The fall rankings are always one of the largest and most anticipated sets of rankings. Fall turns Washington, Maryland, and Virgina into a runner's paradise with a wide variety of races to suit runners who favor all distances, locations, and terrains. For those who like short dashes, runs like the Paul VI Runfest and the Ntelos 8K provide top-notch competition for both local and professional runners. For those looking to go a little longer, fall brings great 10K races, such as the Georgetown Classic 10K. For those who like longer races, the Norfolk Half Marathon, the Army Ten Miler are exciting, popular events. And, for the marathoners in the crowd, fall brings both large and small marathons--from the enormously popular Marine Corps Marathon, to the smaller yet still very competitive Richmond and Baltimore Marathons, to the brand new Trigon Bay Bridge Marathon, and the scenic Marathon in the Parks. Truly, anyone who likes to run can find at least two races that meet their fancy!

And, from these rankings, it is clear that people are back to running, and excited about it. These rankings include more than 80 races run in our tri-state area, with more than 2,200 qualifying times. In the men's rankings, 184 men earned the required two qualifying times, while on the women's side, we had 152 qualifying runners. While we do discount professional runners in these rankings and out-of-area racers who came to our area primarily for the big military sponsored races, there was certainly still a great deal of exciting competition from local runners who brought their best to the starting line at all these races.

Women's Autumn 2002 Rankings

Men's Autumn 2002 Rankings

Before we begin, here are just a few words about how to get ranked, for those of you who are not sure exactly what you need to accomplish to find your name in the Runner Rankings.

How to Get Ranked
First, one must meet the qualifying time twice in at least two included races in a given ranking period. A great many factors go into compiling these rankings--best performance in a season, head-to-head competition, average times, number of races included, and performance at big races. Please consider that in every age group we must make "judgment calls" as many of the talented runners included in these rankings are very close in ability and performance and there is no hard and fast way to determine who had the better season. Keep in mind that the difference of one or two places in the rankings may indicate only a very small difference between runners.

In order for a race to be included in the rankings, the race must have:

1. Full race results available on the Web, or submitted to the Washington Running Report. While we try to include all the results we can, if we don't know about your race, or where to find its results, it is less likely that your race will be included in the rankings.

2. Been run in Virginia, Washington, DC, or Maryland. At this time, there are too many races for us to consider races outside this area.

3. Include runners' name, gender, age, and time. We prefer the results to also include hometown and placement information.

4. At least 100 participants. The only exception to this rule is if two (or more) races with less than 100 participants each, but with a total of at least 100 runners, are run on the same course. We have made this exception because we feel that it punishes smaller club runs that offer multiple distances in an attempt to appeal to a wider array of runners, if we require each distance to have 100 participants.

Here are the 10K qualifying times for the different divisions.

All race distances are converted to 10K equivalents:

Division   Men    Women
Open	  34:20	  41:15
35-39	  36:40	  44:10
40-44	  38:20	  46:05
45-49	  39:45	  48:45
50-54	  42:00	  51:45
55-59	  43:55	  54:30
60-64	  49:45	  62:05
65-69	  52:50	  75:00
70-74	  56:20	  89:40
75-99	  95:00	  99:00

If you have any questions about the Washington Running Report Runner Rankings, please drop a line to the Editor.

Races Used in this Ranking Period

3M 5K: Racing to Save Lives
5K Run for Hospice at Ford's Colony
Arlington 9/11 Memorial 5K - Women
Arlington YMCA Trick or Trot 5K
Army Ten Miler 
Autumn Glory 5K
Autumn Harvest 10K
Bachman Valley Half Marathon
Baltimore Women's Classic 5K
Baltimore's Comcast Marathon
Becca's Run 5K
BWI Airport 5K
Cape Henry 15K
Dare To Discover Baer 5K
Downs Park Trail Run 5M
Edgemoor Classic 5K
Fair Lakes 8K
Georgetown Classic 10K 
Goodloe Byron Memorial 15K
Great Allegeny 15K
Great Frederick Fair 5K
Harrisonburg 10 Miler
Harrisonburg 5K
Hilton Village 5K
IND Race for Energy 5K
Jones Falls 8K Express
Jug Bay 10K
Kensington 8K
Kings Charter 8K
Larchmont RAT Race 5K
LAWS Run for the Shelter Half Marathon & 5K
Little Bennett Cross Country 5K
Marathon in the Parks
Marine Corps Marathon
Marine Corps Marathon 5K
Metric 5K
Midlothian Blaze 5K
Mulberry Island Half Marathon 
National Capital 20 Miler
National Press Club 5K
Norfolk Half Marathon
Norfolk Jingle Bell 5K
Northern Central Trail Half Marathon
Ntelos 8K
Old Dominion University 5K
Parkville 5K Pub Run
Paul VI Runfest 5K
Pepsi 10K
Police Pace 5K
Poolesville 5K
Quantico Half Marathon
Race at the Ridge 5K
Race for Cooperative Development 5K
Red Ribbon 5K
Richmond Marathon - Men
ROCKS 5 Miler
Rocky Mount 5K
Run for Holiday House 5K
Run for the Home
Run Round Robinson 5K
Run Through the Grapevine 8K
Run to Remember 5K 
Run With the Gators 5K
Seaside 10 Miles
Seaside 5K
Solomon's Island 5K Run Walk for Cancer
Somerset Back to School 8K
Spring Valley/Sumner 5K Classic
Stop the Clock 5K
Tidewater Race for the Cure 5K
Toys for Tots 5K
Trigon Bay Bridge Marathon
United We Stand 10K
VA Runner Blue & Gray Half Marathon
Van Metre 5 Mile Run for Children's Hospital
Vanguard Run for Recovery 5K
Virginia 10 Miler
Virginia 10 Miler 4 Mile Run
Virginia Naturally  5K
Wings Over Loudoun 10K
Women's Distance Festival 5K
Yorktown Battlefield 10M & 5K
Zack's 5K Race Against Childhood Cancer 5K