THE RACE HAS BEEN CANCELLED! This makes the third time since 1993.

Howard County Striders Hotline is 410-964-1998.

For many years, one of the more important races to start the year has been the Maryland RRCA Challenge ten Mile race held in Columbia, MD. The race is run in teams including most of the nearly a dozen RRCA teams in Maryland, including the DC Road Runners. (They encompass the metro area). There is an award for the overall man and the overall woman. After that, it is all about teams. There is a men and women's team and a combined co- ed team. The scoring is done by giving 1 point for the top runner and each runner behind him gets the next highest number of points.

Men: 12 scorers for each team.
Women: 4 scorers for each team.
Coed: 15 scorers and minimum of 4 men and 4 women on each team.

No runners finishing after two hours will be scored.

In addition to scorers, there are displacers. If you are not in the first 12 for the men or four for the women for your team, any runner for another team that you pass will have a higher (worse) score than they would have had. Thus, every runner has the potential to help their time, regardless of their pace.

To sign up for the race go to this web site. To get the traditional "free" entry granted by the race, you will need your club's code.

This race is located at Howard Community College
Physical Education Building
10901 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, MD 21044

Race Director Richard Bernstein will start the race promptly at 8:00 AM Sunday, February 25, 2007.

In addition, since 1995 this race has been the first race of the Maryland RRCA State Championship Series. The race was conceived by former Montgomery Road runner President Phil Quinn. It gives clubs and well as individuals a chance to compete while supporting their club. It also allows runners to get a chance to travel to races sponsored by the different clubs in the state and enjoy all the good efforts they make toward this inclusive sport.

Teams can earn bragging rights in six categories: Men and women (open, master, and grandmaster). Individual qualifying men and women top three in open, top three in five year age groups starting at 35 and through 80 will be givens awards.

Below are the rules. This year some of the races may be changed. For the latest information and complete results for 2006 go to www.mdrrca.org.

Maryland RRCA Grand Prix Series Rules for 2007
The Maryland RRCA Grand Prix Series for the year 2007 will consist of the ten race events. The races were selected to provide a diversity of dates and distances and to offer a geographical dispersion through the major population centers of the State of Maryland. The purpose of the Grand Prix Series is to foster a healthy sense of athletic competition among running clubs and individuals, while at the same time generating a sense of cohesion among athletes in the broad running community.

The competition will be conducted for men and women in both open and age group categories. Five-year age groups will start at age 35 and will continue to 80 and over. An individual must finish four of the ten scheduled races in 2007 to be a series qualifier. Your age category is determined by your age on the date of the first event in the series that you participate in. Individuals earn points as their times relate to the winning time in each age/gender category for each race. The points for an individual's four best races are summed to determine the series standings. At the end of the year, individual winners who finish first, second, or third in their age/gender category and who have completed the requisite number of four races will win awards that will recognize suitably their competitive accomplishments.

Teams
Competition will be conducted in the following categories for both men and women: Open (all ages), Masters (age 40 and older) and Grand Masters (age 50 and older). There is no maximum limit to the size of a team, but to score in the Series each team must finish a minimum of five runners, except for the women's Masters and Grand Masters, which will require three finishers. Ties are broken via the time of the slowest scoring finisher. Multiple age scoring is permitted (a masters runner may score for both his/her open and masters teams). Women may not be scored as members of male teams. Scoring team members must be members in good standing of the club for which they are competing. Each eligible individual must choose and compete for only one club during a single season. Teams in each category earn points in the following manner: If six teams score in a particular category in a given race, the first place team would earn six points and each succeeding team would earn one point less, down to the final team earning one point. At the end of the year, the winning club will have bragging rights throughout the State.

REGISTRATION FOR SERIES
MD/DC RRCA Challenge 10-Mile entrants are already entered in the Grand Prix Series competition. Other participants may register by notifying the Series Record Keeper, James Moreland. Individuals MUST identify the club for which they will be competing during the year 2007 and they will be eligible to compete only for that club during the year. There is no registration fee for registration as a series participant, AND registration in the series does not enter an individual to participate in a specific race. Each participant must register for each race in the series and enter the club identification in the space provided on the registration form for that race.