Picture the scene: it's March 2010, the final race in the Oxford Mail cross-country league is done, and tired athletes are draped around the area, waiting for the prize-giving that will surely acknowledge their efforts through the season. But wait! What's this? No results? Who's the champion? Did so-and-so finally beat so-and-so(2) after years of trying? Nobody knows and there's no way of knowing. Mystery surrounds the season…..

It's an unlikely scenario, to be sure, but one that is increasingly probable after next season. Fraser Howard, four-year stalwart of the results system is hanging up his laptop and handing on the role to the next enthusiastic volunteer. Fraser introduced the race number system to the league, which has made the collation and compilation of results quicker and simpler (and in turn has also given us more space for advertising logos). Now the results person gets one set of sheets for each race rather than several from each club. The actual nuts and bolts of calculation are a black box to me, but the system works well and (I’m told) is easily understood.

So this is where you come in. Are you the person who will take over his job? Can you maintain the results for the league? It’s a committed job for sure, you’ll need to be at each race of the season to collect on-the-day record sheets and to iron out any problems that might happen. But, your reward will be the knowledge of a job well done and the eternal gratitude of 600 or so athletes at each meeting through the season. Not all of them will express it, but all will benefit.

There’s also the website. At 37000 hits in 2 years, it’s pretty popular. It’s also not too onerous, with the major job being updating results after each race, but general updates such as updating division information over the summer, updating calendar with race dates, and posting news items when necessary.

Fraser's happy to have a sidekick for this winter, to help you learn the ropes from the master, so don't feel like you can't do it. You can, you really can. Your league needs you. Again. Along with all the other things that need you. Seriously though, if you'd like to do it, or would like to know more before committing to anything, contact me or Fraser. We’ll be happy to hear from you.

luke.mcneill@btinternet.com
fphoward@gmail.com