1.    Introduction

The Mission of Itheko Sport Athletic Club is as follows:

“To develop a broad-based community of people focused on the development of a healthy lifestyle through the medium of running in a socially cohesive setting regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.”

 In pursuance of its mission, Itheko will host annual awards which recognizes and celebrates performance and participation in athletics.

2.    General Criteria

1. The Awards are based on performance from January to December of the year prior to the awards ceremony.

2. To be eligible for an award, a member must meet the following criteria.
   1. Be a member in good standing with the club for the period concerned. Good standing means:
      1. The member is duly registered with WPA and has a license.
      2. The member is duly registered with the club and has no outstanding financial commitments.

• The member has not been found guilty of misconduct as defined in the constitution of the club.

1. The member must demonstrate regular participation in events as defined in each award category.
2. Any person who is no longer a member of the club in the year of the awards ceremony may not be eligible for an award.

3. The age category is based on the member’s actual age on 01 January of the year under review.
4. Only WPA races will be considered for awards; the only exceptions are the awards for the 1000K Club, the President’s Awards and the Trail Running awards.
5. Members are responsible for checking that their race times as per the official WPA results are accurate – if there are errors, members need to report this to the club within 48 hours of the publication of the race results. After 48 hours members must take this up with WPA directly; if times are amended, revised results must be emailed to admin@itheko.co.za

3.    Road Running Awards

To qualify for Road Running awards a member must demonstrate regular participation i.e. have completed a minimum of 12 races on the WPA calendar within the cut off time.

a.     Age Categories for Best Performance and Most Improved Awards.

b.      Adjusting Times for the Age of athletes

World Masters Athletics tables are widely used to determine age-graded times and can fairly compare athletes from different age categories. Age-performance is a percentage of the top standard (world record level) for that age.

For background information see http://home.roadrunner.com/~alanjones/AgeGrade.html and see http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html for an example of a calculator to do this. 

c.      Most Improved Awards (per age category)

1. Must have been a member for 2 calendar years or more so that improvement can be evaluated.
2. Historical best time (adjusted for age) for the distance (available data within the previous 2 years is considered) is compared with the best time in the current year.

• Improvement in age-graded times is converted to percentage improvement – see example below. Points are allocated, i.e. 5 points to 1 point, for 1 st to 5 th best % improvement over each distance.

42. Best scores in any 3 of the following distances (10km; 15km;21,1km; 30km, 42.2km) determines overall score, and best overall score determines the winner.
43. Criteria for the award will be time and the time adjusted calculation (see example below) to determine the winner for each category.
44. In the event of an equal number of points the following criteria will be applied to determine the winner:
    1. Most races completed.
    2. Most Distance completed.
    3. Which athlete was the oldest on 1 January of the year under review.

                               Example: Athlete A (a 51 yr male) improves his 10K race time by 5                   

                                minutes from 01:30 (90 min) to 01:25 (85 min).

                                The age-performance % improvement is from 34.39% to 36.41% =       

                                 2.02%. Athlete B (also a 51 yr male) improves his 10K time by 5  

                                 minutes from 01:25 (85 min) to 01:20 (80 min).

                                 The age-performance % improvement is from 36.41% to 38.68 =  

                                  2.27%. Athlete B is therefore ranked higher for the 10K distance.

1. Best Performance Awards (per age category)
   1. The following race distances will be considered, i.e. 10km, 15km, 21km, 30 km, 42km.
   2. Winner to be determined by TIME only and no age adjustment to be made (Based on fastest time for the year over each distance).

• Points are allocated, i.e. 5 points to 1 point, for 1st to 5th fastest over each distance.

1. Best scores in any 3 of the above distances determine overall score, and best overall score determines the winner.
2. In the event of an equal number of points the following criteria will be applied to determine the winner:
   1. Most races completed.
   2. Most Distance completed.
   3. Which athlete was the oldest on 1 January of the year under review.

e.      Athlete of the Year

1. Best performances in each age category will be considered.
2. Points are allocated for 1 st to 5 th best age-graded times for standard distances.

• The best 3 scores determine overall score

1. The best overall score determines the winner.
2. In the event of an equal number of points the following criteria will be applied to determine the winner:
   1. Most races completed.
   2. Most distance completed.
   3. Which athlete was the oldest on 1 January of the year under review.

                  Example: Athlete A (26 yr male) has a 10K time of 00:52. His age-       

                  performance is therefore 51.63%. Athlete B (55 yr male) has a 10K time of  

                  00:54. His age-performance is 59.23%. Athlete B is therefore ranked higher for  

                   the 10K distance.

f.        Novice of the Year (Male and Female)

1. Must be a member for less than 2 calendar years.
2. Itheko must be the first club the runner is registered with.

• Must not have participated in road running events before.

1. Must have completed the beginners programme of the club.
2. Potential winners to be nominated, with motivations, by group leaders.
3. All age categories to be considered.

• Percentage improvement in times, overall performance and commitment will be considered.

4.    Cross Country Awards

1. One award for male and one for female Cross Country Athlete of the Year..
2. Minimum participation required:
3. cross country races.
4. Top performers in each age/distance category identified by official WPA cross country rankings tables.
5. Top performers in each category are then compared using age-graded times to fairly compare athletes from different age groups.

5.    Trail Running Awards

1. One award for male and one for female athletes.
2. The male and female trail runner of the year will be awarded to the runner based on most events participated in and completed.
3. The Awards Committee will also consider
   1. Terrain Difficulty
   2. Single Track/Off Road

• Route Severity

i.e. events with a higher level of difficulty will carry more weighting than easier events.

1. In the event of a tie breaker, the age of the athlete will be considered.
2. The onus is on the runner to submit Trail running results to the Club Statistician.

6.    Track and Field Awards

1. Awards for male and female Track and Field Athlete of the year in Junior, Senior and Masters sections.
2. Criteria as follows:
   1. Making the finals at the Western Province Championship
   2. Getting top 5 finish at WPA Championship

• Medaling at the WPA championship

1. Making the WPA team to go to National Championship
2. Making the finals at ASA Championship
3. Getting Top 5 finish at ASA Championships

• Medaling at Nationals
• Making any national team to Worlds, Olympics or any international team

1. Making the final at any international event
2. Top 5 Finnish at any international event
3. Medaling at the finals

7.    Special Recognition Awards

a.      Gold or silver medals won at the following high-profile events:

                                                               i.      ComradesMarathon

                                                             ii.      Two Oceans Ultra Marathon

b.      League Participation Incentives

                                                               i.      Road Running League = 8 or more League races.

                                                             ii.      Cross Country League = 6 or more races including WP Cross Country Champs.

c.      Club Member of the Year Criteria will include:

1. Service to the club.
2. Passion

• Enthusiasm

1. Advancing the mission of the club.
2. Ambassador
3. Nomination and voting by members.

d.      President’s Award – at the discretion of the Club President.

e.      “Broken Takkie” Award

              For highest total mileage (WPA races only). The winner will be the runner with  

               the highest recorded mileage and who has finished all races within the stipulated  

               cut – off- time.

f.        “1000K Club”

1. 1000 race km’s or more within the calendar year.
2. Members may submit non-WPA race results to count for this award.

• Winner will be runner with the highest mileage and who has finished the races within the stipulated cut – off- time.

8 Selection Committe

Chairperson – Shaheem Hendricks

Other members TBC

Observers (non-voting participants on Selection Committee)

• Athletics Commission -Chairperson and/or deputy
• Club President and/or deputy
• Admin Commissioner and/or deputy

The Club statistician is Adnaan Ederies.

He maintains the database of results and will provide the Committee with the information needed to apply the Criteria.