Once again it is time for the "Best Of" edition of Runner Rankings. Compiling the 2002 year-end rankings gave us a great look back on a year of top amateur running in the Washington, DC area. As always, it seems that the runners get more prolific, faster, and more exciting with every passing year. In compiling these results throughout the year, we included thousands of qualifying times, and considered runners from pre-teens to octogenarians. In all, we had more than 7,500 times run this year at about 300 qualifying races held in the tri-state area. All those included in these rankings have proven their consistency by earning rankings in at least two ranking periods.

As a reminder, we implore the runners and race directors that we work with to be patient, as we sort through the thousands of times on record. Please remember that you can help us by always using the same version and spelling of your name whenever you enter a race, and to make sure you include your age on your race entry. If you notice a mistake in the official results, please let us know so we can investigate and assure you get proper credit for that race.

Men's Best of 2002 Rankings

Women's Best of 2002 Rankings

Schedule for WRR Runner Rankings
Here is the schedule of ranking periods for the coming year, and the issue in which they will be reported:

Winter Runner Rankings, November 23, 2002 to March 14, 2003 - reported May-June '03

Spring Runner Rankings, March 15, 2003 to May 18, 2003 - reported July-August '03

Summer Runner Rankings, May 19 to September 1 - reported November-December '03

Fall Runner Rankings, September 2 to November 16 - reported January-February '04

Best of 2003 - reported March-April '04.

How to Get Ranked
For those of you new to the area, or who are still working toward earning your first ranking, here is a little information on what it takes to get ranked.

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--head-to-head competition, average times, number of races included, and performance at big races. We also took into account the number of qualifying times posted, as well as, in some cases, the variety of race distances tackled.

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.

Here are the 10K qualifying times for the different divisions. All 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 want to be ranked and find yourself running races out of the area, or for some reason feel you aren't getting proper consideration, please drop a line to the Washington Running Report via e-mail to the Editor: Kathy Freedman.