Intermediate Cross Country

Clum

Anybody know the rules of qualification for Intermediate Cross Country?

I assume the intermediate race applies to different folk than those in the senior races?

Haven't run cross country since my school days (many years ago now) but wouldn't mind giving it another shot, although I don't fancy being made a show of by fit, fast seniors...

hunnymonster

Clum, I was just wondering almost the same thing the other day. I'd love to give cross country a go but I'm not particulary fast over short distances and I'm afraid I'd be left standing. Is there such a thing as a cross country fun-run?

Clum

Dunno about cross country fun runs, most of them seem to be taken fairly seriously from what I can tell, although other posters here may know more than I do...

I've also come across cross country races scheduled for 'Novice' runners. Can anybody explain the difference in Senior, Intermediate and Novice when it comes to cross country?

ob

Championship races such as Novice, Intermediate and Senior are for members of Athletic Clubs, you run on behalf of your club in these races. If you're a member of a club, they'll have all the details for you. If not, find the nearest one and join!

Novice races (for men) are usually 5k, Intermediate are 8k, and Senior 10k.

Any member of a club can run all of these races, if you win the Novice, you won't be allowed enter it for the next few years, same with the intermediate.

There should be plenty of 'Open Races', which are open for everyone to enter. There's no need to worry about being made look bad, while there's sure to be very good athletes in the race, there'll also be athletes at your level and below.

howya horse

It seems to me that a novice at county level is someone who has not been placed 1/2/3 in county senior cc championships or been a scoring member of a county senior winning team.You also loose novice status if you place 1/2/3 in a county senior track c'ship over 1500m in length A similar rule seems to apply at provincial levels. County athletics boards can regrade people also.
The intermediate grade is very vague to me.
Anyway go ahead and run isnt that what all this FIT4LIFE lark is aiming to do.
The entire running community, especially CLUBS should be encouraging increased participation and cutting thru the BULL to create a more inclusive sport...
These grading mysteries etc...could be the reason why people dont seem bothered about paying golf classic style entry fees for very ordinary races with high profile branding. Rural athletic clubs put on great inclusive road races all year with valuable prize funds, spot prizes ,changing facilities,refreshments,videos, near instant results and pics on web for an average of 10 euro . they put the receipts back in to coach and encourage the next generation of Irish athletics.
Come on clubs get these people on board before peolple who dont give jack **** about the sport fleece them and build a profile of the fittest people in the country for health insurers.There are thousand of runners of ALL abilities ex teenage runners,slimmers,old boxers.ex team sports etc.... and the club system is NOT tapping in .

Redfraggle

Hey Clum/Hunnymonster,

I'm thinking along the same lines as yourselves. I haven't been a member of an athletics club for quite some time but I may join one again soon. In relation to the cross country the novice section seems to be full of young athletes on the way up but mostly ex senior athletes that just want to run but dont have the legs for the senior standard anymore. Because of the mix in these races the field is usually really spread out so even plodders like myself can comfortably run mid field comfortable in the knowledge that I'm not humilating myself....

If you're looking to run a cross country race, no strings attached where you dont need to be a member of a club then there is a BHAA race this weekend that may suit. Its in castleknock at 11.00 this Saturday (14th Oct). Its over 4 miles and I think its €8 to enter. I've enclosed a link below.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~bhaa/TeachersFlyer2006.PDF

Red

billyhead

In relation to the Teachers cross country race on Saturday. Does anyone know if you have to be a member of the BHAA to take part. Also do you receive a goody bag?:D

Redfraggle

Hey Billyhead,

In relation to the Teachers BHAA run you dont have to be a member of the BHAA. Being a member means you pay a few euros less that the normal punter for each race. It may cost you €10 as a non member. Then again it only costs about €10 or €15 to join the BHAA for the year and they have a lot of races throughout the year. I've been to a few of the races and they have been really good and really well organised...

Red

DaveH

howya horse wrote:

It seems to me that a novice at county level is someone who has not been placed 1/2/3 in county senior cc championships or been a scoring member of a county senior winning team.You also loose novice status if you place 1/2/3 in a county senior track c'ship over 1500m in length A similar rule seems to apply at provincial levels. County athletics boards can regrade people also.
The intermediate grade is very vague to me.
Anyway go ahead and run isnt that what all this FIT4LIFE lark is aiming to do.
The entire running community, especially CLUBS should be encouraging increased participation and cutting thru the BULL to create a more inclusive sport...
These grading mysteries etc...could be the reason why people dont seem bothered about paying golf classic style entry fees for very ordinary races with high profile branding. Rural athletic clubs put on great inclusive road races all year with valuable prize funds, spot prizes ,changing facilities,refreshments,videos, near instant results and pics on web for an average of 10 euro . they put the receipts back in to coach and encourage the next generation of Irish athletics.
Come on clubs get these people on board before peolple who dont give jack **** about the sport fleece them and build a profile of the fittest people in the country for health insurers.There are thousand of runners of ALL abilities ex teenage runners,slimmers,old boxers.ex team sports etc.... and the club system is NOT tapping in .

I dont understand most of the points you've made there Howya Horse. Novice, Intermediate and Senior C\C are Championship races. Soccer and GAA have Junior(novice), Intermediate and Senior championships. The different with athletics is you can loose your status for ten years. You work at loosing your status. Your status is lost by a gold or sliver medal in Indiviual, Team and Inter-county catergories. For instance Peter Matthews first cross country race was the Dublin Novice a number of years back, which he won, two weeks later he won the Dublin Intermediate, Peter worked his way up through the system and eventually won the National Inter-Clubs. The idea of loosing your status is so Sonia O'Sullivan can not go home tomorrow, decide to have a race and win the Cork Novice, only jogging around the course.
Can you elabrate on your comment
"These grading mysteries etc...could be the reason why people dont seem bothered about paying golf classic style entry fees for very ordinary races with high profile branding."
Entry fees for all championship cross country are paid by the club!(they are by Raheny anyway). You have to be a member of a club to run in championship race. Also The Simon Community race was held one hour after the Dublin Novice and both were in the Phoenix park, so What point are you trying to make?
Also what is your problem with the fit4life league. This is targeted at involving women in particular in athletics. Espically those who partake in the Women's mini-marathon. And to underline this....the idea of the women's mini-marathon is involve women in sport. The thinking behind having a one-sex only event is women are not involved in junior soccer or rugby the way men are, there for there involvement is a lot lower. So now to try and get more ladies involved in the sport the fit4life league has been set up. Its also to involve people who want to get fit. To run even the novice championship you have to have a decent level of fitness. Otherwise athletes will get lapped by the top runners in the race, which is very demotivating.
You also seem to be comparing Road Races to C\C. There are a lot of very good races around the country but there is no comparison between Road running and cross country. C\C is over shorter distances for women. e.g national long course is 8k for women and 12K for men, novice is 3K for women and 6K for men and intermediate is 5k for women(I think) and 10K for men. Also cross country is usually ran over a 2k loop, where as road races are usually over a flat course or a 1mile or 3mile lap.

Dave