ALL roads lead to West Yorkshire for Royton Road Runners next month for the start of the 2018 Club Championship.
The Dewsbury 10K on Sunday, February 4 has been designated the season’s opener – the first of 17 official club races during 2018.
As always, points are awarded for each race according to the finishing order, with each individual’s best nine scores to count.
The full list of races is as follows:
• Sunday, February 25: Village Bakery Wrexham Half Marathon
• Saturday, March 10: Dentdale Run (14.2 miles)
• May 2, 9, 16 and 23: Hollingworth Lake 5K series.
• Thursday, May 10: Ian Casey Memorial Cown Race.
• Tuesday, May 29: Bernadette Flynn VBCU Cown Reservoir race
• Sunday June 10: Tatton 10K
• Sunday, June 17: Colshaw Hall 10K
• Tuesday, July 3: Rochdale 10K
• Thursday, July 12: The Royton Trail
• Sunday, August 5: Riverside 10
• Wednesday, August 15: Hopwood Trot
• Saturday, September 1: Clog and Billycock 10K
• Sunday, September 16: English Half Marathon
• Sunday, October 7: Rochdale Half Marathon
• Sunday, October 21: Holmfirth 15
• Sunday, November 4: Derwentwater 10
Following confirmation, the 2018 Oldham Half Marathon will take place on October 28, just a week before the Derwentwater 10, the committee has agreed on the Holmfirth 15 as the 17th race in this year’s club championship.
This race was a feature of their race calendar from 2008-2011.
This year at Holmfirth they’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first race in 1968.
The date leaves two weeks either side for the Rochdale Half (October 7) and Derwentwater 10 (November 4).
In putting together this race list the committee debated long and hard, taking into account factors such as member suggestions, the timing of races support for events hosted by other local clubs, cost of entry and distance to travel.
This ruled out proposals such as the Wilmslow Half Marathon (weekend after Dentdale), Southport Half Marathon (two days before the Rochdale 10K) and Stockport 10 (too late in the year).
Of the races added, the Hopwood Trot is a brand new 5.5-mile multi-terrain race organised by Middleton Harriers, to take place at Hopwood College.
The Clog and Billycock 10K was a new event for 2017 hosted by Riversway Road Runners near Blackburn.
They have confirmed that a larger field can be accommodated in 2018. Entries are expected to open at the end of January.
The Hollingworth Lake 5Ks replace the Littleborough 5K series and are concentrated in one month rather than spread across a three-month period.
Find out more about Royton Road Runners on their website: www.roytonroadrunners.co.uk