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GREAT OWL GPX GRAND PRIX
A brand new format of racing for 2021
Key Information
11 January - 21 December 2021
All pay what you feel entry from £20.21
21 GPX Races opening at intervals during the year
At least 3 ‘Virtu-Owl’ Virtual Races and Challenges
At least 4 Bonus Challenges
4 ‘GPX Leagues’ based on length of course
Run in your own time
Friendly online community
Use the provided GPX files, maps and route descriptions to run the routes
Recce, run, record and submit your time using our online entry form
Appear on our online leaderboard and score points based on your best results
We have all been faced with uncertainty in 2020 and 2021. I’m sure that most of you reading this have had many a race cancelled. Unfortunately it is fairly unlikely we will see anything close to ‘normal’ for a wee while but this is our chance to try something a bit different, something new. A Chance to adapt our racing into a 2021 format to create an event that won’t be cancelled!
So, all you will need is your feet, a pair of suitable shoes and a GPS watch or smartphone with an app capable of reading GPX files (many are available, see below). And of course for the technophobes out there you can also plan your route in advance and print a map or follow the route descriptions provided for each race. Remember, you have a big window to run on these courses so you can always do a recce beforehand!
The GPX Grand Prix is a GPX race series spanning the entire year made up of 21+ races divided into 4 Leagues.
The GPX Green League is a 5 race series consisting of trail races under 8km / 5 miles
The GPX Blue League is an 8 race series consisting of trail races between 8km / 5 miles - 16km / 10 miles
The GPX Red League is a 5 race series consisting of trail races between 16km / 10 miles - 32km / 20 miles
The GPX Ultra League is a 3 race series consisting of trail races over 42km / 26.2 miles
As well as this the GPX Grand Prix will include the return of the Virtu-Owl Race Series, and other similar challenges that you can do all within in Covid-19 guidelines.
How you choose to engage with the GPXGP is up to you. You can concentrate on one of the leagues based on the distance that you are comfortable with or you can aim to build your distance as you progress in your running throughout the year. Or of course you can simply just run the routes you want just for the craic!
You only have to enter what you want, this is more about building a community and encouraging each other to get out there and run. We have a very active Strava Club and Facebook Group online with regular updates to keep you inspired!
THE RACES
Each race will be truly unique. Some are long, some are short, and some are medium sized. Most of them take place on trails and all of them are fairly local to Leeds and surrounding areas. When a race is opened a full course description, and gpx file will become available. Once you have run the course in a time you are happy with you simply use our form to submit your time and you will score points based on your time.
All the GPX races are either modified versions of existing Great Owl Races, brand new courses that were in the pipeline for the future or something completely different! The GPX Grand Prix is a great way to test pilot some of these great courses and we are very much looking forward to sharing them with you.
These are not virtual races. These races take place on an actual course that will be ‘opened’ at intervals and throughout the rest of 2021 and you can run them whenever you want.
The aim of the series is to enter as many races as you can and score points for each one. Your top scores count towards your Grand Prix Score. The more races you enter the higher the chance you have of getting a good score.
What is a GPX Race?
There is a GPX file to accompany each race, which you can follow using your phone or watch. Until things can go back to normal there are no course markers, no aid stations and no marshals for an ultimately ‘COVID-19 Friendly’ race experience.
A GPX file, is simply a text file with geographic information such as waypoints, tracks, and routes saved in it. You can download a GPX file and upload it into may different mapping apps and devices.
So WHAT’S NEW FOR 2021?
2020 was the birth year for the GPX Grand Prix and it was proven to be an overwhelmingly successful alternative to ‘normal’ racing. With there being little in the movement towards pre-covid normality we can only assume that 2021 will be more of the same. This time the GPX Grand Prix will span all 12 months of 2021. Based on event feedback here are just a few of the additions we are making to the 2021 season.
11 original GPXGP Races will return and 10 new races will be added starting with Kirkstall Calverley Cutter
at least 3 Virtual (Virtu-Owl) races will be included in the series
4 BONUS Challenges will also be included
The League will be decided by your 10 best scores (previously 5) out of 21 (previously 12)
Races will open and close throughout the year, giving you more dedicated time to recce, run, record and submit your times.
Races will be colour coded based on distance, and grouped in to 4 Leagues. Each league will have it’s own competition in addition to The GPX Grand Prix
Each race will now include a route video guide and be uploaded to our Youtube page.
Each race will have it’s own webpage with links to all information including parking advice and public transport.
There will now be 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze time awards (male and female). These awards will now take the form of six ‘Great Owl Gladiators’ and these will count as one place per race based on their time. - that means if there is a Great Owl Gladiator between you and the person behind you, there will be a two place difference instead of one. There will be different times for each gladiator per race. The Great Owl Gladiators will appear only in individual races (not the league itself)
There will be a chance to lower your total score in the GPXGP by taking part in bonus activities, these may appear randomly throughout the year and might not necessarily be totally running based.
You can now officially run with your dog! Once you have entered yourself if you’d like to run with your dog let us know their name and we will add them to the leaderboard and give them their own race number. From then on let us know each time you, or someone else runs with your dog in the submission form. All the dogs will appear on the leaderboard in a separate category to the humans.
ENTRY
We have kept it simple and inclusive - you can pay what you feel. You keep your race number for the whole series.
You can choose what you feel is worth the series entry for you and in return you get an online race bib and a place on our leaderboard, full correspondence with race organiser, unique race description and maps of all courses. Your money goes toward securing a future for Great Owl Running events in the future. Thanks!
SUBMIT YOUR TIMES
Once you have logged your run you can submit your time and then it will we put onto our leaderboard. Every few days after runs have been logged we will give regular updates on everyone’s progress via email and our social media. You will also be able to view the leaderboard in real time to check how you fair as more and more results pile in.
PRIZES
There will be a custom made trophy for the winners and runners up of the GPX Grand Prix. All winners of each VET category 40 / 50 / 60 and 70. There is an additional trophy for lowest Total score, and a trophy for the winner of each league.
HOUSE RULES / RACE RULES
You can only submit a time for a distance you ran after entering the Grand Prix. The sooner you sign up the sooner you can get out there and start registering your runs!
You must submit proof via a public link to you Strava Activity, Garmin Connect or similar. (As long as we can see it, it’s all good).
You must submit your time no longer than 48 hours after your race.
You can only submit times for races that are open. Each race opens for between 3 - 5 months. you can keep up to date which ones are open on our leaderboard (there is a TIMELINE tab at the bottom of the screen).
If you feel you can run a route faster, you are perfectly welcome to submit your new time, but don’t submit a slower time as it will override your faster one!
Every race is different. Each race will have its own race specific rules, take a look and make sure you know the rules before you race.
DEADLINE FOR RESULTS - The last day of the last month advertised for each race (usually 30th or 31st)
ResourCes
There are a number of apps you can use for uploading GPX files or plotting your route. Here’s just a short list of ones available. (Note: I currently use and plot my routes using OS Maps, there is a minimal subscription fee but I recommend it.)
OS Maps | Komoot | View Ranger | Gaia GPS | Dynamic.Watch | GPX Viewer | Wikiloc | Plotaroute | Maps 3d Pro | Walk Lakes
COVID-19 and GPX Racing
GPX Racing by design is a socially distanced activity, but during these testing times COVID-19 laws and guidelines change frequently. Great Owl Running will never encourage its runners to break any rules and advises all runners to check the most up to date guidelines.
