Cross Country
Ealing Eagles currently participate in two main cross country (XC) events each year, the Met League and the Sunday League as well as other cross country fixtures. These take place throughout the Autumn and Winter running season. The full list of fixtures for the 2022-23 season can be found on this link.
met league
Ealing Eagles joined the Met League in 2014. The league consists of five XC fixtures between October and February in locations accessible to the London area. Fixtures take place on Saturday afternoons, with ladies races not taking place before 1.55pm and men's races not starting before 2.35pm.
For a great idea of what to expect, have a read of this race report from Claybury MET League in October 2017.
White club vests must be worn. For more information, please visit the league website.
NB Don’t forget (after the first race of the season) your race number! Yes that dirty piece of paper the you had pinned to your vest when you were running. You will be given a number at your first Met League race of the season, and you need to keep that number and bring it back to every other Met League race you run this season. If you lose it or forget it, we can issue you a new one, but you may be buying your captain a drink (and no sustainability gold stars)
Provisional fixtures for 2023 / 24 are as follows:
Saturday 14th October Claybury hosted by WGEL
Saturday 11th November Epping Forest hosted by The Met League
Saturday 2nd December Uxbridge hosted by Hillingdon AC
Saturday 13th January (TBC) Welwyn hosted by Herts P
Saturday 10th February (TBC) Trent Park hosted by Barnet & District/ Trent Park RC
sunday league
Ealing Eagles have entered the Sunday XC League since our debut in 2012/13 followed by victory in the women's team category the next season. This series of fixtures offers members the chance to participate in a series of friendly events around London and Hertfordshire.
Depending on weather conditions and the course terrain, XC spikes or trail shoes might be advised, although many runners might participate in normal running trainers. The races are timed and are approximately 5 miles along grass, parkland and trails with the occasional undulation to tackle. If you want to read a bit more, have a look at this report from the first 2017 fixture at Cheshunt.
Club vests are mandatory for all participants.
2022/23 Fixtures are as follows:
16 October – Cheshunt
30 October – Trent Park
18 December – Fairlands Valley (cancelled)
15 January – Royston
19 February – Cassiobury Park, Watford
other xc fixtures
SEAA XC Fixtures: - require preregistration
22nd October 2022 Relays, Wormwood Scrubs - We can enter more than one team per category so put your name down by 6 October on this spreadsheet if interested. The club pays the entry fees for each team so if you are entered and then cannot make it you will be asked to pay the fee.
19th November 2022, London XC Championships, Parliament Hill - preregistraton arrangements to follow or check out the Facebook event page
10th December 2022, Masters (40+), Horspath - preregistraton arrangements to follow or check out the Facebook event page
28th January 2023, Southerns, Beckenham
Other XC Fixtures: require preregistration
29th October 2022 - North London XC Champs to be held at Berkeley Fields in Greenford - deadline for sign up is 16 October All senior runners – Male and Female will run the same distance over a course of approx. 8K around the nearby fields. The Women's Race will start at 1-30 p.m. The Men's Race will start at 2-15 p.m. In addition, there are junior races before the senior races. Please email race@ealingeagles.com to sign up for senior races or to express an interest in the junior races.
5th November 2022 - Liddiard Trophy & North of the Thames - deadline for sign up is Wednesday 26 October - no spreadsheet - you can check out the Facebook event page for more information - to sign up email xc@ealingeagles.com for seniors and race@ealingeagles.com for juniors (U17)
UPDATE 21st January 2023 - Middlesex Champs - deadline for registration is 9th January - please sign up on this spreadsheet or check out the Facebook event page
25th February 2023 National XC Championships, Up North
what to bring
Spikes - though some use trail shoes (but some of us find spikes are better for many of the courses). You can probably get away with road shoes for the October races so don’t let not having spikes (or trail shoes) put you off joining. Some courses won’t be spike-friendly (because they have sections of hard path) but we will let you know when those races come up.
White Eagles vest - for all Met League and Championship races. For Sunday league you can get away with any Eagles top.
Safety pins - you will have a race number for most of the races - other than Sunday League which uses a parkrun style token system
For Met League (after the first race of the season) your race number! Yes that dirty piece of paper the you had pinned to your vest when you were running. You will be given a number at your first Met League race of the season, and you need to keep that number and bring it back to every other Met League race you run this season. If you lose it or forget it, we can issue you a new one, but you may be buying your captain a drink (and no sustainability gold stars)
Lots of layers to keep you warm before and after
Dry clothes for after - especially another set of socks!
A towel (best if in a dark colour) for wiping off mud (if you can be bothered) - some people use wipes but that’s not very sustainable so let’s move away from those - and also just general drying off and good cover for changing into dry clothes (again, if you can be bothered about cover)
A waterproof bag/bin bags to keep your things dry while you run. No bag drop - just the club’s tarp in the open (unless Nils brings the fancy Gazebo)
Almost forgot - we bring the tea, you bring CAKE
And finally, wear something PINK to celebrate the club’s 10th year of XC and the go-faster pink gloves worn by the club's first finisher (4th place - 5 mile XC in about 27 minutes) at our very first XC race as a club - Sunday League at Cheshunt in October 2012.
Why Pink?
You may notice that the Eagles club kit is accessorised with flashes of pink for Cross Country fixtures; pink socks, pink gloves, pink headbands and of course our beautiful pink bobbled XC hats. This tradition has grown over the past few years, originating when someone wore a pair of hot pink gloves and everyone thought it looked good! We set the trend with the hot pink XC accent colour and some of our league-mates started to pick up on it during the 2015/2016 season. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
Volunteer
If you want to volunteer at any of the XC fixtures - volunteers are always needed - contact our volunteer coordinator Stuart Pugh on Facebook messenger or via email