Affiliation

Why are running clubs affiliated?
We need to affiliate to a body mainly to get race permits but also for help and support.

Who can we affiliate to?

United Kingdom Athletics (UKA) and England Athletics (EA) are the national governing bodies for athletics. For more information please see their website: www.britishathletics.org.uk​

Traditionally there has been a national sporting authority and currently this is called England Athletics (UKA EA). It looks after all track and field events as well as non-track running – road, cross country and trail.

A few years ago a group of running club committee members runners got dissatisfied with the national authority which was viewed as taking fees from runners and not giving much back, concentrating on track and field. So, The Association of Running Clubs (ARC) was formed.

With whom is Royston Runners affiliated?
Royston Runners (the club and its’ members) is affiliated to ARC. We pay a single fee covering both the club and the members.

England Athletics England Athletics require that the club and each individual member to register and pay a fee. Royston Runners as a club is affiliated to EA and Royston Runners members are free to affiliate if they wish, the fee is currently £17 for the year. We will collect the fees and pass them on to UKA EA.

We encourage our members to join UKA EA as it enables us as a club to qualify for London Marathon places. The club receives one place for every 50 members or part there of, which means if we exceed 100 EA members we get allocated 3 places. This allows us to then put those places into a draw each year for members who are RR and UKA EA affiliated.

Full details of the benefits of UKA EA affiliation can be found on the EA’s website
Member benefits
Club benefits

The complicated bit
If you want to run in a county championship you cannot run unless you are affiliated to EA. Royston Runners are affiliated as a club to UKA EA and if any member wants to run in a Southern England Athletics Association (SEAA) or a Herts County Athletics Association (HCAA) race then they must register.

The complicated grey bit
When Royston Runners organise a race we charge the unaffiliated fee to runners not affiliated to any club. If they are affiliated to a club we don’t care if it is ARC or UKA EA – we don’t charge them.

The official bit from ARC is found in their Q&A on their website.

Are members of ARC affiliated clubs required to pay unattached levies in races organised under UKAthletics permits ?
UK Athletics, in its Permit arrangements, has dispensed with the concept of the Unattached Runner levy and has replaced it with a discounted entry fee for UKA EA Registered Runners thus penalising many club runners. To receive the discounted race entry fee, a runner has to be registered with UKA EA – so being a member of a UKA EA affiliated club does not get you the discount. Members of ARC affiliated clubs are in the same situation.

Conversely the lower entry fee in ARC permitted races is available to all members of affiliated clubs (ARC or UKA).

These contrasting arrangements reflect the importance that ARC attaches to clubs and the Club structure in the sport