Craig Roodenburg unveiled his club's (MCRRC) new banner.

The Maryland RRCA Club Challenge 10M returned this year in Columbia, MD with a bang. The race was canceled last year due to inclement weather. Only one other time in the last twenty years (1993) has the race not been held. It is the flagship race for the ten- race Maryland State Championship Series. Nearly all the major RRCA running clubs meet at Howard County Community College to duke it out for top club status. Last year's champion, Howard County, won today's race. It was not too much a surprise; the Striders are familiar with weekly races to the ups and downs as well as cul de sacs and snakelike bike paths that permeate the city.

The ten-race series is scored for individuals and for teams. The teams include open, masters, and grandmasters, both men and women. The individual awards have been extended for 2008 to include all the five year age groups after 19 & younger and before 80 and older. The top three runners earned cash for 2007 with all the age group winners earning a very nice, large RRCA gym bag.

The race featured 544 finishers from nearly a dozen clubs across the state. Though virtually all the racers were club members there were six of the top 16 finishers ran unattached. The competition was fierce for the hilly course, though the windless forty degree day played into their hands for fast times. Thirty-five runners were swifter than an hour for the ten miles. Top ranked Stephen Crane of Silver Spring, MD ran away from the field for a nice 53:28 win. To spell out the degree of difficulty for this course Crane ran 49:45 at the GW Parkway Classic 10 Mile and 50:02 at Credit Union Cherry Blossom last year. With 11 of the top twenty runners from Howard County, they won handily. Kipchirchir Bitok (27) of Baltimore, MD was the runner-up for the Falls Road Running Club. He scooted playfully away from Kent Werner (28) of Columbia, MD by a second in 54:35. Werner led the charge for the Striders.

Last year's Masters Runner of the Year in the Washington Running Report Runner Rankings Doug Mock won in 14th place with 57:28 but he was not a lock. Steven Levin (45) of Reisterstown, MD was on his heels finishing in 57:34. The Montgomery County Road Runners again fielded the largest team but only Kevin Yates (36) of Olney, MD was in the top twenty, running 58:07. Though fourth place RASAC had the next five finishers not in the top two teams, MCRRC outlasted them to secure third place.

Top Teams

Pl  Team                                Pts
 1. Howard County Striders              456
 2. Falls Road Running                  732
 3. Montgomery County RRC              1263
 4. RASAC                              1425
 5. Baltimore RRC                      1487
 6. DCRRC                              2041
 7. Frederick Steeplechasers           2619
 8. Westminster RRC                    2641
 9. Annapolis Striders                 3635
10. Prince Georges RRC                 5156

For the women, quantity has not reached this race as much as the running community in general. Only four women are required for a team to score. This makes the top runners' scores even more valuable. The top four women were all close. Eileen Fleck (31) of Baltimore, MD pulled away on the "extra long" ninth mile and won in 1:04:34. Jessica Laurent (27) of Annapolis, MD finished just ahead of Sherry Stick (29), running for the Westminster Road Runners 1:04:55 to 1:05:01. It should be noted that Stick, who has been the overall runner of either sex more than once in races in the past two years, was the top WRC runner of either sex in this race. Katie Breitenbach of Elkridge, MD finished fourth in 1:05:16 to help sew up the women's title. The fifth woman was former multiple overall winner of the event. Now thirty-nine, Denise Knickman of Baltimore, MD raced home in 1:05:58.

Elizabeth Feldman (40) of Chevy Chase, MD improved on her masters best time of 2008 run in Kensington in January with another win here in 1:06:14. Cindy Conant (46) of Kensington, MD was not far back in 1:06:57.

Paul Peterson (53) was the top grandmaster in 1:02:45, narrowly beating to Striders John Chall (1:03:01) and Joe Hanle (1:03:08). The top woman was Doris Windsand-Dausman of Frederick, MD in 1:12:01.

After the race and the series awards were presented the Club presidents and officials met with Maryland State Representative Phil Lang (in photo with series awards gym bag on the table). They addressed the upcoming Championship Series as well as the state's Women's Distance Festival races. Lang updated the meeting with news of the RRCA Convention in May, noting that there may be a new RRCA President and definitely a new Eastern Region leader. The meeting gave the clubs an opportunity to compare notes and policies to help strengthen the clubs and keep them up to date. Craig Roodenburg unveiled his club's (MCRRC) new banner to show runners that wearing headphones is not approved for races. Safety comes first and runners may be disqualified if they run with headphones, which is contrary to RRCA rules.

In photo below, club leaders discuss running in Maryland.

For more information about Maryland RRCA and its race series go the Home Page.

For race day results of the Maryland RRCA Club Challenge 10M.