Wow, what a Winter Series! We're all still at a complete loss to explain the record-shattering turnouts this year, as we didn't really do anything differently from the past couple years. Sure, the weather may have played a role... We didn't see a speck of snow in the air or on the ground during the whole series, and the lowest temperature we experienced was 35° at the Mystery Distance Run. But maybe the word has just been getting around about our low-key, inexpensive races. I think we've struck a good balance between the competitive and fun sides of the Winter Series, so there probably won't be any significant changes next year.
Some facts and figures about this year's series:
There were 324 individual participants in the series: 180 men and 144 women. This is an increase of a whopping 77% from last year's figure of 183 participants! And the series certainly has changed since my first series in '97-'98, when a mere 81 individuals competed.
Among those 324 runners were 177 SVR members (95 males and 82 females), up from 114 SVR participants last year. Still, 177 is only about 31% of our club's entire membership. To the other 69%: You're missing out on a lot of fun stuff!
The average number of participants per race also skyrocketed. This year we saw an average of 98.9 runners cross the finish line at each race, up from an average of 61.6 last year (and a recent low of 28.9 finishers per race in '98-'99). The high turnout trend began with race #2, the Jingle Bell 5K, where the previous record WS turnout of 78 (set at last year's Treasure Hunt 5K) was shattered by 51 finishers! Five other races in this year's series went over that previous record. Four of the races had over 100 finishers. Because of this, we had to switch the Winter Series standings from a 50-point system to a 100-point one!
Another change precipitated by the participation increase involved the age group awards (which returned to the series last year after a long absence). Originally we were going to give out one award in each ten-year age group, but after seeing how many runners ran the first four races, the SVR board voted to add a second award to each age group. We'll be looking into the possibility of adjusting the age group layout next year.
Eighteen people ran all eight races (or ran seven races and directed one), a figure which may be another Winter Series record. (The previous high, to the best of my knowledge, was 15 perfect attendees in the '99-'00 series.) Nancy Specht has the longest active perfect attendance streak-- she hasn't missed a Winter Series race in something like ten years! Randy Wingfield is next, with two years of perfect attendance. He's only missed one Winter Series race since I've been in the club.
About 22% of the participants ran four or more races. 16% percent ran only two races, and a whopping 57% of the participants did just one race. As Neal has noted in years past, it's amazing how many runners show up for only one event. Given, some of the one-race runners were out-of-towners and/or non-SVR members. But still, 30% of the SVR participants in the series ran just one race, and another 21% of the SVR participants ran only two races.
Although 44% of the individual participants in this year's series were female (a respectable percentage), the average woman ran fewer WS races (2.1 per woman) than the average man (2.7). And among SVR members only, the average SVR man ran 4.1 races, while the typical SVR woman averaged only 2.9 races each. Are the SVR women getting stuck with the kids on Saturday mornings while the SVR men go and run?
We picked up quite a few new SVR members during the series, and three of those new members won overall awards. Arlington's Susan Musante, who I believe does more bicycle racing than running, burst onto the SVR scene by winning the first five WS races this year on her way to the overall women's victory. Germantown, MD's Kammy Horne, who will soon be moving to Utah, had a short but sweet SVR career, taking the fifth overall women's award. And DC-area legend Ted Poulos missed a couple of the early WS races but ran strong to take second among the men.
As in the past few years, those of you who live in Clarke County had to do the least driving to get to all of the Winter Series races. The Jingle Bell 5K, the Mystery Distance Run, and the Treasure Hunt 5K were all held in Clarke County, and all of the other races were within a thirty-mile radius of Berryville.
And now, in the tradition of Neal Riemenschneider's past Winter Series reviews, here now are some personal awards (all in good fun, of course)!
Best Course: The Stickman's Tandems 5K. Mark Stickley's loop around the Sandy Hook region south of Strasburg has a lot of variety and some excellent views of Signal Knob (the northernmost point of the Massanutten Mountains) to the east.
Most Difficult Course: Lincoln Valentine's 3.4 Miler. It's funny that the hilliest Winter Series race is the only one held outside the hilly Shenandoah Valley! But at least we didn't have any wind this year to make the experience worse, and Raylene Scott always does a fine job with the race. We'll give a runner-up nod to Stan Brooks' new Kickoff Run 5K in Front Royal, which included two uphill stretches on the Dickey Ridge Trail and a brilliantly sadistic steep uphill at the finish. This year's Mystery Distance Run was also not easy; many folks expected a straight course back to the school, but few figured on the extra hilly loop through the grounds of Carter Hall!
Best Food: Neal R. always gives the nod to Raylene Scott for the bagels and cream cheese she always has at the Lincoln race. This year, though, I gotta call it a tie between Lincoln, the Predicted Time 5K, and the Claymont Retro Ramble 5K, as Lorie Weimar & Kathy Manzo were nice enough to bring fresh bagels to the latter two events.
Worst Turnout: Although the Kickoff Run had the fewest participants of any Winter Series race this year (67), the Predicted Time 5K in Winchester takes this one hands down. True, 86 finishers were more than we've ever seen at that race. But given that over 280 SVR members live in Winchester or Frederick County, it amazed me that the only WS race held in Winchester could outdraw only two of the other Winter Series races this year.
Best Canine Turnout: The Jingle Bell 5K. Tina Gray, Susan Smith, Sheri Kreuz, Ruth Riemenschneider, and Julie Kerby were all seen tromping around the Blandy course with dogs in tow (or perhaps being towed by dogs). Sheri had two dogs, so that brought the canine participant total to six!
Most Unusual Race Start: Stan Brooks got the Kickoff Run underway by (what else?) kicking a Nerf football towards the starting line.
Best Prize: The Claymont Retro Ramble's lava lamp, of course! I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I'm also fond of the clocks I've made for the Predicted Time 5K over the last couple years. I bought clocks from Staples, took 'em apart, printed up a new clock face with the SVR logo on it, and reassembled 'em. A fine addition to any home or office.
Best Accidental Victory: Jill Devereux, who was the only runner to predict her time exactly at the Predicted Time 5K. She finished in 28:05, but that wasn't quite what she wrote down as her prediction. Possibly due to a temporary case of brain freeze, Jill guessed "27:65"! Nevertheless, 27 minutes 65 seconds equals 28:05, and thus Jill was the winner!
Hardiest Runners: The riders of Bus #1 at the Mystery Distance Run. An unprecedented turnout at this normally low-attended point-to-point event required bus driver Tom Robb to make two trips to the starting line. A number of brave souls volunteered to ride the first bus and stand around in the cold for ten or fifteen minutes while Tom went back to get everyone else. (Always trying to stir up trouble, your author tried to get these hardy souls to boo everyone on Bus #2 when the bus returned, but most of the Bus #1 folks were too nice for that.)
The Jim Shaughnessy Award (a.k.a. the Warm-Blooded Award): Although few of this year's WS races were downright cold, we still have to acknowledge perennial winner John Rice for continuing to dress in a singlet and shorts no matter what the temperature. I also got a bit chilled looking at Rachel Eisenfeld at the Treasure Hunt 5K!
Most Overdressed: We're still trying to track down the identity of the gentleman who had his face covered at almost every race he ran, but we're fairly certain it was Guy Tomberlin. (At least Guy's eyes weren't covered. He wrote on his Claymont finish card that his favorite aspect of the Winter Series was "being able to see Peter Blank cross the finish line".)
Loudest Outfit: You'd think the loudest outfit would've been seen at the Claymont Retro Ramble (where the mother-and-son duo of Ann and Dillon Robb looked pretty outrageous), but I gotta pick Chuck Raper's red and white affair at the Mystery Distance Run. The clash of horizontal and vertical stripes was enough to give anyone a headache.
The Festooning Award: To Keith Kreuz. First, in an attempt to guess the correct distance of the Mystery Distance Run course, Keith festooned the back of his Mystery Distance Run finish card with more calculations than any other participant. (Alas, Keith's guess was only 42nd best out of the 75 runners.) Then at the Lincoln Valentine's 3.4 Miler, Keith showed up in a homemade shirt festooned with hearts and reading, "I LOVE SHERI", complete with an amusing picture of his wife wearing a flannel nightgown pinned to the front of the shirt.
Best Volunteer: It's impossible to pick one, because every volunteer helps make each race that much better. You can't put on a great race without having people step forward to help you! So on behalf of all the Winter Series race directors, I want to sincerely thank each and every person who worked at the registration tables, served as course marshals, timed runners at the finish, helped tally results, and did all of the little things which made this year's series such a success.
And on that note, let's also thank the race directors who put the series together: Stan Brooks, Patrick & Krista Farris, Jen Peachey, Leigh Brown, Mark Stickley, Raylene Scott, me, and Rick & Julie Kerby... Especially Rick, who not only helped host the kooky 1970s-themed Claymont Retro Ramble 5K, but who also served for a second year as the overall Winter Series director. As your new vice president (geez, what were y'all thinking when you voted me in??), I'll be taking the Winter Series reins for the next two years. So if any of you have any ideas or want to put on a race, do feel free to get in touch with me at kbrown@rmaonline.net or (540) 635-7539. And start training now, 'coz the 2002-2003 SVR Winter Series is only eight months away!
