The 2024 PRR Championship is under way; current standings can be seen below!
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The Championship is Perth Road Runners’ Blue Riband internal race series. That’s Blue Riband as in “of the highest quality; first-class” rather than “shonky-quality, soggy wafer coated in milk chocolate of questionable status” (sue, Nestlé, I dare you…).
The men’s and ladies’ Championships started in 1993 and 1994 respectively and have always represented the pinnacle of the club’s challenge and competition.
It has traditionally been an almost-all-road/tarmac series, with few exceptions (the Ballater 10, with its forest tracks, being one such; the trail-based Crieff 10K has also occasionally featured). It requires participants to compete and complete over distances from 5K to the marathon, with seven of the season’s ten races typically (but not always) occurring over 10K and half-marathon (HM) courses.
Season completers (see below for rules) win the Jim McAndrew Championship Medal, named and awarded in memory of one of the founders of PRR.
Races vary from year to year. It is very seldom the case that a race chosen for the Championship in one year also features the next year (a race postponement might cause this, eg Braemar HM 2022 and 2023). Races can be chosen across all of Scotland (Skye, Arran, Mull and Cumbrae have all featured since 2010) and the use of Brampton-Carlisle in 2022 represented the club’s first … er… ‘foreign’ Champs foray.
See here for the list of races used in the PRR Championship since 2013.
The Championship season typically starts in March (often – but not necessarily – with the Inverness or Alloa HM) and, in a year not struck by race cancellations, typically finishes in September or October (to try to minimise race clashes with cross-country fixtures).
Rules
+ To receive a Club Championship medal, you need to complete 7 out of 10 nominated championship races (as per the list below) or 6 of the nominated races plus a marathon.
+ However, to compete for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in the Club Championship, you need to complete at least 7 out of the 10 nominated Championship races plus a marathon. That is, maximum points will be derived from running those 8 races.
+ In the Championship age categories, it is possible for the trophy to be won without completing a marathon, but this is unlikely; any any athlete who tackles a marathon has an extra 100 points available to them!
+ Age categories awarded with winner’s trophies are Veteran (M40 and F40), Super Veteran (M50 and F50) and Vintage Veteran (M60 and F60). Starting with the 2023 season, the male and female age categories are now the same (previously, female categories were F35/45/55).
+ If chosen, the marathon shall be of the athlete’s own choosing and consist of any worldwide marathon, including one which is part of a triathlon, and must be properly accredited with verifiable results.
+ Full rules, scoring etc appear at 3 here.
+ Please note that due to the distance of the races used, it is necessary to be a minimum of 18 years of age to compete in the Club Championship. If you are lucky enough to be under the age of 18, you can still compete in the The Hills are Alive and the Summer Series.
Club Championship 2024
| Race | Date | Link | Reserve Race used if race lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Scott 10 miles | Sunday 31st March | COMPLETED - Results here | Aviemore Half Marathon |
| Loch Leven Half Marathon | Sunday 12th May | COMPLETED - Results here | Aviemore Half Marathon |
| Babcock 10K (Scottish Champs), Helensburgh | Thursday 30th May | COMPLETED - Results here | Tilli 10k |
| Mhor 84 (Balquhidder) Half Marathon * | Sunday 9th June | COMPLETED - Results here | Aviemore Half Marathon |
| Ceres 8 miles | Tuesday 6th August | COMPLETED - Results here | Tilli 10k |
| Stirling (Podfather) 10K | Sunday 8th September | COMPLETED - Results here | Tilli 10k |
| Linlithgow 10K | Sunday 29th September | COMPLETED - Results here | Tilli 10k |
| Jedburgh Half Marathon | Sunday 27th October | COMPLETED - Results here | Brampton - Carlisle 10 mile race |
| Templeton Ten (10 miles) | Sunday 3rd November | COMPLETED - Results here | Brampton - Carlisle 10 mile race |
| Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k | Sunday 10th November | COMPLETED - Results here | Tilli 10k |
Races – notes
+ Do note that some races sell out fast; sign up quickly if you wish to race.
+ * The Mhor 84 Half – like all the races from Tay Fitness Events, which are not SA-registered races – does not have a distance certificate. Normally, we do not allow such races to count for distance trophies or Club Standards. However, the course is some way over 13.1 miles – the organisers state 13.6 miles – and, should any PRR be fortunate enough to clock a fast time over this ‘long’ course, we would allow it for trophy and Standards use. It’s obviously been a question whether to use this race (and the Thornhill 10K in the Summer Series), but for variation, we have elected to do so.
If a race is lost…
If series races are ‘lost’ (cancelled or even postponed), replacement races are used (rather than a reduced requirement of completed races). Under the rules, those races must be pre-nominated. We are again using the new system here (introduced in 2022). In the past (and still in the Rules, this section soon to be re-written!), regardless of the distance of race lost, it would be replaced by the first nominated reserved race; the second race lost by the second reserve. Thus, it was possible that a 5K could be replaced by a HM, or vice versa.
In 2022, we adopted/trialled a system of Long and Short Reserve races. Two Long Reserves and two Short Reserves were nominated/listed. Under this system, if a race of less than 10 miles is lost, it is replaced by a Short Reserve race; if 10 miles or longer, it is replaced by a Long Reserve. The Long and Short Races are employed in the order shown (race 1, then race 2). We will use the same system in 2024. The table of races above shows which Reserve Race will be used if that race is lost.
Short Reserves
Jimmy Irvine Bella 10K – last year’s details can be found here – now being used in lieu of the Sri Chimnoy Silverknowes 5k which sold out in an unprecedented 38 minutes (preventing most PRRs getting a chance to compete).
Tilli 10k – provisional date of 29th December – info here.
Long Reserves
Due to the last races being late in the year, the Long Reserves shall be split into an early and a late reserve. Therefore if the Tom Scott 10, Loch Leven Half or the Mhor 84 is cancelled then the reserve shall be:
Aviemore Half Marathon – 6th October – info here.
If the Jedburgh Half or the Templeton Ten is cancelled then the reserve shall be;
Brampton to Carlisle (10 miles) – 17th November – info here.
Note that the reserve races only come into play if any of our nominated 10 races are lost. They cannot be used for the Championship unless this occurs.___
The 2024 Championship
The Championship races have all been completed;
We have winners –
CONGRATULATIONS go to Liz Johnston and Michael McConnell
For the ladies –
1st Place – Liz Johnston
2nd Place – Rhiannon Laing
3rd Place – Lisa Aikman
Age Category Winners;
V40 – Caroline Duffin
V50 – Liz Johnston
V60 – Ann Reed
For the men it is slightly more complicated due to late year marathons still to occur but what we can confirm –
1st Place – Michael McConnell
2nd & 3rd Place are not confirmed yet
Age Category Winners;
V40 – Barry Campbell
V50 – Richard Ward
V60 – James Fotheringham
Previous results
2021 and 2020 – not held owing to COVID-19
NB: for greater detail and breakdown of the 2013 to 2019 series (all of Champs, SS and HA), the previous results tool (click link) provides more detail. This was discontinued from 2019 owing to the change in format of the SS and HAA.