RRCA Club Challenge 10m Sunday, February 25th, 2024, Howard Community College BY CASEY RAYBURG, ANNAPOLIS STRIDERS TEAM CAPTAIN
T he RRCA Club Challenge took place on Sunday, February 25th, 2024 in Columbia, Maryland with sunny skies and a crisp 23F starting temperature. In fact, a water main froze and burst 3.5 miles into the course, threatening to divert the runners, but this would not stop the determined competitors.
Columbia, MD. This race is a low-key, no- frills event designed to allow the incredible RRCA running clubs of Maryland and the District to wage battle and determine who’s supreme and has bragging rights… at least for the year!” The winning team for women, men, and coed competitions was the George-
Please join us in February 2025 at Howard Community College for the next team compe- tition. You must be a current member of the Annapolis Striders and be able to complete the ten mile course in 2 hours and 10 minutes to enter. Thank you to everyone who partic- ipated as a runner, volunteer, photographer, or supporter! As the team captain for my third year, I have seen the enthusiasm and participation level grow each year within the club. Additionally, thank you to the Annapolis Striders Board of Directors who approved a $20 reimbursement for every registered club member that participated this year, cutting the entry fee in half.
This was the first year since 2020 in which the Annapolis Striders Team competed in every competition category. The RRCA Club Chal-
town Running Club, an elite run- ning team based in Washing- ton, D.C. The Annapolis Striders provided tough competition, but ended up a little further down in the standings. Both in the women’s compe- tition and men’s competition, the
lenge is unique in that awards are presented to the fastest teams and there are very few indi- vidual
Annapolis Striders took 10th out of 14 teams. As a coed team, the Annapolis Striders took 9th place out of 12 teams. Our highest placing category was the Male Grand Masters (50+ years old) where we took 4th of 9 teams. Nice work gentlemen! ( Ken Zimmerman, David Phipps, Daniel Vasquez Cardona, Joseph Bencivenga, Christopher Mairs, Zach Wood, Robert Cawood, Mitch Keiler, Ross Heisman, Daniel Morrissey, Venkata Madduri, Peter Cooper, Michael Elkonoh, Mark Hamilton, and Tom Lyden ). Our highest placing women’s team was the under 40 group which didn’t even have enough runners until the last day of registration. They placed 8th of 11 teams. ( Alyssa Cook, Katharine Ahrens, Nicole Dawson, Erica Simpson, and Anna Cawood ). Overall, our fastest runners on the day were Ken Zimmerman (1:03:37) and Alyssa Cook (1:06:23).
awards given. The three age groups for the race are under 40, 40-49, and 50+, with each category separated by gender as well. There is also an overall female team, male team, and coed team competition. In the age group categories, the four fastest team members are scored with two additional runners eli- gible to be displacers. In the overall women and overall men categories, the top six are counted with two additional displacers. In the coed competition, the top six women and six men are counted with two displacers for each gender. The race guide explains it much more thoroughly, but basically if you bring really fast runners, your team does well. A short description of the course from the 2024 Runners Guide describes the course as, “not for the faint of heart. It is a very hilly, challenging route that winds through
6 THE STREAK I A PUBLICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE ANNAPOLIS STRIDERS
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