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Welcome to the Washington Running Report
Spring 2011
WRR Runner Rankings
Biggest Season and the Reason… 400 Plus Races!
Spring 2011 (March 12, 2011–May 15, 2011)
By James Moreland
I found the simple life ain't so simple
When I jumped out, on that road
I got no love, no love you'd call real
Ain't got nobody, waitin' at home
Runnin' with the devil
---Van Halen, 1978
To make deadlines we have to have the complete race results within a week of the end of the ranking period. The 206,000 racing times this season more than doubled the winter, and broke last spring’s record of 179,000. There were almost 4,000 runners who had a ranked time. A record number of races--368--was used to determine the rankings; that number would have been higher but 100+ races did not have reported results.
Moreland Statistics for this ranking period:
Eight races dominated the rankings with more than 100 ranked times.
The top 67 times and all but two of the top 89 times were run at major (500 or more finishers) races.
Even with a number of the regular top racers away and sparsely racing, there was a combined 128 ranked times in the Open division.
The top times for both men and women were the same as last year, but neither won a race as many elite racers from around the world come to our rich region for competition.
There was a record breaking 57 major races; 29 had more than 1,000 finishers. The top ten races had a combined 89,000 finishers.
The two biggest races: Credit Union Cherry Blossom and Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K combined for 49,300 finishers; a 7% increase, adding a whooping 197 more qualified racers.
The TowneBank 8K was largest, with 1% of its 7,675 finishers ranked, but not as competitive as DC’s St. Patrick’s Day 8K with nearly 2% of its 5,500 finishers ranked.
Easily toughest in competition among major races was the Martha Jefferson 8K with 8.2% of its 560 finishers ranked.
Surprisingly, only six 10Ks had more than 500 finishers, with 81% of them racing at the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue where 377 were ranked. Pike’s Peek at 1/13 the size was marvelous with 145 ranked runners and Apple Blossom at 1/23 the size had 76 ranked runners.
There were more than 230 5Ks and eight of those 5Ks had more than 1,000 finishers. Kelly’s Shamrock 5K led the way with 57 ranked runners, while the Queen’s Lake 5K was the dominant race with 31 of its 109 finishers ranked (28.64%).
In the 10 mile category the Credit Union Cherry Blossom dominated again in size with 277 ranked times. But Charlottesville stole the show with 118 ranked times with only 2,235 finishers, ahead of the Parkway’s 109 of 4,611 runners. Cherry Pit just missed the big time with 46 of 496 finishers making the ranking time.
In all of the 313 races with a qualifying runner, the average masters runner for both sexes finished in 5th place. The masters finish in the top three an amazing amount of the time.
|
|
M-times |
W-times |
Men % |
Women % |
|
1st |
51 |
63 |
16.29% |
20.13% |
|
2nd |
54 |
49 |
17.25% |
15.65% |
|
3rd |
50 |
42 |
15.97% |
13.42% |
|
Top 3 |
155 |
154 |
49.52% |
49.20% |
Below is a chart of best times for the winner and the master winner for six major distances as well as the place of the masters runners.
|
|
Men |
Women |
M-Master |
Place |
F-Master |
Place |
|
5K |
18:19 |
21:32 |
20:03 |
4.7 |
24:29 |
4.5 |
|
5M |
27:34 |
33:02 |
30:01 |
5.9 |
35:42 |
4.6 |
|
10K |
33:43 |
39:13 |
36:56 |
5.0 |
40:34 |
5.5 |
|
10M |
53:05 |
1:03:01 |
58:08 |
7.1 |
1:07:00 |
8.0 |
|
HM |
1:12:48 |
1:26:20 |
1:23:02 |
7.0 |
1:31:09 |
8.1 |
|
Mar |
3:04:25 |
3:38:18 |
3:22:48 |
7.8 |
4:00:32 |
6.3 |
In the spirit of competition, there is now a trio of tables for the most competitive of the 207 cities that had a ranked runner. For the men’s and women’s competition a city must have a minimum of 10 races with 10 runners scoring; for the combined competition there must be a minimum of 15 races with the 15 scoring regardless of gender. Every ranked runner’s place is their score. The team with the lowest score is the winner.
|
Place |
Men |
Total |
Points |
|
1. |
Washington, DC |
26 |
56 |
|
2. |
Williamsburg, VA |
15 |
78 |
|
3. |
Arlington, VA |
16 |
101 |
|
4. |
Richmond, VA |
15 |
131 |
|
5. |
Alexandria, VA |
11 |
152 |
|
6. |
Gaithersburg, MD |
10 |
168 |
|
7. |
Baltimore, MD |
10 |
182 |
|
8. |
Virginia Beach, VA |
10 |
213 |
Washington, DC dominated with quantity and quality. Six cities had eight qualifiers.
|
Place |
Women |
Total |
Points |
|
1. |
Virginia Beach, VA |
20 |
76 |
|
2. |
Washington, DC |
21 |
84 |
|
3. |
Richmond, VA |
17 |
99 |
|
4. |
Bethesda, MD |
11 |
134 |
|
5. |
Ellicott City, MD |
14 |
142 |
|
6. |
Charlottesville, VA |
17 |
148 |
|
7. |
Arlington, VA |
14 |
163 |
Alexandria 9, Williamsburg 8 qualifiers
|
Place |
Combined |
Total |
Points |
|
1. |
Washington, DC |
47 |
79 |
|
2. |
Williamsburg, VA |
23 |
106 |
|
3. |
Richmond, VA |
32 |
125 |
|
4. |
Arlington, VA |
30 |
137 |
|
5. |
Virginia Beach, VA |
30 |
144 |
|
6. |
Charlottesville, VA |
25 |
179 |
|
7. |
Ellicott City, MD |
20 |
201 |
|
8. |
Alexandria, VA |
20 |
216 |
|
9. |
Rockville |
15 |
239 |
|
10. |
Baltimore, MD |
15 |
257 |
|
11. |
Silver Spring, MD |
15 |
289 |
Washington, DC was the clear victor. Four teams came close: Gaithersburg, Columbia with 14 and Fredericksburg, Bethesda with 12 qualifiers.
Runners who win the race or win their division in a race earn an asterisk beside their name. Open runners only get an asterisk for an overall win. The Speed Alone, cited at the start of each division, is the fastest qualifying time run for each division. In red, it means the division champion ran it.
The big races make the top champions. Beat the best and you are the best. Now, let’s see who made it to the top.
Women's Spring 2011 Rankings
Men's Spring 2011 Rankings