London Metropolitan Cross Country League

Metropolitan League
Established 1966
Members 22
Region London, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex
Website http://www.metleague.co.uk

The Metropolitan League is a 21 club Cross Country Running league in South East England. There are 5 league fixtures held in various locations between October and February. Male & female athletes from aged 11 upwards compete at each fixture and there are 6 races which are categorised as, under 13 boys, under 13 girls, combined under 15 boys and under 17 men, combined under 15 girls and under 17 women, combined senior women and veteran women then finally, senior men and veteran men. The senior and veterans races also include divisions one, two and three. [1]

The league as a whole is arguably the largest in numbers in the UK [2]


History

The league was founded on 23 March 1966 when eight of the major London athletic clubs met at Primrose Public House in Bishopsgate to discuss cross country competition. All clubs signed up and the first fixture was held in October later that year at Hainault Forest. Nine clubs entered over 260 athletes in the two races: one for Seniors and Juniors, the other for Youths and Boys. For the first five years there were only four matches per season but this expanded to five in 1971 and has remained static since.

Sponsorship

The league was sponsored by athletics retailer London City Runner until 2013, when events promoter Active Training World won the rights. Start Fitness is the current sponsor.

Competition Format

Athletes are awarded points dependent on their finishing position in the race: the higher the position, the more points accrued. For senior men, the total points from the top 12 athletes at a club make up their 'A' team score. The next 12 athletes to finish at that club (i.e. positions 13-24) count towards the 'B' team. For senior women only 6 athletes make up a team.

At the end of the season, the team with the most points are declared the champions.

Independent runners (runners who are not in a running club) are allowed to run for a small surcharge.

Race Venues

The five venues are decided before the start of every season, and are chosen from this list: Alexandra Palace, Chingford, Claybury, Cranford, Hainault Forest, Hilly Fields (Enfield), Horsenden Hill, Parliament Hill, Ruislip, St Albans, Stevenage, Trent Park, Welwyn Garden City and Wormwood Scrubs.

Clubs[3]

There are 10 clubs in Divisions One and Two with larger numbers in Division Three in the Senior Women and Senior and Veteran Men. Larger clubs enter up to three teams of runners into the league, while smaller clubs only enter one.

Below are tables showing teams in each league from 2015-6. Bracketed numbers are numbers of scorers per team in that league.

Senior Women

Division One (6) Division Two (5) Division Three (4) Division Three cont. (4)
Barnet & District Enfield & Haringey Barnet & District 'B' Newham & Essex Beagles
Ealing, Southall & Middlesex Herts Phoenix Ealing Eagles Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers 'B'
Highgate Harriers Highgate Harriers 'B' Ealing Eagles 'B' Thames Valley Harriers 'B'
London Heathside Hillingdon Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 'B' Trent Park RC
Serpentine RC London City Herts Phoenix 'B' Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 'B'
Serpentine RC 'B' London Heathside 'B' Hillingdon 'B' Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'B'
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers London Heathside 'C' London City 'B'
Thames Valley Harriers Metropolitan Police London Frontrunners
Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets Mornington Chasers London Frontrunners 'B'
Woodford Green with Essex Ladies Serpentine RC 'C' Mornington Chasers 'B'

Veteran Women

Division One (4) Division Two (4) Division Three (4)
Barnet & District Barnet & District 'B' Ealing Eagles
Ealing, Southall & Middlesex Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 'B' Enfield & Haringey
Highgate Harriers Hillingdon Herts Phoenix
London Heathside London Frontrunners Highgate Harriers 'B'
London Heathside 'B' Metropolitan Police Hillingdon 'B'
Mornington Chasers Mornington Chasers 'B' London City
Serpentine RC Newham & Essex Beagles Thames Valley Harriers 'B'
Serpentine RC 'B' Serpentine RC 'C' Trent Park RC
Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 'B'
Woodford Green with Essex Ladies Thames Valley Harriers Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'B'

Senior Men

Division One (12) Division Two (10) Division Three (8) Division Three cont. (8)
Barnet & District Barnet & District 'B' Ealing Eagles Metropolitan Police
Ealing, Southall & Middlesex Enfield & Haringey Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 'B' Metropolitan Police 'B'
Highgate Harriers London Frontrunners Enfield & Haringey 'B' Mornington Chasers
Highgate Harriers 'B' London Heathside 'B' Harlow RC Mornington Chasers 'B'
Hillingdon London Heathside 'C' Herts Phoenix Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers 'B'
London Heathside Newham & Essex Beagles Herts Phoenix 'B' St Mary's Richmond
Serpentine RC Serpentine RC 'B' Highgate Harriers 'C' Thames Valley Harriers 'B'
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Serpentine RC 'C' Hillingdon 'B' Trent Park RC
Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets Thames Valley Harriers London City Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 'B'
Woodford Green with Essex Ladies Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'B' London City 'B' Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'C'
London Frontrunners 'B'

Veteran Men

Division One (6) Division Two (5) Division Three (4) Division Three cont. (4)
Barnet & District Barnet & District 'B' Ealing Eagles Mornington Chasers
Highgate Harriers Ealing, Southall & Middlesex Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 'B' Mornington Chasers 'B'
Hillingdon Garden City Runners Enfield & Haringey Newham & Essex Beagles
London Frontrunners Herts Phoenix Harlow RC Serpentine RC 'C'
London Heathside Hillingdon 'B' Herts Phoenix 'B' Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers 'B'
London Heathside 'B' Metropolitan Police Highgate Harriers 'B' St Mary's Richmond
London Heathside 'C' Serpentine RC 'B' Hillingdon 'C' Thames Valley Harriers 'B'
Serpentine RC Thames Valley Harriers London City Trent Park RC
Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets London Frontrunners 'B' Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets 'B'
Woodford Green with Essex Ladies Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 'B' Metropolitan Police 'B'

Honours

Clubs

Since 1966, Thames Valley Harriers have won the most Men's titles, a total of 33. Since 1994, Highgate Harriers have been the most successful Women's club, lifting the trophy on 21 occasions.

Athletes

Julian Gentry of Newham and Essex Beagles holds the most individual titles, a total of 8. These were all won consecutively in a period of domination between 1989 and 1996. Svenja Abel (Highgate Harriers) has won the Women's title four times: 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010.


Fixtures and Results

2015-16 Fixtures

Fixture Location Date
1 Claybury (Woodford) 10 October 2015
2 Stevenage 7 November 2015
3 Wormwood Scrubs 5 December 2015
4 Horsenden Hill 16 January 2016
5 Ally Pally 13 February 2016

2014-15 Fixtures

Fixture Location Date
1 Claybury (Woodford) 11 October 2014
2 Stevenage 8 November 2014
3 Uxbridge 20 December 2014
4 Horsenden Hill 10 January 2015
5 Wormwood Scrubs 7 February 2015

2013-2014 Results

Final Division 1 Team Standings:

Senior Men

Position Team Points
1 Highgate Harriers 5555
2 Serpentine RC 5196
3 Woodford Green with Essex Ladies 4516

Senior Women

Position Team Points
1 Highgate Harriers 1590
2 Serpentine RC 1643
3 Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers 1481

References

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