Club Championships

Handicap Trophy

The Handicap Trophy may be won by any CHIG who competes in his or her right class at the Club Championships.  However, you have to complete at least five qualifying events in the period between Club Championships to be eligible for it.

Qualifying Events

BOF are in the middle of redefining event statuses at present, so it is not easy to give a precise definition of a qualifying event, but they include:-

a) the previous Club Championship
b) any CompassSport Cup match
c) any SWELL event
d) any event in the South East League or Galoppen
e) any other event inside or outside the South East where at least five CHIGs finish, and which is at least of similar or higher standard

This last category will usually include the JK, the British Championships, and quite a lot of events in adjacent regions – in fact, there are usually between twenty and thirty qualifying events each year, so getting five runs in is not hard.
Events which do not count are sprint events, relay legs, informal events and any non-standard event, such as Score Events.

Scoring

John Duffield keeps track of the results, and calculates mins/k for each run, and then calculates an average mins/k based on all your runs except the fastest and slowest. He then uses this speed to calculate an expected time for you at the Club Championships, and the CHIG who finishes in the lowest percentage of their expected time wins (unless they also win one of the Open Trophies, in which case they are deemed non-competitive for the Handicap Trophy).  The format ensures that the better orienteers do not stand a better chance of winning because they are better; it is the CHIG who shows the most improvement on their normal running on the day who wins.  In fact, the results show that the better orienteers seldom win the Handicap Trophy, because they run consistently well; the Trophy is usually won by someone who is a variable performer, then has a day at the Club Championships when it all goes right!

For the up-to-date-position, click here.  The table shows the number of events you have completed, your provisional average speed of you have completed fewer than five events, your current handicap average speed if you have completed five or more events, the standard deviation of your speeds, and details of all the qualifying events.

The standard deviation is a measure of how consistent a runner you are.  The lower the value, the more you tend to run at about the same speed – and the less likely you are to win the Handicap Trophy.
For any queries or comments, please contact John Duffield.

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