Grand Prix 2010 - 2011

A new grand prix season is upon us, kicking off with the Houston Road Relay followed by McAndrew Road Relay, West District XC Relay and the National XC Relays. Further details of the grand prix calendar for the rest of 2010 will follow in a week or so.

Thanks to all who have made themselves available for the Houston, West and National XC relays. Already the numbers of Harriers entering are well ahead of last year, particularly from the ladies which bodes well for a competitive grand prix series. The ladies grand prix format will continue more or less unchanged for this year, i.e. best 11 from 16 races to count, 5 points for first down to 1 point for fifth and 1 point for all others who competed. All the women start with 1 joker except last year's champion Frances, who starts with 0 jokers. A further joker is earned by scoring 3 points or less in a race. The women have no cap on the number of jokers that can be earned in a season. On playing a joker, your points for that race are doubled, on playing 2 jokers the points are quadrupled, etc up to a maximum of 20 points. A new bonus joker system is being added to the women's and men's grand prix this year to further reward those who do a lot of races. On completing 5 races, 1 further joker is awarded, on completing 10 races a further joker is awarded and on completing 15 races a further 2 jokers are awarded. These additional jokers are not subject to the maximum season jokers cap in the men's competition.

For the men's grand prix, the rules remain more or less unchanged with the exception of the bonus joker system described above. Therefore, best 11 from 16 races to count, 12 points for 1st down to 1 point for 12th and everyone else participating. Jokers double your points up to a maximum of 24 points. 1 joker is earned by scoring 8 points or less and 2 jokers are earned by scoring 3 points or less. The jokers assigned at the start of the season and the maximum jokers per season for each person are listed here. If you are not on the list then please leave a comment on the blog and I will update the list.

I'll be happy to clarify any questions on the above. Failing that speak to Russell or David Wardrope both of whom seem to have mastered the system!

Alan