Get ready for the autumn Grand Prix series

With three of the Grand Prix races now behind us we are looking forward to the final three races that make up the autumn series and the first one gets underway at the Cardiff 10k on Sunday 6th September.

The Bristol 10k was the third race in the Grand Prix and brought the spring series to a close whilst shuffling the positions at the top of the table. Currently John Beattie (handicap -4.9) is at the top of the table with a good lead and 1035 points. Emma Stepto (handicap -0.5) is at the top of the women's table with 732 points and just 4 points ahead of Georgie Bruinvels (handicap 0.3).

Both Emma and Georgie have done all three races so far and both have entered the race at Cardiff along with Lily Partridge (handicap -1.4) who currently has 350 points after winning the first race at the Vitality Reading Half Marathon in 70:31 and Louise Small (handicap  -0.3) who currently has 242 points after finishing 9th in the Bupa London 10,000

Michelle Ross –Cope (handicap -1.0) is the fastest athlete on paper to have registered with a best of 32.41. She currently has 249 points from her 2nd place at Bristol. Rachel Felton (handicap -0.2), who is currently 6th with 493 points (6th at London and 3rd at Bristol), is the defending Cardiff 10k Champion and Faye Fullerton (handicap -1.3) is currently in 7th with 492 points (7th at Reading and 3rd at London).

Other contenders are Lauren Deadman (handicap -1.0) with 247 points after finishing 4th at the Bupa London 10,000; Jenny Spink (handicap -0.2) also with 247 points for 4th at Bristol and Kate Hulls (handicap 0.7) who has 239 points for 12th at Reading.

John Beattie (handicap -4.9) is the current leader in the men's standings after competing in all three races so far and earning bonus points for fast times at the Reading Half Marathon (64:48) and the Bupa London 10,000 (29:28). He will line up, at Cardiff, along with Ben Livesey (handicap -4.7) who is in 2nd with 733 points from the three races so far and Nick Torry (handicap -4.2) who is currently 3rd with 725 points from all three races.

Also registered are  Dewi Griffiths (handicap -5.7) who has 445 points for 6th in the Bupa London 10,000 in 29:25 and Paul Martelletti (handicap -4.7) who is currently in 7th with 689 points from three races.

The autumn series is made up of:

Cardiff 10k - 6th September

Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon  - 4th October, incorporating British Championships

Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash 10k - 15th November, incorporating English Championships

Grand Prix points are awarded for the first 250 finishing positions in the six races that are in the series. 250 points are awarded to the first British finisher, down to 1 point for the 250th British finisher and there are extra points available for fast times. Up to the best four scores from the six available races count at the end of the series. If the athlete scores points in less than four Grand Prix events, their best two, three or single score will count towards the final standings. Prize money totals £18,000 and is shared by the top 10 male and female British runners at the end of the series.