The idea of the internal ELR Grand Prix competition is to gain points by participating in as many races as possible within the list, over a 12 month period (you don't have to do them all but you won't gain points for the ones you skip). The points are higher for certain races and we use an age grade system to calculate them. There are two different series as we know that not everyone can do more than 10 races in a year: ELR Silver Series (11 races) 5 best ELVIS races out of 8 4 best Chingford or Sunday League races (out of 12) 1 10k (road officially measured) 1 half marathon or 10 mile race (road or trail) ELR Gold Series (20 races) 6 best ELVIS races out of 8, including running or volunteering at Valentines 8 best Chingford or Sunday League races out of 12, including at least 3 of each league 1 10k (road officially measured) 1 half marathon (road or trail) 1 marathon (road or trail) 1 additional race from the Essex Road Race Series 1 long-distance cross-country (Ilford 10, Benfleet 15, Orion 15 or Orion Mercury 10) 1 selected relay race (see below for eligible races) You cannot be both a Gold and a Silver winner so if you have the highest number of points in both, the second placed in the Silver series one will become the winner. The points system is described in detail below for whoever is interested, but in a nutshell: - For each eligible race, we will calculate a point score for the runner based on their time, age factor, and (in most cases) the median time of the race. Volunteering at Valentines or Chingford League Relays gives 100 points. - For each race group (e.g. 5 out of 8 ELVIS, 1 out of 4 long-distance XC), we will select the best races based on points scored. If a runner hasn't completed sufficient races, they will score zero for any missed races. - The runner's score for the race group will be the sum of these race points. - For each series, we will calculate the total score from the race groups, multiplied by a weighting (see below). The weighting ensures that we get a fair balance across the different types of race, especially in the gold series. The scoring will be updated every month and on time for each newsletter and we will have three winners of each gender per series. The competition will run from 1st October 2025 until 30th September 2026, but will additionally include the first Sunday League race in September 2025. You do not need to do anything to participate apart from making sure that we have the results of your races. However, you can let us know if you do not wish to be included in the monthly result ranking. For further details of the races, eligibility and scoring method, see the articles at the bottom of this page.
The Essex Way Relay gold series category has been replaced by a broader Relay category. The new category includes several local relay races, selected by the Race Secretary. The list currently consists of: - Essex XC Relay Championships, 11 Oct 25 - Essex Road Relay Championships, 22 Mar 26 - Loughton AC Midsummer Relays, 16 Jun 26 - Sri Chinmoy Battersea Relays, 21 Jul 26 - The Essex Way Relay, 6 Sep 26 Races will use scoring method A if full timed results are readily available; method B (with an appropriate distance adjustment) if that is impractical but times are published; method C if only places are published. As usual, if a runner competes in multiple races in the category, their best score will be used. The category weighting is 5% of gold series points (same as the previous Essex Way category).
The results tables below show the current standings of the 2025-26 ELR Grand Prix Silver and Gold series, followed by more detailed tables showing individual race results and corresponding scores. The pos.chg column shows the change in position since the previous month (N=new). Note that the silver/gold summary tables show Series Scores, which are scaled by the number of races in the group/series and the race group weighting. The other tables show unweighted Race Scores. This is why, for example, the marathon scores are higher in the gold series tables than in the road race summary/details tables. See the articles at the bottom of this page for full details of the scoring method.
Current standings of the women's silver series, as of 27 Feb:
Current standings of the women's gold series, as of 27 Feb:
Current standings of the men's silver series, as of 27 Feb:
Current standings of the men's gold series, as of 27 Feb:
Summary of points scored in open races (10K, half marathon, marathon, and best of 10M/HM for silver), and the Essex Road Race series. Where a member has run more than one race of a given distance, their best score is taken. The scores differ from the tables above as they are unweighted Race Scores (see Results - Overview above).
Scores for the open races (10K, half marathon and marathon), and the Essex Road Race series. Please note that some races that are off-road or not officially measured are excluded, as per the Grand Prix rules (see Excluded Road Races below for further information). Second-claim members are also ineligible to score points in open races. Notes: * - Result not used, as the runner scored higher in another race. E - Part of the Essex Road Race series.
The following open races have been excluded from the Open/Road Race results above, as they do not meet the eligibility criteria: - 10K races must be on road and officially measured. - Marathon and half marathon races must be official, but may be on trail, subject to certain conditions (see info at the bottom of the page).
Summary of race scores for the Winter League races. See posts below for further details of the individual Chingford and Sunday League races.
Individual scores for the Chingford League races:
Individual scores for the Sunday Cross-Country League races:
Individual scores for the long-distance cross-country races (* result not used, as the runner scored higher in another race):
Individual scores for the Relay category (* result not used, as the runner scored higher on another leg):
1. For full gold series scoring, the runner must run or volunteer at our Valentines ELVIS race. Otherwise, their best 5 (rather than 6) ELVIS scores will be used. 2. All races must be official. The 10K must be on road, with an officially-measured course. The half marathon, marathon and 10 mile races may be on road or trail, but the committee reserves the right to disallow or apply an adjustment to races that have a significantly short course. Note that scoring method B includes no allowance for elevation or terrain, so a flat road race offers the best scoring potential. 3. Ilford AC 10 mile XC, Benfleet 15, Orion 15, or Orion Mercury 10. The Mercury 10 is subject to Orion Harriers inviting ELR members to participate (it is not an open race). Although some races are longer than others, the scoring method (details below) accounts for that. 4. Essex road championship races: - Points may be scored in any of the races making up the 2024 or 2025 Essex AA Road Race Championships that fall within the Grand Prix year (Oct24-Sep25). - Although runners must be Essex qualified to compete for the Essex Championship itself, any First Claim member is eligible to score points in the ELR Grand Prix (the individual races are open to all). - If a runner completes more than one race in the series, their best score will be used. - Some races overlap with an open road race category (10K/HM/marathon). A runner may not score in two categories from a single race. Since the open categories have higher weights, the score will be allocated to that category in preference to the Essex Road Race category. For example, if a runner completes the Essex half marathon but has not run any other HM in the current Grand Prix year, points will be allocated to the HM category rather than Essex; if they subsequently run another HM, points from the first race will be reallocated to the Essex category; alternatively, they may score Essex points by running another race in the Essex series.
The first stage of the scoring is to calculate a Race Score for each runner in each qualifying race. Three different scoring methods will be used, depending on the race (see table above). Method A The score is based on age/gender-adjusted time, relative to the median time of the race. This method takes variations in course length and difficulty into account, and will be used for races where it is practical for us to download and process all results, such as ELVIS and winter league races. Time = Runner's race time (or individual leg time in a relay) GenAgeFactor = Conversion factor from runner's gender/age standard to mid-point between non age-adjusted male/female standards (lower number means higher points) AdjTime = Time * GenAgeFactor MedianTime = Median time of all runners in the race (all clubs, all categories) Score = MedianTime / AdjTime * 100 GenAgeFactor is calculated as follows: d = closest road distance to the race distance (doesn't need to be exact, as Method A is based on median time not age grade), e.g. 5km or 5mi g = gender of runner a = age of runner on date of race AgeFactor(d,g,a) = age factor from age grading tables (1 until around age 30, gradually reduced above that age) OCTime(d,g) = open class (adjusted world record) time from age grading tables GenAgeFactor = (OCTime(d,M)+OCTime(d,F))/2 / OCTime(d,g) * AgeFactor(d,g,a) Method B The score is based on age grade percentage (similar to parkrun age grading). This method will be used for open races (e.g. 10K, marathon). Since these are either accurately measured (a road race), or more difficult (a typical trail half/full marathon, even if not precisely measured), there is no need for a course adjustment. AgeGrade = OCTime / Time / AgeFactor * 100 Score = AgeGrade * AGScoreFactor AGScoreFactor = 1.8. This is an adjustment factor to bring the scores in line with those of Method A (a score of 100 is average, whereas an age grade of 100 is world-leading). The value of 1.8 is close to the ratio of Method A scores to age grades for recent Roding Valley Half Marathon results (a representative road race entered mainly by local club runners); results from some other races were also analysed to ensure fairness. The same factor will be used for all races. The precise value isn't important (as everyone has the same adjustment); this is just to make sure that the weighting of races is not significantly skewed by the scoring method. Time, OCTime and AgeFactor are as described under method A. Method C The score is based on position in the race with a gender/age adjustment. This method will be used for races where no times are published, e.g. the Essex Way Relay. Pos = Runner's position in the race (or individual leg position in a relay) NumRunners = Number of runners in the race (or leg) MaxScore = 145. This is the score to be given to the first-placed runner (before gender/age adjustment). This was calculated by averaging the scores for first overall finisher for a sample of ELVIS & Chingford League races, excluding the gender & age factors. GenAgeFactor is as described under method A, for an appropriate reference distance. For the Essex Way Relay, 10 mile factors will be used, regardless of actual leg length. UnadjScore = 100 + (1 - (Pos-1) / ((NumRunners-1)/2)) * (MaxScore-100) Score = UnadjScore / GenAgeFactor Notes - For volunteers in the ELR-organised races (Valentines ELVIS and Chingford League Relays), 100 points will be awarded. - The 2020 Age Grade tables at https://github.com/AlanLyttonJones/Age-Grade-Tables will be used, for both age factors and open class times. If the distance of a race using Method B is not listed in the tables, OCTime and AgeFactor figures will be linearly interpolated from the closest two distances. For example, 20 mile figures are interpolated from 30K and marathon figures.
Once the Race Scores for each race have been calculated, the Series Score for each runner in each series (silver & gold) is calculated as follows: 1. For each race group (see table above), the Race Scores of the best qualifying races are summed to give a total score for that group. Notes: - If the runner didn't complete the required number of races, they score zero for any missed races. - Each road race distance is a "group of 1", e.g. for the 10K score, the best single score of all 10K races run by that runner during the year (Oct-Sep) will be used. - The Essex Road Race group has special rules to ensure that runners are awarded points in the most beneficial category (see above). 2. Each race group total is weighted by dividing by the number of qualifying races in that group (e.g. 5 for the ELVIS races in the silver series) and multiplying by the group weighting (see table above). 3. For each series, the weighted race group totals are summed and then multiplied by the number of races in the series (11 for silver, 20 for gold), to give a Series Score. The multiplication (combined with the weighting in the previous step) ensures that series scores are of the same magnitude as race scores, for example if a runner completes all races in the competition and scores 100 points in every race, they will score 1100 points in the silver series and 2000 in gold. Example A runner completes the following races: - 5 ELVIS races, scoring 105 points in each race - 6 Chingford League races, scoring 106 points in each race - 2 Sunday League races, scoring 107 points in each race - A 10K race, scoring 108 points - A half marathon, scoring 109 points Silver series score calculation: - ELVIS group total = 105*5 = 525 - Winter Leagues group total = 106*2 + 107*2 = 426 - Series Score = (525/5*45% + 426/4*40% + 108*7% + 109*8%) * 11 = 1167 Gold series score calculation: - ELVIS group total = 105*5 = 525 - Winter Leagues group total = 106*5 + 107*2 = 744 (*) - Series Score = (525/6*25% + 744/8*35% + 108*7% + 109*8%) * 20 = 1414 (*) Only the best 5 out of the 6 Chingford League races count towards the gold score in this example, because at least 3 of each Winter League is required for full gold scoring (i.e. the 6th CL race isn't a substitute for the missed SL race).
1. The competition will run from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. 2. The competition is open to all members of ELR, who remain a paid-up member on 30 September 2025. 3. If a member joins the club after 1 October 2024, only races after their joining date will count towards the competition. 4. Second Claim members will only score points in races where they run for ELR. Specifically, they will score in league races where their first claim club is not a league member and they meet any other eligibility criteria (e.g. notification to the ELVIS secretary prior to the first race), and in Essex Way Relay races if part of an ELR team. They will not score points in open races (10K, marathon, LD XC, etc.). 5. Prizes will be awarded for the top three scorers of each gender in each series (gold and silver). Only one prize per member: position takes precedence, followed by series (gold above silver). 6. Members will automatically be included in the competition by finishing a qualifying race. 7. Any member may opt out of the competition by contacting info@eastlondonrunners.org.uk. 8. To ensure that all race results are included in the scoring, members are encouraged to sign up on Race Entries, and to check the competition results published monthly. This is particularly important for open road race results (10K, half marathon and marathon), which might otherwise be missed. 9. If a race in the competition is cancelled, the committee shall decide if any adjustments to the qualifying race list or weightings are needed to ensure fairness. In any event, we will ensure that runners can miss at least two races from each league in the silver series, or at least one race in each league in the gold series, without losing any points. Any such amendments will be posted on the ELR website and Facebook group.
Trophy winners Women 1st place, gold series: Cindy Koon 1st place, silver series: Becky Evans 2nd place, gold series: Sandra Preston 2nd place, silver series: Mary Connolly 3rd place, gold series: Catriona Hoult 3rd place, silver series: Victoria Charlesworth Men 1st place, gold series: Ian Mackie 1st place, silver series: Alex Pickering 2nd place, gold series: Clive Stephenson 2nd place, silver series: Michael Bamford 3rd place, gold series: John O'Brien 3rd place, silver series: Amit Marks Full results Link: Full 2023-24 results and competition details
Trophy winners Women 1st place, gold series: Cindy Koon 1st place, silver series: Becky Evans 2nd place, gold series: Sandra Preston 2nd place, silver series: Ann Dunne 3rd place, gold series: Victoria Charlesworth 3rd place, silver series: Cath Perry Men 1st place, gold series: Clive Stephenson 1st place, silver series: Ian Mackie 2nd place, gold series: Karan Gadhia 2nd place, silver series: Amit Marks 3rd place, gold series: Grant Conway 3rd place, silver series: James Nichols Full results Link: Full 2023-24 results and competition details
Trophy winners Women 1st place, gold series: Becky Evans 1st place, silver series: Sandra Preston 2nd place, gold series: Cindy Koon 2nd place, silver series: Caroline Frith 3rd place, gold series: Catriona Hoult 3rd place, silver series: Caroline Moore Men 1st place, gold series: Clive Stephenson 1st place, silver series: Ian Mackie 2nd place, gold series: Michael Wilson 2nd place, silver series: James Nichols 3rd place, gold series: John O'Brien 3rd place, silver series: Amit Marks Full results Link: Full 2022-23 results and competition details
Trophy winners Women 1st place, gold series: Becky Evans 1st place, silver series: Caroline Frith 2nd place, gold series: Sandra Preston 2nd place, silver series: Fiona Day 3rd place, gold series: Catriona Hoult 3rd place, silver series: Caroline Moore Men 1st place, gold series: Michael Wilson 1st place, silver series: Ian Mackie 2nd place, gold series: Mark Moir 2nd place, silver series: Alex Pickering 3rd place, gold series: Jacob Stevens 3rd place, silver series: James Nichols Full results Link: Full 2021-22 results and competition details