Statement from the Chair

INPORTANT NOTICE PLEASE READ

Warming up / down on courses while races are in progress

Following incidents at the first fixtures where runners in both the men’s and women’s races were obstructed by athletes warming up / down on the course, both the Birmingham & the Midland Women’s leagues are writing to all clubs reminding them this conduct is not acceptable.

We understand that athletes want to run around the course before the race but lack of respect to athletes racing is not what our leagues are about. If common sense doesn’t prevail the executive will propose a rule for next season that will not allow any warming up while races are in progress and deal with any breaches strongly including deleting the offending club(s) points for that race.  We can enforce this by asking marshals to take photos of the athletes involved as they did for the first fixtures. We hope it won’t come to this but that will be up to the athletes.

However, there is a more serious issue to be dealt with immediately. There were occasions during the first weekend that athletes who were on the course were rude to marshals who asked them to make way for the women’s race. This is unacceptable and if repeated will result in punitive action against the athlete and club.

The clubs are responsible for the actions of their athletes, and I would therefore ask you ensure all your runners are very aware of this notice and that it is reinforced that marshals instructions are to be acted upon immediately.

With all the issues your officers have had to deal with during the close season to ensure this season went ahead the last thing we wanted to find is that athletes, who are the beneficiaries of all this voluntary work, can’t act in a courteous manner towards volunteers.

If any of you would like to discuss the issues raised here, please feel free to call me on 07772 989158.

Noel Butler

Chair

Birmingham  & District Cross Country League

29 Nov 2023