On Tuesday evening, August 26 at Oregon Ridge State Park in Hunt Valley, Maryland, Running Maryland and Digital Sports are teaming up to set up the Inaugural Cross Country Trials.
The trials will be a warm up race for high school students who want to see what type of shape they are in and for coaches to guage their athletes in a race type situation. The coure will follow the MIAA/IAAM championship course in the park.
There will be three races during the evening. At 6:30PM, a two mile middle and elementary school race will go off. This event is for all those brothers and sisters of the high schoolers to see if they have what it takes to be a varsity runner when they enter high school.
At 7:00PM, the high school 5K race will take place. If the numbers warrant splitting the race, we will run the boys race at 7:00 and the girls race will go off at 7:25.
The last event of the evening will be an open race for those not quite in high school any longer, but still wanting to relive their youth by running a true cross country race.
Falls Road Running Store of Mount Vernon will also be holding their annual spike night that evening. They will be selling the most popular cross country spikes at a discounted price.
Following the races, there will be a large screen set up and the movie
"Without Limits" will be shown in the open. There will also be plenty of food and refreshments for the athletes following the awards ceremony.
Each athlete will receive a commemorative T-shirt with their entry, plus other considerations which will be announced shortly.
Awards will be given in the middle school category for the top 10 male and female finishers. The high school category will also have awards for top 10 male and female finishers. The open division will have the top 3 male and female finishers, plus the top 10 under 40 and top 10 over 40, male and female.
There will also be videos of the races and photos following the race, plus interviews, stories, complete results and all the coverage that you expect from Running Maryland.
Fees for the event will be $9.00 for the middle school race, early entry - and $12.00 on race day. The fees for the high school and open races are $12.00 early entry and $20.00 on race day.
Athletes will be able to enter by mailing in an application or on-line. Registration opens next week and entries will be limited, so enter early.
Look for additional information, sponsor announcements and sign up information by July 4th. Applications will also be available at road races in your area.