With the 5K high school team entries now closed and just over two weeks left for runners of all ages to register in the open 5K or the half marathon for the September 28-29th event, it is clear that the 5K high school portion of 2007 McDonald's X- Country Festival at Maymont has become a must do destination for many of the East Coast's most competitive programs.

"In my lifetime, there's never been a better cross country field assembled in this state," says Race Director Dan Ward. "I've been focused on cross country since 1974 and this is the strongest one I can ever recall."

One hundred ninety-five teams from 11 states and the District of Columbia have registered 2,412 runners online and organizers believe that number will swell to 2,450 entries when faxed entries are tallied. Teams from Colorado, Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Washington, DC will travel to Richmond for the Sports Backers-organized festival which has grown in stature since its inception in 2003. The invitational division, which features the event's marquis runners, has 154 boys and 119 girls.

High school team events are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, September 29th. Open events, which include a one- mile kids' run for elementary school runners and an open 5K will be held Friday, September 28th starting at 5:30 p.m. The open 13.1-mile half marathon will start at 7:00 a.m. Saturday, followed by an open 3K race for middle school boys and girls at 8:50 a.m.

Part of the event's appeal is the stature of the competition; part of the appeal is the festival atmosphere that features live bands; and part of the appeal is the course that traverses Maymont Park's hills and dales. "You've got to be smart on this course," said Ward. "You can't just think you'll kill the course, the course will kill you."

The top girls' teams from Maryland (Eleanor Roosevelt, #13 in the United States), Delaware (Tatnall), and South Carolina (Mauldin) will challenge Midlothian, which is ranked 2nd in the United States and tops in Virginia. Girls to watch are Juliet Bottorf, of Tatnall, Kathleen and Leia Lautzenheiser, twin sisters from Midlothian, and Maryland runner Louisa Hannallah, of Winston Churchill. The top boys' teams from Ohio (Medina), North Carolina (Mooresville), and Georgia (Walton) will be gunning for the Midlothian boys' squad, now ranked 10th in the United States. Boys expected to excel are Grif Graves, of Abingdon, Andrew Colley, of Jamestown, Pete Dorrell, of Blacksburg, and Jason Witt of Midlothian.

"It's a first-class event for everybody," says Ward. "McDonald's and the Sports Backers do a great job of putting the kids on a pedestal and making them feel like rock stars. And the teams that are nationally or regionally conscious want to be here."

For more information on the McDonald's X-country Festival at Maymont go to www.sportsbackers.org..