EAST GRAND PRIX ROAD RACE SERIES 2008                                          HOME

 

The East Grand Prix Road Race Series begins in Watford on 3rd February to mark the start of an exciting year for the regions elite runners across the 10k and Half Marathon distance.

 

Last year’s East Region title was decided by a one-off race at Peterborough but an exciting new initiative, supported by the Learning Skills Council’s "Train to Gain" programme, will see the area’s best runners battling it out in seven of the region’s top road races.

 

And the Watford Half-marathon will prove the perfect starting point with the entry limit of 2400 already reached for the well-organised event. However, elite entries (sub-72 minute men and sub-80 minute women) can still enter.

 

Jo Wilkinson ran 74.32 to win the East title in last year’s Great Eastern Run and would love to make a winning start on February 3 as she lives in Watford. The 34-year-old also trains with organising club Watford Harriers although the British international remains a first-claim member of Bedford and County.

 

Wilkinson, a member of the East Region Council, has already won the Essex cross-country title this month and said: "I'm really excited by this new initiative and I hope our top athletes in the region will look to pit their skills against each other during the 7 race series. The series provides a focal point for our best runners, creating a competitive and motivational environment that has perhaps been lacking in domestic road racing in recent times"

 

Having won the East Road GP title by four minutes last year, Wilkinson looks certain to pick up a maximum 12 points in the opener at Watford. The top 10 Eastern athletes, male and female, will score points in each of the seven races with 12 going to the winner, 10 to the runner-up, eight for third, seven for fourth and so on down to one point for 10th.

 

The same scoring format will be used for a club competition based on each team’s first five in each sex and at the end of the series there will be prizes for the first three men, women and clubs (best four scores to count).

 

The men’s race at Watford is likely to see runners from across the region battling it out for Eastern honours and with Peterborough-based South of England 5,000m champion Neil Addison – winner of the East title last year – unlikely to return to action until May due to an Achilles injury there will be a new winner in 2008.

 

Chris Jones, regional manager for England Athletics in the East, believes the series will give the region’s athletics scene a major boost. He said: “We see the GP series as providing a showcase for the region’s best talent.

“It’s an opportunity to create an environment from which runners can compete against other similarly talented athletes, but also compete from race to race against themselves, striving to improve their performance.

“Participation levels have boomed during recent years but performance levels have in some cases dropped. By working with these seven excellent races we hope to attract the best runners from across the region to pit their skills as part of both the individual and team-based competitions.

“The team competition particularly interests me as I believe this will help to bring clubs together and create a healthy competitive environment involving clubs from across the region who would perhaps not normally compete against each other.”

 

"We are delighted that the Learning Skills Council has opted to support this years series. They are particularly enthused by the sheer volume and diverse range of people involved in road running from all walks of life. We expect that over 10,000 runners, not to mention volunteers and spectators, will be involved over the 7 race series. This will provide an excellent opportunity for the LSC to promote life long learning to the varied businesses, ages and abilities that road running envelopes. Of course we hope to improve performance levels in the sport but we should not get away from the fact that road running provides a perfect point for people to get fitter and back into sport. We hope that road running can provide the catalyst for people to get back into learning. Skills brokers will be present at each race to promote life long learning"

 

To register for the series, clubs should e-mail Brian Corbett at roadrunning-east@englandathletics.org giving full club name and contact details. Individual athletes should register for each event using the registration process for that race, but must ensure they provide their club affiliation details and contact details.

Further information on the series is on the East Region website – www.englandathletics.org/east/road-running/grand-prix-series

 

East Road Running Series dates

 

·                    Feb 3            Asics Watford Half-marathon

·                    Mar 23            Joe Cox Half-marathon, Stowmarket

·                    Apr 20            Flitwick 10k

·                    May 4            Great East Anglia Run 10k, King’s Lynn

·                    Jul 20            St Ives Dairy Crest 10k

·                    Oct 12            Great Eastern Run half-marathon, Peterborough

·                    Nov 30            City of Norwich Half-marathon

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