How the League Works
Each competitor has the opportunity to participate each day in one or more disciplines. There are currntly 4 disciplines Canicross (the main activity the league supports), CaniTrek (competitive dog walking/hiking/trekking), Bikejor/Scooter, and CaniSwim. Competing is entirely at the option of the participant, who can compete as much or as little as they want during the year. The rule is that each day there can be only one submission per discipline. So for example a competitor could in theory Run, Hike, Bike & Swim and have 4 reckonable results to be considered in different respective leagues. Of course a participnat can't make 2 submissions for the same discipline in the same day as this would give them an unfair advantage.
Submissions are made by applying a simple tag to your activity description in one of the league's Strava clubs. The rest is done automatically by the league's results aggregator 'Synaptic'. It downloads competitors activity data and calculates points an classifies the result in one or multiple tables. For canicross there is the added bonus that 2 types of points are calculated League points (which are performance based) and are used in the League tables. There are also race points which are used (to calculate race position in monthly and annual virtual races). Race points are a composite make up of performance, altitude gain and distance coverage, where as league points are more about performance. Both league and race points have a high degree of calculation based on World Masters Athletics age grading system, which essentially levels the playing field between competitors of different ages and genders. There is a final element from a canine perspective, which is a canine correction coefficient to account for the effect of running with a maximum of 2 dogs. The coefficient has and continues to evolve based on the massive amount of canicross run data that it accumulates to refine its algorithm.
The league runs the year in 3 segments. If a participant resides in the northern hemisphere then the first half of the league season (Jan - Apr) occurs. Then summer break or 'Off-Season' (May - Aug) happens, then the rest of the league season transpires culminating in completion of the season in December. Conversely, competitors who live in the southern hemisphere have a 6 month difference in their competition cycle due to climatic differences. So for southern hemisphere competitors the send half of the Off-Season (Jan - Feb) occurs. Then the Full League Season' (Mar - Oct) happens, then the residual remaining off-season transpires culminating in completion of the season in December. By the time the end of the year arrives both hemispheres will have completed a full year of competition within the appropriate and applicable climatic conditions.
Introductory Pre-amble
- League Canicross is designed to provide a framework and format for competitors to compete in a virtual manner safely, and enjoy the friendly competition observing a spirit of goods sportsmanship. We know its not the same as a real event and meeting up with fellow people who love the sport. But, perhaps this may be the next best thing ?.
- The league generates a modest amount of revenue whose proceeds are managed by our not for profit organisation. All proceeds are either donated to an appropriate charity, or ploughed back into the sport to promote growth of Canicross at grass roots level.
- The corner foundations of the league is of course good sportsmanship, canine welfare, and enjoyment of the sport we love so much. With this in mind the league is a points based format with WAVA age graded corrections, this makes it a level playing field and negates differences in performance according to age and gender. Naturally, we can’t compensate for the different abilities of our dogs, but since we are all the slower part of our team, physics will probably be the factor of difference.
- The league is not affiliated with any organisation, we may refer to other organisations, however, we are not affiliated with any other organising dog sport body.
General League Format
- There are different leagues that run in a year.
- A season league (Autumn (Fall) - Winter - Spring)
- An off-season league (Summer)
- A recreation league / virtual racing league (All-year)
- The season league is split into 2 parts, the timing of which depends where you are in the world. The season is split to accommodate Nordic / Longer Haired and Polar breeds.
- The off-season league will run during the summer and will consist of 4 months of racing. The off-season league is an additional league with separate results and awards for breeds and dogs who are able to run year round.
- The recreation league is a fun league. It has a different composite scoring system used for virtual racing
- Season Timetable
- A season irrespective of which hemisphere the the participant competes in, commences their season January 1st and completes December 31st. It therefore works out that for competitors in the southern hemisphere, commence and finish in their off season. In effect they run in anti-phase to the northern hemisphere.
|
Northern Hemisphere |
Southern Hemisphere |
||
Description |
From |
To |
From |
To |
League Season First Half – Month 1 |
Jan 1st |
Jan 31st |
Jul 1st |
Jul 30th |
League Season First Half – Month 2 |
Feb 1st |
Feb 28th |
Aug 1st |
Aug 31st |
League Season First Half – Month 3 |
Mar 1st |
Mar 31st |
Sep 1st |
Sep 30th |
League Season First Half – Month 4 |
Apr 1st |
Apr 30th |
Oct 1st |
Oct 31st |
Off-Season League – Month 5 |
May 1st |
May 31st |
Nov 1st |
Nov 30th |
Off-Season League – Month 6 |
Jun 1st |
Jun 30th |
Dec 1st |
Dec 31st |
Off-Season League – Month 7 |
Jul 1st |
Jul 30th |
Jan 1st |
Jan 31st |
Off-Season League – Month 8 |
Aug 1st |
Aug 31st |
Feb 1st |
Feb 28th |
League Season Second Half – Month 9 |
Sep 1st |
Sep 30th |
Mar 1st |
Mar 31st |
League Season Second Half – Month 10 |
Oct 1st |
Oct 31st |
Apr 1st |
Apr 30th |
League Season Second Half – Month 11 |
Nov 1st |
Nov 30th |
May 1st |
May 31st |
League Season Second Half – Month 12 |
Dec 1st |
Dec 31st |
Jun 1st |
Jun 30th |
Age, Gender & Human Classification
- All human participants must be over the age of 18 years on the date of a virtual race.
- As scoring uses WMA/WAVA age-grading as a basis for results calculation there shall be no categorisation of age, gender or any other method of classification of a person. They are either an adult over 18 years or not.
Registration, Fees & Changes to Entries
- The league entry fee covers participation in full season, off-season, recreation, bikejor, canitrek, caniswim leagues, knockout tournament and virtual races.
- Registration will only be accepted via the web portal only
- Changes to entries must be made by email to the league.
- There is no refund available if you withdraw from the league.