Cross-Country Running

While many people are sad to see the summer go, cross-country runners look forward to the autumn, and the start of the cross-country season, which runs roughly from October to March. The following sections give some more background.

Would you like to run in the Surrey cross-country leagues?

Our senior men's and women's teams, and our juniors, compete in the Surrey cross-country leagues.

The senior races attract large fields and although the Surrey leagues are said to be amongst the most competitive in the country, runners of all ages and standards take part. There is always lots of room for the slower and older runner to enjoy a good run and maybe score some points for the club. And with such large fields there's little chance of you finishing last!

There are four races in autumn/winter, the first in October and the last in February. The men's and women's races always take place on Saturday afternoons and on the same dates. The senior women's race normally starts at 12.15pm (but at noon for the January fixture), while the senior men's race starts at 3pm (2.30pm for the January fixture). The men's races are about five miles, while women's races tend to be three miles or less. The men's and women's races normally take place at different venues.

Cross-country races take you to attractive parts of the country. You have to be prepared to run in all sorts of weather and ground conditions, and to get wet and muddy at times, but that's all part of the fun! You ideally should wear footwear designed for cross-country running such as trail, studded or spiked shoes. Rarely can you get away with wearing flats.

Last season we started to hold Saturday evening, post-race gatherings for the runners and their supporters in local eateries, including an end of season celebration. We hope to continue this practice in the new season starting in October.

If you are interested in running, contact our team managers, Nigel Bongers (senior men and juniors), and Barbara Towers (senior women).

Tips for beginners

A lot of the club's activities are centred on cross-country running. So if you are new to running here are some tips for beginners:

	Tips for Beginners
	In the Beginning...A Guide for New Runners
	Ten Ideas to Keep Training Fun!

Some local cross-country runs

Click below for maps of some cross-country running routes in the Oxted area, including GPS tracking. More will be added in due course.

Some Local Cross-Country Running Routes

History of cross-country running

Have you ever wondered about how cross-country running came about? Did you know it has a long history in England, going back to the idea of the "hare and hounds", the "paperchase" and the "steeplechase"? Did you know that the Englishman who was the father of modern computer science and who broke the German Enigma codes in the Second World War, Alan Turing, was also a champion cross-country runner? Click on the link below to find a document, edited from material found on the Milton Keynes Museum website, gives a very interesting account of the origins and changing nature of cross-country running in England.

History of Cross-Country Running

Some more about how the cross-country leagues operate

The Surrey men's league has four divisions. For 2008-09, the Holland men will compete in Division 3, having won promotion last season. The growing Surrey Ladies' Cross-Country League has two divisions. In 2008-09 Holland's women's team will continue to compete in Division Two.

In the men's league, the first ten runners score for their club. The league simply adds up scorer's finishing positions, so the aim for each club is to record the lowest aggregate score. There are penalties if fewer than 10 runners cross the finishing line: the missing runners are given the score of the last runner in the whole race. Clubs which are unable to field a full team of 10 or more can thus be heavily penalised. So we are always keen to get as many runners as possible of whatever standard to compete in our cross-country races. And, clearly, runners who are not very fast could still make a significant difference to Holland's final league position by completing the race in a scoring position on those occasions when we are short of numbers through injuries or for other reasons.

In the women's league a different system operates for calculating team scores. There are 5 scorers per team. But not only do the first five finishers score for their club as a team, those further back also count for their club because the league automatically creates further "virtual" teams until all the runners are accounted for. So A, B and C teams etc may be listed for a given club when the results are produced. This has the advantage of giving every runner an opportunity to score for their club, regardless of where they finish overall.

There are also junior races at all these fixtures: the various junior male races precede the senior men's race, while the junior girls' races take place after the senior women's race. All the races take place over shorter, sometimes much shorter, distances than the men's races.

There are also county, regional and national championships that our runners take part in.