15th Annual John William Stacey Memorial Cross Country Race - Saturday 23rd March 2019

The highlight of our cross country year is fast approaching, so please save the date!

We have been staging this event for the last 14 years, on the sports field adjacent to the school. Primary schools from all over Oxfordshire and further afield are invited to take part. Last year we had a record number of schools - 24, with 269 runners. All children in years 1-6 are welcome to join in and will race in one race (year 3 girls race, year 3 boys race, etc). There is no entry fee and children just need to wear school PE kit and trainers.

The children will be practising the race routes, both in the lunchtime cross country training sessions and in PE, so will be familiar with the route and distance for their race. The race routes for each year group will also be displayed on the cross country wall outside Mrs Fawdry's office.

There will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medals for each race, and a participation certificate for every runner.

There is also an overall event trophy, awarded to the school with the most points. In order for the points from a race to be counted towards this trophy, there need to be a minimum of 3 children from school in the race. For example, if there are 3 or more Year 4 girls from RAF Benson running, the points from that race will count towards the trophy, but if there are only 2 Year 4 girls running, the points will not count. So we need lots of runners to turn out!

We won the event trophy the first 2 years, then not for the next 9 years, and we have won it for the last 3 years. This year we are introducing 2 new school trophies - Key Stage 1 Champion and Key Stage 2 Champion, awarded to the schools with the most highly-placed runners. The medals and trophies will be presented when the results have been tallied, after the end of the last race, around 11:50.

Registration is on the field from 9:30, and the first race is at 10:00. Crowd support is really important, so please do come and support the runners for the whole morning if possible! The PTA will be selling bacon
rolls, hot and cold drinks and cakes to keep you going.

Many volunteers will be needed to ensure that the event runs smoothly. There are many different jobs, including car park marshalling, helping on the gate, registration, refreshment selling, baking, race marshalling, setting up and taking down, etc. Race times are strictly adhered to, and, should you be helping out, you would be able to take a break and watch your child race.

Please contact the office if you can help, or let Mrs McCrindle, Emma Gray or Alison MacGillivray know.

Race times and distances are below.  We look forward to seeing you at the race!
Year 1G 640m 10:00
Year 1B 640m to follow
Year 2G 640m 10:15
Year 2B 640m to follow
Year 3G 1100m 10:30m
Year 3B 1100m to follow
Year 4G 1100m 10:45

Year 4B 1100m to follow
Year 5G 1300m 11:00
Year 5B 1300m to follow
Year 6G 1700m 11:30
Year 6B 1700m to follow

If you have any questions please email crosscountry@raf-benson.oxon.sch.uk