or 23:  Stragglers Cross Country Championships - Ham Lands - tbc

 

February:

Date TBC: Valentine’s 10k

Saturday 19th: Surrey League Cross Country Fixture 4 – women Effingham Common, men Lloyd Park

Saturday 26th:  National Cross Country Championships - Parliament Hill

 

We hope there are no restrictions put in place in the coming months, but this list is of course subject to change.