The spring rankings is typically one of the largest sets of rankings in any given year, and 2002 was no exception. The spring rankings, with a plethora of exciting big races, turned out more head-to-head competition than usual, and, as a result, some very fast times. Due to the large number of head-to-head meetings between age group rivals, these rankings rely very heavily on a runner's season-best performance since quite often when these rivals did battle, they often crossed the finish line in different sequences at different races. In addition, it should be noted that the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, a hotbed of head-to-head competition and a course on which many of the fastest 10K equivalent times were run, played a particularly large role in determining these rankings. In addition, the St. Patrick's Day 10K, the Shamrock 8K, the Elizabeth River Run, and the Sallie Mae 10K all figured very prominently in the rankings.

Women's Spring 2002 Rankings

Men's Spring 2002 Rankings

We hope you find these rankings exciting, and for those of you included in them, we hope they serve as motivation to keep running strong. For those not ranked, perhaps they will serve as extra incentive to improve your times to become a ranked runner.

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 Washington Running Report 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, the difference of one or two places in the rankings may indicate a very small difference between runners.

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

1. Have 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. Have 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 each runner's name, gender, age, and time. We prefer the results to also include hometown and placement information. Incomplete information has been a challenge, and in these rankings we were forced to omit two large races: the O'Doul's 5K and the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K, due to the fact that there were no genders listed in the race results.

4. Have 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: kathy@runwashington.com.

Races Used in this Ranking Period:

Arlington YMCA Mothers Day 10K
Azalea Fest 8K
Billy Korrow 5K
Bita's 5K
Bright Beginnings 5K (*used for head-to-head competition
       and qualifying times only; course was improperly 
       marshaled and participants ran long)
Cabin John 5K
Capitol Hill Classic 10K
Cassidy Pinkard Brain Tumor Society 5K
Carter's Grove 5K/8 Miler
Cherry Pit Ten Miler
Clyde's American 10K
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler 
Elizabeth River Run 10K
Fairlington Firehouse 5K
Fort Eustis 10K
Fund Run 5K
Garrett's Run 5K
George Washington Parkway Classic Ten Miler
Jog 'n' Jam for America's Bravest 5K
John Robbins Organ Donor 8K
Mantua Raccoon Run 5K
Maryland Day Run for Hospice 10K/5K
May Day 5K
Mayfest 8K
MCRRC Piece of Cake 10K
Metro Run & Walk 5K for Women
North Stafford HS Scholarship 
Parklawn Classic 5 Miler
Patriot's Cup 8K
Pike's Peek 10K 
Plaza America Family 5K
Port to Fort 4 Miler
Preakness 10K/5K
Queens Lake 5K
Race for Technology Tomorrow 5K
Reach Out and Run 5K
Richmond Race for the Cure
Run vs. Row 10K
Run with the Eagles 5K
Sallie Mae 10K
Sally Nyborg Loop for Lupus 5K
Sandburg Pantherlon 5K
Shamrock Marathon, 8K & Masters 8K
Shamrock Run 5K
St Paddy's Day 5K Race
St Patrick's Day 10K 
Super Sligo 4 Miler
University Park Azalea Classic 5K
Washington DC Marathon 
Westfield 5K