This was an idea that Hugh suggested one committee meeting in the dim and distant past. The idea (if I remember correctly) was to have a handicapped club championship, much like the club handicap race (in that it rewards improvement over previous year(s)) but based over a whole season rather than one race. It sounded like it would be worth a try, so we suggested he gave it a whirl for 2007 and see what came out.

Here's how it works in more detail:

The 'handicap' is based on each runner's best 8 races in the previous year (so in this case the 2005-2006 season) last year, excluding marathons, jokers, Motavations. If anyone did fewer than 8 races, the handicap is calculated by multiplying their actual total to give the equivalent score for 8 races. The 2007 score is the equivalent score so far this year, either for the best 8 events or for however many that person has done so far. The 'total' is the difference between the two.

And here are the results for this year (NB. short leaguers for this year are not included for obvious reasons!) updated after Cricklade half marathon

So do the results make sense? In the men's competition, its only spring chickens Nick and Ben who managed to improve... and in the ladies' Jane is the queen of improvement despite working all hours in lots of european cities. Katherine's score reflects her recent speediness, and Graham 'n' Kate are the masters of consistency! No surprises there!

So what do you think of this scheme? Tell Hugh and / or Graham your views!