History
BARR was inaugurated in 1984 when a number of concerned Road Race Organisers met at the London Marathon. Prominent among these was Chris Brasher, founder of the London Marathon and who was instrumental in establishing the Association.
The concern was that there was a growing number of problems being faced by organisers as the sport of Road Running the number of events rapidly expanded. From those early days, BARR has become recognised as the predominent organisation with regard to Standards of Organisation and Events Grading.
BARR was officially engaged by UKA to develop and administer a nation-wide grading system for Road Races and Associated Events i.e. Multi-Terrain.
It was agreed that BARR would combine its existing race grading system into what is now the UKA/BARR Race Grading System.
The new system commenced on 1st January 2002.
Under the current system, it is not necessary to become a member of BARR to obtain a UKA/ BARR Race Grade.
Full details of how to become a Member Event of BARR and the current requirements for obtaining a Race Grading can be found on the
BARR website.
