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Athletics in the UK is organised on similar lines to football. There is a premier league (the British Athletics League) which comprises four divisions of eight teams and a number of area leagues (eg Northern, Southern, Midlands, Eastern). The Southern area league stretches from Peterborough to Cornwall and is by far the biggest. It also includes many of the strongest athletics teams in the country.

The Southern Men’s League comprises two regional divisions of twenty-five teams plus 6 area leagues each of 16 teams. Each area team competes in 5 fixtures a season and against 3 other clubs. Over the season each club meets all the others in their division. The season runs from late April to early August. SMRAC has a team in Division 3 South of the Southern Men's League.

Each fixture comprises a full track and field programme (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, shot, discus, javelin, hammer, and 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relay). Each team has two competitors (‘A’ and ‘B’ string) and there are separate (‘A’ and ‘B’) races for each track event - with the exception of the 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres and steeplechase events where all competitors run together. There are therefore 36 events to cover in an afternoon. - which is why we need a good sized squad for each of our teams.

Points scoring in the area leagues is as follows: 5 for first, down to 2 for fourth for each event. The team with the most event points wins the fixture and scores 4 match points, down to 1 for the team with the least event points. Aggregate match points for all five fixtures determine the league position, with event points being used as a tie breaker. The top five teams are promoted and the bottom five teams are relegated at the end of the season.