Sunday 19th October 2025

This is a long standing club event held every year and named after one of Royston Runners founder members, Clive Long (Vince’s Dad).

First held in 1997 in memory of Clive Long (Vince’s dad) who passed away in 1996.

Clive was a founding member of RR in the mid 80’s and then movedto join Metro’s club in Pinner, Middlesex in the 1990’s.

Between 1997 and 2005 it was a joint club event starting in Pinner and finishing at the Heath in Royston.

After that it moved to a course in the countryside surrounding Royston where it has been held each year since.

It is run in male, female or mixed teams of 5 over various distances around the local villages and country lanes, starting and finishing at the Heath.

It is a brilliant event and open to all abilities. If you have not done it before just ask any of your fellow runners as there will be someone who has done it before.

Please note this is not a public event and is only open to club members.

FAQs

Format of the event

It is run in teams of five – all male, all female or mixed (mixed teams should have min of two male or female runners ideally but can be flexible).

Each team appoints a captain who is responsible for organising their team entry and coordinating them on the day.

The team agrees who is going to run each leg (this can be split between more than one runner within the team if required).

Each runner estimates their time to run each leg (realistic times please!) which collectively determines the teams start time.

The aim of for all teams to finish at or as near to 2pm so start times are based on the above estimated times – e.g. a team estimating 7 hours to complete the whole course would start at 7am to finish at 2pmFormat of the event continued.

The actual start time of each leg is recorded by each team and then a final finish time on the forms provided.

This is then used to determine the final scoring – the team that is closest to their estimated time would win for their category

Each team has a vehicle to carry runners to each start point and support their team on the course – bikes can also be used to accompany the runners if you so wish.

The event can take up to 8 hours so food, drink, change of clothing etc. is required.

Not all team members need to stay for the whole duration – this can be agreed within your teams.

How to enter

• Start forming your teams now! – male, female or mixed – or let us know if you want to join a team and we will find you one!
• Appoint a team captain.
• Agree a team name (the more whacky the better!)
• Complete the entry form and return it to .
• Pay the entry fee of £50 per team (£10 for each runner) – by bank transfer (preferred) or cheque/cash on the day – all proceeds go to the RR nominated charity.

Entry packs will be handed to the captains on the day which include maps/directions and score sheet.

Long Short 2025 – Entry form

The course – 63k in total

Leg 1: Therfield Heath to Sandon: 8.1 miles / 13.1km – The Long Short – Leg 1 –13km Running Route near Royston (ID: 1436051) (plotaroute.com)

Leg 2: Sandon to Buckland: 6.5 miles / 10.5km – The Long Short – Leg 2 – 11km Running Route near Sandon (ID: 1436044) (plotaroute.com)

Leg 3: Buckland to Langley Lower Green: 9.1 miles / 14.7km – The Long Short – Leg 3 – 15km Running Route near Reed (ID: 1436045) (plotaroute.com)

Leg 4: Langley Lower Green to Elmdon: 5.2 miles / 8.4 km – The Long Short – Leg 4 – 8km Running Route near Langley Lower Green (ID: 1436046) (plotaroute.com)

Leg 5: Elmdon to Therfield Heath: 9.6 miles / 15.5 km – The Long Short – Leg 5 – 16km Running Route near Elmdon (ID: 1436047) (plotaroute.com)