The Essex AA cross country relays are being hosted by Orion Harriers and are being held at Chingford Plain, Epping Forest, E4 7QH.

The date will be Saturday 19th September 2026.

Please note that entries are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis so please do not delay your entries. Waiting lists will be maintained once entry limit is met.

For 2026 the format will be the same as last year:

Race 1 9:30am U14/16/18 Girls – 3 legs of 3k (1 lap)

Race 2 10:15am U14/16/18 Boys – 3 legs of 3k (1 lap)

Race 3 11:00am All seniors and vets – 3 legs of 6k (2 laps) except Senior Men (4 legs of 6k/2 laps)

Vets teams are V40, V50 and V60.

Age groups for juniors and seniors will be as follows:

U14: School years 7 and 8 (athletes born between 1/9/13 and 31/8/15)

U16: School years 9 and 10 (athletes born between 1/9/11 and 31/8/13)

U18: School years 11 and 12 (athletes born between 1/9/09 and 31/8/11).

Seniors: all athletes born before 1/9/2009.

For veteran runners, age groups will be based on age on the day of competition, 19/09/26.

Team managers will need to purchase a ticket for each team they wish to enter in each category (Junior Girls; Junior Boys; All Women/Vet Men; Senior Men), and in each ticket specify the age group and sex of the team, and include the name, DOB, and England Athletics URN of all potential runners (up to 8) that may take part in that team to enable pre-checking of eligibility.

After the completion of the races managers will need to complete a Google doc declarations sheet within 24 hours to declare the runners and order of the athletes that took place.

Entry fees are as follows

Junior Teams - £24 per team

Seniors and Vets - £30 per team of three and £40 per team of four runners.

Medals

Medals for winning teams will be awarded as soon after each race as possible.

This event will be held under UKA Rules

All athletes must be a member of England Athletics and hold a current Athlete registration and be eligible to compete for Essex (either by being born in Essex or have continually resided in Essex for the nine months prior to the event).

Athletes may compete in a maximum of ONE leg each. Any team(s) found to have athletes running in more than one leg will be disqualified.

An entrant shall be deemed to have made himself/herself/themself, familiar with, and agreed to be bound by the UKA Anti-Doping Rules and to submit to the authority of UK Anti-Doping in the application and enforcement of the Anti-Doping Rules. The UKA Anti-Doping Rules apply to entrants participating in the sport of Athletics, for 12 months from the date of entering the event, whether or not the participant is a citizen of, or resident in, the UK.

Description supplied by the event organiser.