The West Yorkshire Winter League

The WYWL is affiliated to UK Athletics and to the North of England Athletic Association and is an entry level league which has been organised in its present form since 1992 and is Co-ordinated by Chris Smith, Secretary of the league.

The Committee:

The West Yorkshire Winter League has a current committee of 3 members who are as follows:

WYWL Constitution

Accounts & Minutes of committee meetings & AGM's now available

Please note this area is restricted - to access please email Martin Burnside for a password

How the League works:

The League is a team event over five races during November - March of each year. There are currently 8 clubs within the West Yorkshire Winter League: Idle A.C, Pudsey Pacers, Leeds & Bradford Tri, Dewsbury Road Runners, Baildon Runners, Stainland Lions, and St.Bede's. The League is self financing as each Club pays £50 per season which enables all members to take part.

How the 5 races are fixed:

Each September a meeting is held involving the Cross Country representatives from each of the clubs and the 5 cross country events are fixed, dependant on which clubs want to host an event. As the League has been in existence for 10 years most courses are now well established.

The Team Scores:

Whilst the League does offer individual trophy positions, its primary objective is team competition. The five team scores are added together to decide the following team trophies:

1st Combined Team, 2nd Combined Team, 3rd Combined Team.
1st Male Team.
1st Female team.
1st Vets Team (combination of male/females).

A club team is the first seven men to cross the line(which must include 2 vets), and the first three women (including 1 vet), in each event.

The vets team is the 2 male and the one female counting vets added together.

Different runners may score in different races - it's just first past the post on the day.

The first Combined Team can enter the National Cross Country Final and the 2nd Combined Team can enter the Plate Race at the National Final.

The Individual Scores:

There are individual men's and women's trophies and prizes to compete for at senior and several veteran levels. However to count for these you must complete all five events, and your scores will be added together. At the end of each race individuals are given a tag which denotes their position in the race. This works as follows:

The first male runner gets 200 points, second gets 199, third gets 198 and so on. The first female runner gets 100 points, second gets 99, third gets 98 and so on.

So in addition to the team positions, individual results are available after each event and individual and category winners are presented with individual trophies at the Presentation Evening held at the end of the season.

Two very special trophies are also presented to individuals each year, these are for the most improved male and female runner who has completed all 5 events. The most improved male runner receives the Dave Turpin Memorial Trophy and the most improved female runner receives the Paul Dowson Memorial Trophy. Through these trophies we remember two well known league competitors who both died suddenly during the 1999 -2000 season.

The Cross Country Races:

Each race is usually different in the terrain that it offers although all are approx. 4 - 5 ½ miles in length and offer a mixture of woodland, canal, tracks, streams, usually in fairly muddy conditions. There are usually between 100 -150 runners at each event. Cross Country studs are recommended and club vests should be worn.

The Presentation Night:

This has become THE social event of the year for the participating clubs. In addition to presenting the Team and Individual trophies the Presentation Night is a chance for all the clubs to get together socially and enjoy a buffet and disco in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The League 1992 -present

The League celebrated 10 years in its current form at the Presentation Night hosted by Skipton A.C in March 2002. During these 10 years the League has grown in strength and recognition and is accepted as a league that caters for runners of ALL abilities. During the 10 years there have been 50 races.

Since 1992 Chris Smith, the Secretary of the League is the only runner to have competed in all 75 consecutive events.
All the results and information about the League are placed on the Idle A.C Website after each event - www.idleac.co.uk