One of the most important races of the winter is the annual RRCA Challenge 10 Miler. This race pits area teams against each other for bragging rights. An overall winner is declared for the men and the women but that is it for individuals. After that, it is all teams. Traditionally there have been nine teams, five large and four medium to small. The large teams consist of the home team Howard County Striders, the Baltimore Roadrunners, the Annapolis Striders, the DC Roadrunners (represented by Glenn Mays, photo left by Chris Caravoulias), and the behemoth 3,500-member Montgomery County Roadrunners. Large is not always a sure way to win. While Howard County has always challenged and often won and Montgomery County is usually high in the mix, the Falls Road Running Club with its tiny elite squad has made serious inroads. In the early years, the smallest of the big clubs, Baltimore Roadrunners, made its presence felt.

Usually the small teams scrounge around to make sure they have enough runners to qualify. The Renaissance All Sports Athletic Club makes its yearly appearance from northeastern Maryland's Harford County. Westminster and the Frederick Steeplechasers represent the west. Having been a member of six of these clubs, I am often called on to run for one or more of the smaller clubs so that we can have enough runners to compete. While I have run for five different clubs, I have yet to pick the winner for that year.

(Photo left by Chris Caravoulias: HCS President Phil Lang accepted the winning trophies on behalf of the club.)

Since 1989 there have been three courses. First there was a hilly out and back course starting from the middle of the campus and racing downhill past the mall and ending with a long uphill, windswept last mile. In the early nineties, the Striders opted to go with a "a hilly out and back course." This time it went west first, fooling the unsuspecting yet again with another downhill mile. Then it looped through neighborhoods in a psychotic figure eight consisting of five cul de sac turnarounds with hills in the first ten miles of the race. Without even considering the generally frigid weather, either course had a built-in excuse for runners preparing for a fast spring race such as Cherry Blossom. In 2000, the race moved down the road about a mile starting near a community center. Though I have run many races in Howard County, that foggy morning I was soon turned around. This course started with a fairly flat mile and quickly became scenic with the now-required out and back cul de sac style design. I finished, the same as always, tired and glad to have found my way back.

For 2004, new race director Richard Bernstein presented us with a brand new course, starting again from the college parking lot. Having gone north and west in previous versions, it seemed obvious that this year we would be heading east, down a long hill, with a quick turn uphill to the south. Normally, former president Paul Goldenburg is at the starting line giving instructions. This year he had a protege giving his same tainted advice. "Please remember there is no hurry if you are not a Howard County Strider." "There will be many turns. Please wait there for directions until all Striders have passed by." " There is no shame in walking if you are not a Strider." Most everybody ignored everything he said except at 8:00 AM when he yelled out the "G" word.

Many runners thought the new course gave an advantage to the home team because they would know the course. Wrong! We know the area but the course is new for everyone. We passed many familiar sites, but given as many turns as we made dashing up and down hills, I was stunned that we never ended up in a cul de sac. Well, actually we did go into a dead end but we proceeded through one of many delightful Columbia trails back out to the next road.

I always thought mile markers were essential. There were none at this race though. Surprisingly, many of the runners told me that they preferred not to have them. Today, I agreed as I was running statue class and really did not want to know my time. Next year they plan to have mile markers and I plan to run faster. A number of runners had amazingly fast times. Race officials told me that the course was not certified. One runner told us that part of the course was missed but I was assured that was not the case. Naturally, everyone with a PR swears by the course. Still, having raced some 1200 races, I am inclined to pronounce the course about 400 meters short. That would certainly be in line with scores of runners who had times two to four minutes faster than usual. I am certain my pace was slower than a full 10 miles would indicate.

Normally, this is the first race of The Maryland State RRCA series and awards are handed out to runners who had competed in three of the six races in the series the previous year. This year results from one of the races were delayed, as were the ensuing awards. How the series will proceed for 2004 is still in question. The results were delayed a little this year. Fortunately for all the runners, the college provided a great place to get out of the cold weather. Actually, the weather was a near perfect forty-five degrees. The blustery winds from yesterday were mostly gone or blocked by the many turns through the neighborhood. There were plenty of facilities for storage and lots of post-race food and drink. The bleachers in the auditorium gave runners plenty of spots to rest weary legs. The results were up on the Striders Web site at www.striders.net by early afternoon.

Many of the top runners had a great day. Twenty-nine men finished in under an hour, sort of a retrospective of the good old days. DCRRC's Glenn Mays and Joe Racine did the heavy work challenging the Falls Road racing team. Mays held on for one of the smallest margins of victory ever, 52:15 to 52:23. Howard County won the men's division with quantity, having five of the top ten runners and eight under an hour. Falls Road had seven runners under an hour for second place. DCRRC had five runners under an hour for third place. With all Montgomery County's size, they only managed to bring three sub 60:00 finishers this year.

The women's champion usually decides the women's team winner as only three women per team are scored. The scoring is by place, not time. Falls Road had three of the top ten including first and second place. Lee Dipietro (45) of Baltimore (photo above by Chris Caravoulias) delighted her team by being the oldest champion in race history, cruising home in 63:21. Montgomery County's depth gave them second place with their third runner finishing eleventh overall. Howard County rounded out the top three with three runners in the top ten. The other teams were far off in the distance.

So in combining the two teams, the Howard County Strider ended up on top, followed by Falls Road, with Montgomery edging out DC for third place.