The Metropolitan League is a 21 club cross country running league in South East England. There are five league fixtures held in various locations between October and February. Male and female athletes aged 11 upwards compete at each fixture and there are six races which are categorised as: The senior and veterans races also include divisions one, two and three. The league as a whole is arguably the largest in numbers in the UK, after the North Eastern Harrier League.
History
The league was founded on 23 March 1966 when eight of the major London athletic clubs met at the Primrose public house in Bishopsgate to discuss cross country competition. All clubs signed up and the first fixture was held in October that year at Hainault Forest. Nine clubs entered over 260 athletes in the two races: one for seniors and juniors, the other for youths and boys. For the first five years there were only four matches per season but this expanded to five in 1971.
Sponsorship
The league was sponsored by the athletics retailer London City Runner until 2013, when the events promoter Active Training World took the rights. Start Fitness is the current sponsor.
Competition format
Athletes are awarded points dependent on their finishing position in the race: the higher the position, the more points accrued. For senior men, the total points from the top 12 athletes at a club make up their 'A' team score. The next 12 athletes to finish at that club count towards the 'B' team. For senior women only six athletes make up a team. At the end of the season, the team with the most points is declared the champion. Independent runners are allowed to run for a small surcharge.
There are ten clubs in Divisions One and Two with larger numbers in Division Three in the senior women and senior and veteran men categories. Larger clubs enter up to three teams of runners into the league, while smaller clubs only enter one. Below are tables showing teams in each league from 2015–6. Bracketed numbers are numbers of scorers per team in that league.
Julian Gentry of Newham and Essex Beagles holds the most individual titles, a total of eight. These were won consecutively from 1989 to 1996. Svenja Abel has won the women's title four times, in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010.
