European Athletics - Race Quality and Safety

                        Paris, Feb 4th - 5th 2015

European Athletics to announce New Race Quality and Safety Ranking System

European Athletics Race Standards - Peter Stafford Presentation
Peter Stafford, Race Safety and Quality Standards Project Leader, European Athletics, speaking at the workshop

European Athletics is to unveil a new Grading system for Road races.  The system, began in 2012, is set to go live next month.

There is NO CHARGE for registering an event.  This is a FREE iniative

Standards

European Athletics Race Standards Classifications
There are three categories:
5 Star - Significant events of high quality
3 Star - Large events
1 Star - Primarily Races with small numbers of participants

There are 54 primary topics, under 7 Headings;, which must be satisfied for 5 Star rating, while 3 Star and 1 Star must satisfy 44 and 36 criteria respectively. 5 Star and 3 Star events must be fully accredited by the respective National Federation.  The vast majority of events accredited under the new system will be 1 Star races and will be self accredited, with oversight by their National Federation.  Events that fail to meet the basic criteria will not be given any rating.

The 7 Primary Headings are:

Category Number in Category 1 Star 3 Star 5 Star
Safety 14 Criteria 10 apply 11 apply All apply
Medical 5 Criteria All apply All apply All apply
Administration & Finance 5 Criteria 4 apply 5 apply All apply
Course 9 Criteria 7 apply All apply All apply
Timing 2 Criteria 2 apply All apply All apply
Measurement 3 Critria 1 applies 2 apply All apply
Results 2 Criteria 1 applies 1 applies All apply
Environmental & Social Responsibilities 6 Criteria 5 apply 5 apply All apply
Services 7 Criteria 1 applies 4 apply All apply

Website

European Athletics Race Standards - Website Questionnaire

European |Athletics - James Mulligan, Head of Communications
James Mulligan, Head of Communications, European Athletics, speaking at the workshop

The intention is that race safety and quality will be comparable right across Europe, i.e. a race in Ireland should be comparable to a similarly rated race in Estonia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, or elsewhere within the 50 Member Federations of European Athletics. Race organisers will apply directly via the website, but their application will be reviewed by the relevant European Athletics Member Federation, Athletics ireland, in our case.  The Member Federation has 30 days in which to approve or reject the application.  Failure to review within the 30 day time period will result in automatic approval.  Rejection, if made must be based on valid grounds.

If an event is rejected, it is expected that the Federation and the Race Organisers will engage in dialogue/discussions to resolved the issues and bring the event up to the required standards

IAAF Label Road Races

The IAAF already have a Race Labelling system in place, comprising of Gold, Silver and Bronze races, however these are based on the quality of the race field, and are far beyond the reach of the vast majority of "ordinary" races, while the European Athletics syatem is open to all races, from larger city Marathons to the smallest race.
IAAF Road Race Label Regulations 2015 (PDF file)

Benefits

Benefits for Runners

European Athletics Race Standards - Benefits for runners

Benefits for Race Organisers

European Athletics Race Standards - Benefits for Race Organisers

A valuable benefit to approved events will the the added credibility with institutions like Gardai, Insurance Companies, Local Authorities and Emergency Services.

Benefits for Member Federations

European Athletics Race Standards - Benefits for Member Federations

Benefits for European Athletics

European Athletics Race Standards - Benefits for European Athletics

Timeline for Implementation

European Athletics Race Standards - Implementation Timeline

Mass participation Race

The Mass Participation Race will be a 10k, to be held in Amsterdam, in June 2016. The race will immediately follow the European Half-marathon Championships and will be held over the same course, but only covering 10k.  This will give the runners the "buzz" of the championships and also introduce the Championship spectators to  mass participation event. 

European Athletic's Top Priorites

1   European Championships
2   Accreditation of Road Races

Athletics Ireland was represented at the workshop by John Holian, Dermot Nagle and John Quigley.

European Athletics President Wirz, Dec 2014
Health and Fitness Presentation (PDF file), by Jean Gracia, European Athletics Vice-President, European Athletics Leaders Forum, Baku, Oct2014
Presentation to European Athletics Health and Well-Being Conference (PDF file), Marseille, Jan 2014
European Athletics article, Sept 2013