The Skipton Club Championship consists of a number of races throughout the year. As well as the overall Men’s and Ladies’ Championships, there will also be competitions for over-40s, over-50s and over-60s. Points will be awarded for each race or series of races, with more points available for those where there is greater flexibility.
The runner with the most points will win the Championship. In the case of a tie, head-to-head records between the runners will be used as a tie-breaker (further details on the methodology can be provided on request). Tie-breakers will be used to determine podium positions in the overall Championships and age-group competition winners only.
Where a race has multiple distances, only the distance specified will count towards the Championship. This will not always be the longer distance – in some years the shorter distance may be chosen if it complements the other races.
Race categories
There are 3 categories of races that make up the Club Championships. These are Wildcards, Race Groups and Single Races. A runner’s overall score is their best from 5 events, but with the caveat that this must be made up of:
- at least one and no more than two Wildcards
- at least one score from a Single Race
- across all the Race Groups and Single Races, at least one each of the trail and road types (if marked as ‘either’, then it can be used for either of these types).
Race schedule
| Date | Category | Race | Link |
| Sun 1 Mar | Single trail | Muddy Boots 10k* | Muddy Boots 10K – RaceBest |
| Sat 14 Mar | Single road | Dentdale (14.2mi)+ | Dentdale Run 2026 – RaceBest |
| Wed 25 Mar | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (MAR ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sat 18 April | Trail group 1 | Burnsall (Half) | SiEntries – Due North Half Marathons 2026 |
| Wed 22 April | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (APR ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sat 25 April | Road group 1 | Wray 10k | 2026 Wray Scarecrow 10k | BookitZone | Online Event Entry Service |
| Wed 27 May | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (MAY ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sun 7 June | Trail group 2 | BOFRA Kettlewell* | RacePage – BOFRA |
| Wed 17 June | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (JUN ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sat 20 June | Trail group 1 | Kettlewell Half | SiEntries – Due North Half Marathons 2026 |
| Sun 28 June | Single trail | Trawden 7* | Trawden AC | Our Races | Trawden 7 |
| Thurs 2 July | Single either | Murder Mile* | Murder Mile – Wharfedale Harriers |
| Sun 19 July | Trail group 2 | BOFRA Cracoe* | RacePage – BOFRA |
| Wed 22 July | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (JUL’26) – RaceBest |
| Sat 8 Aug | Single road | Littondale 4 mile | SportSoft Entries & Results |
| Sat 8 Aug | Trail group 2 | BOFRA Arncliffe* | RacePage – BOFRA |
| Wed 26 Aug | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (AUG ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sat 5 Sept | Trail group 1 | Malham Half | SiEntries – Due North Half Marathons 2026 |
| Sun 13 Sept | Trail group 2 | BOFRA Bradley* | RacePage – BOFRA |
| Wed 23 Sept | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (SEP ’26) – RaceBest |
| Sun 4 Oct | Road group 1 | Morley 10k | Mighty Morley 10K – RaceBest |
| Sun 25 Oct | Road group 1 | Accrington 10k | ACCRINGTON 10K |
| Wed 28 Oct | Road group 2 | Brownlee 5k | Leeds 5K (OCT ’26) – RaceBest |
| TBC (Aug) | Single trail | Meanwood Valley | TBC |
| TBC (Sept) | Single road | Skipton Track Day | Ask Paul Crossley! |
*These races have junior events either before or during the senior race.
+In the past this race had some informal junior races in the fields behind the school.
Wildcards
All times recorded between 1st March 2026 and 1st November 2026 (inclusive) will count. These dates have been chosen as they cover the dates of all ‘Big Six’ marathons, should anyone be running them this year. There are 3 Wildcard categories: marathon, half marathon and Skipton parkrun. In all cases, the fastest recorded (chip/net if available) time will be used, with 40 points for the fastest time, 39 for 2nd fastest, 38 for 3rd fastest and so on (points are averaged in the case of a tie).
While any marathon or half-marathon can be counted, the dates of some local marathons and half marathons are given below (although entries may be closed/full for some of these, they are listed in case runners wish to try to enter in future years):
| Date | Category | Race | Link |
| Sun 19th April | Marathon | Manchester | Manchester Marathon | The UK’s 2nd Largest | Flat & Friendly |
| Sun 10th May | Marathon | Leeds | Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon – 10th May 2026 | Run For All | Run For All |
| Sun 10th May | Half Marathon | Leeds | Leeds Half Marathon – 10th May 2026 | Run For All | Run For All |
| Sun 12th July | Half Marathon | Ilkley | Ilkley Half Marathon – Entries for The Ilkley Half Marathon 2025 are open |
| Sun 6th Sept | Half Marathon | Vale of York | Vale of York Half Marathon — Even Splits |
| Sat 19th Sept | Half Marathon | Great North Run | AJ Bell Great North Run | 13 September |
| Sun 4th Oct | Half Marathon | Manchester | – Manchester Half Marathon |
| Sun 18th Oct | Marathon | York | Altra Yorkshire Marathon – 18th October 2026 | Run For All | Run For All |
Trail half marathon and marathon times will be included providing they are advertised as such and believed to be close enough to the stated distance. Times officially recorded as a split of a longer race (e.g. the Dent 14.2 mile race gives runners’ times through the half marathon mark) will also be counted.
Race Groups
These are groups of races that are thought to be similar enough in terms of the course and/or the strength of the field that they can be grouped together and a runner’s best performance from the series used. In all cases, 35 points will be awarded to the runner with the best performance across the series, 34 to 2nd and so on (with points averaged in case of a tie). The four groups for this year’s Club Championships are:
- Trail Group 1 – Due North half marathons – the best overall finishing position (within the male/female categories) from any one race will be used.
- Trail Group 2 – BOFRA championship races – the best overall finishing position (within the male/female categories) from any one race will be used. Races counting towards the BOFRA championship have been selected as this is felt more likely to result in a similar strength of field between the races.
- Road Group 1 – Undulating 10k races – the runner’s best time from these races.
- Road Group 2 – Brownlee Track 5k races – the runner’s best time from these races (between 1st March 2026 and 1st November 2026).
In order to score points for the Club Championships, only one of the races in each group needs to be completed. Completing more races within a group merely gives a runner the chance to improve their performance. The nature of these races means that every second or place you can gain in the last part of the race could make the difference, so it encourages runners to keep pushing right to the end.
Single Races
Seven races have been chosen for this category, split into road and trail types (those marked as ‘either’ can be used for either type). 30 points will be awarded to the Skipton AC runner with the highest finishing position (chip/net times will not be used), 29 points to 2nd and so on (with points averaged in case of a tie).
Age group competitions
For these competitions, the points scored in each race will be recalculated based on the times/finishing positions of those Skipton AC runners who are eligible. Eligible runners are those who are at least the specified age on 1st March 2026 (so someone who turned 50 on 1st March 2026 would be eligible for both the over-50s and over-40s competitions). Please note that in the case of Trail Groups 1 and 2, the overall finishing positions from the races will not be altered, just how it converts to points for the Club Championships.
Final notes
Although the main aim of the Club Championships is competitive, it has been designed to encourage participation. It is hoped runners can score points through doing races they would have done already, and that the final positions are in doubt until near the end of the season. To encourage participation, at the prizegiving a finishing position from each of the Men’s/Ladies overall Championships will be drawn randomly and a small prize awarded to whoever finished in that place! So come along, give it a go and see how you get on!
