Scoring System

The scoring system remains the same as previous series to ensure that as many entrants as possible will remain in contention until the series is complete. The scoring system is also designed to give those who complete four or five races a small competitive edge over those who complete the minimum three races required to qualify for the league, by giving them the option to use their three best scores of the four or five races completed.

The scoring system is based on placings in each race rather than finish times (refer below). All five races will be eligible to contribute to the overall score, with the best three placings being used to determine overall score. Entrants must complete at least three races in order to qualify for final league placings.

The first finisher is awarded 1 point, the second finisher is awarded 2 points, third finisher 3 points, and so on with entrants being awarded scores in their respective age categories as well as the overall category
At the end of all five races, the number of points from the best three races are added together to give a final score for each runner.
The scores are then ranked from lowest to highest with the lowest score being the winner, the next lowest score being second, and so on.

In the event of a tie break between runners in terms of total points achieved when awarding prizes, the scoring committee will take account of best placings achieved in the same races completed by the tied runners. (for example, if one of the tied runners has finished higher in the five races than the other tied runner, they will be awarded the higher place. Where a tied runner has not ran a race they will be considered as having a lower placing than the tied runner who ran that race.) If still tied then the runner who has ran the most races in the league will be awarded the higher place.

Overall Categories

There are separate Male and Female competitions with perpetual cups awarded to both the top male and female scorer. Overall prizes will be awarded to the top three scorers in both the male and female categories. After each race, the runners are ranked according to finish position in their male or female section in accordance with the scoring system above.

Age Categories

In addition to Overall Male and Overall Female category prizes, Age Category prizes will be awarded for the following age groups:-

Male Junior (15-18)
Female Junior (15-18)
Male (19-29)
Female (19-29)
Male (30-39)
Female (30-39)
Male (40-49)
Female (40-49)
Male (50-59)
Female (50-59)
Male (60+)
Female (60+)

(The number of prizes awarded in each category will be dependent on achieving overall entries targets and sufficient entries in each age category)

Age category will be based on the entrant’s age as at 10th November 2018. In accordance with Athletics NI regulations under 16 year olds are not able to compete in the 10M race, under 15 year olds are not able to compete in the 5M or 10K races, and under 11 year olds are not able to compete in the 5K race.

Category winners will be calculated in accordance with the scoring system above, except that Category Place will be used instead of Overall Place. Those winning overall category prizes will not be eligible for age category prizes and placing scores will be adjusted accordingly.