Agricultural Farm Park tops course rankings

JV boys race the 2014 DC-MD Private Schools State Championship. Photo: Dan DiFonzo

Race like the pros. That’s what high school runners have been able to do whenever they spike up at the Agricultural Farm Park in Derwood, Md. The Montgomery County-managed facility played host to the 2009 USATF Cross Country Championships, and it also led the composite scores of MoCo Running’s inaugural course ranking.

A collaboration between MoCo Running and RunWashington, this was vastly Kevin Milsted’s brainchild. We surveyed coaches from around the D.C. area and members of the All-RunWashington preseason teams. This gave us a solid and well-informed sample, many of whom were able to evaluate at least one of the nine courses that made the final.

You can read Kevin’s analysis in robust detail here. He also examines the survey’s limitations and potential for improvement here.

It’s all worth the time for anyone interested in the courses that make up some of the most popular races around the D.C. area.

The Oatlands Plantation course in Leesburg, Va., seen here during the 2017 Oatlands Invitational, plays host to one of the D.C. area’s top invitationals and ranked second overall in the survey. Photo: Charlie Ban

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