Downs League
Cross Country
Four Sunday races at Epsom Downs, open to Year 5 and above.
YAC is entering teams in the Downs League Cross Country series again this year, and we’d love as many athletes as possible to take part. It’s a good standard of competition in a beautiful setting, and because we’re entering all four races, our athletes and teams are in the running for overall league prizes.
Only the first four athletes score, but teams can be as large as we like. So if you tell us your athlete would like to run, they’re on the team.
Opens an email with the questions ready to fill in. Payment details are below.
Every age group runs 3k this year
For U12s (Years 5 and 6) this is longer than last year, so please check your athlete is happy with the distance before entering. If you’re not sure, have a word with a coach at a session and we’ll help you decide.
Who can run
Year 5 and above. Sadly Year 4 and below can’t compete in this league.
| U12 | Years 5 and 6 |
| U14 | Years 7 and 8 |
| U16 | Years 9 and 10 |
| U18 | Years 11 and 12 |
| U20 | Year 13 |
The four races
All Sundays. All four count towards the league.
| Sunday 1 November — entries open now |
| Sunday 29 November |
| Sunday 7 February |
| Sunday 28 February |
Start times
The same at every fixture. Girls start three minutes after boys.
| 10:45am | U16, U18 and U20 |
| 11:05am | U14 |
| 11:30am | U12 |
On the day
Arrive an hour before your athlete’s race. Look for the blue YAC flag and head to the YAC table to sign in with Katie, our team manager. The group will then walk the course together — well worth doing, especially for first-timers.
The warm-up is led half an hour before the race, straight after the course walk. Please make sure your athlete is back with the group in time for it.
Parking is in the car park near Tattenham Corner Road, KT18 5PP. Allow around 45 minutes from Guildford, plus time to walk over from the car.
What to wear and bring
- YAC t-shirt — we’re a YAC team, and it helps us spot our athletes and support them
- Training shoes to wear, and cross country spikes to bring. Athletes warm up in trainers and change into spikes to race. Spikes are advisable — the course is all grass and can get muddy
- Extra warm layers, and a change of shoes for afterwards
- A drinks bottle and suitable snacks
How to enter
Two steps, both by Tuesday 27 October. We take entries one race at a time, so this is for 1 November only.
1. Send us the details
Email membership@yac-admin.co.uk with your child’s first and second name, their date of birth (we’ll confirm their age group), their school year, and your YAC session — Monday 5pm, Monday 6pm, Friday 5pm or Friday 6pm.
2. Pay £5
Sort code 30-98-97
Account 69679168
Please use your child’s name as the payment reference. Your entry is confirmed once payment is received.
A note on results
We learned last year that official results for this league are slow — often two to three weeks. We know that’s frustrating and we’ve lobbied for improvements. There are plans this year for separate finishing funnels for boys and girls, which means athletes should at least know their finishing position on the day. Times may still take a while to come through.