Are xc races too elitist?

11 watchers

1
2
3
4
Next
Last

postie_mark Mar 2017 5:38pm, 9 Mar 2017 3 posts	0 postie_mark Does anyone think that xc are too elitist? My running club does not take part in any xc races such as the northern cross country championships or the English cross country championships because if we were to take part we would have to pay England Athletics and extra £100 a year for the privilege and we are only a small running club. It seems to me that paying £100 to EA to run xc excludes small running clubs from running xc as only larger "wealthier" clubs with "faster" runners are able to do xc championship races. Why should smaller clubs be forced to pay £100 when they can run a parkrun on grass for free. There still seems to be a lot of snobbery when it comes to xc. Am example of which is that my club are not permitted to take part in our local xc league as only the same 8 clubs can compete in it. If the athletics say that running xc races can help develop younger runners like they always do then they need to start make xc races more accessible to ALL runners. At the recent English Cross Country Championships while there was over 5000 runners that took part on the same day tens of thousands of people were taking part in a parkrun which is saying something.
oi you Mar 2017 9:58pm, 10 Mar 2017 358 posts	0 oi you Well I'm going to say No, I don't think XC is too elitist, but I suspect much depends on how we define elitism. At £7 the actual entry fee for the Nationals you mention is one of the cheapest events in the calender, and the ECCA are superbly welcoming to all and sundry. The need to be an affilaited member of an affiliated club is not intended to deter any runners or clubs, but is a consequence of the way the sport is structured. Most domestic sports will have a central governing body funded, at least in part, by fees from clubs and their members. Part of what that governing body will be doing is providing competitions for those affiliated clubs. A quick look at the ECCA constitution reflects that. They exist almost entirely to provide XC competitions for clubs affilated to UKA. I'm not sure there's much point in holding up Parkrun as a comparison as a free-to-enter event will always look cheaper, won't it? All that means is that someone else has had to pay for it (nothing happens for free).
Sharkie Mar 2017 10:07pm, 10 Mar 2017 11,095 posts	0 Sharkie Although I don't do it myself I totally agree with you, oi you. XC is one of the most INclusive forms of racing - certainly in club terms.
oi you Mar 2017 10:11pm, 10 Mar 2017 359 posts	0 oi you I meant to add that it is just a wee bit elitist in that that particular event is the English National Championship - they've got to be hoping that at least some quick people are going to turn up.
Uyuni Mar 2017 10:21pm, 10 Mar 2017 884 posts	0 Uyuni Very well said oi you, and agree that parkrun is a ridiculous comparison. The recent ECCA champs at Wollaton was brilliantly organised and for the size of the event an absolute bargain. There is no parkrun at Wollaton - why? because the city council charge a fortune to rent the park, to the extent that my club and the county AAA have both had to move their annual races to alternative venues. Look at the prices of the average city 10K or HM and then say that XC isn't "accessible".
lady alton Mar 2017 10:59pm, 10 Mar 2017 1,091 posts	0 lady alton We run with surrey league and it gives us four races which are incredibly inclusive and generally pretty well organised. They are great value and welcoming
The_Saint Mar 2017 10:31am, 11 Mar 2017 5,991 posts	0 The_Saint To the original question - no certainly not - in terms of the fee to UKA do you mean affilliation ? In South Wales I can only think of two clubs that aren't affiliated, to me the whole point of being in a running club is that it is affilaited to UKA. We have the Gwent XC League, the season of which finished last weekend, I have competed in 46 consecutive fixtures since my first in Dec 2007 so I think I'd have noticed any "elitism". One thing that does depress me about this forum however is that "elitist" usually means "Faster than me" - which people who take part in the Gwent League mostly are - but being a well-rounded adult my answer to this is that if this bothered me then I would train more.
Ninky Nonk Mar 2017 11:46am, 11 Mar 2017 2,608 posts	0 Ninky Nonk Since - as far as I am aware - they don't set minimum qualifying times to enter then no they're not elitist. In the slightest.
SPR Mar 2017 11:55am, 11 Mar 2017 23,606 posts	0 SPR I was shocked to see the title of this thread. Given the response so far, I don't need to say anything.
SPR Mar 2017 11:57am, 11 Mar 2017 23,607 posts	0 SPR I was shocked to see the title of this thread. Given the response so far, I don't need to say anything.