Shenandoah Valley Cross Country League - Race 1 - 5k (A Real XC 2020

Winchester, VA

Meet Information

A great chance for athletes to stay sharp during the COVID pandemic. We will be following appropriate COVID protocol.

For additional information and registration, please visit: https://www.shenandoahvalleyxcleague.com/

Real-Time Results Link



Who can run?


This is an open meet for anyone wishing to run. The purpose of this series is to provide a safe opportunity for all runners, especially those at the middle school, high school, and college and post collegiate levels to compete and keep their competitive edge. The cross country series will certainly have a competitive atmosphere on a very well established and maintained course. In short, it'll be the closest thing to a real cross country experience permitted during the pandemic that you'll find anywhere.



Series Format:


Four Regular Season Races

Friday, September 25th, 2020 @ 6:00 pm 5,000 meters

Friday, October 9th, 2020 @ 5:30 pm 5,000 meters

Friday, October 23rd, 2020 @ 5:30 pm 3,000 meters

Saturday, November 14th, 2020 @ 10:00 am 6,000 meters

End of Season Championship Race

Saturday, November 21st, 2020 @ 10:00 am 5,000 meters



Starting Format:


All five meets will consist of waves of 50 athletes starting at a time on

2 minute staggers. The starting line will be 75m wide, with each

athlete being assigned to a 1.5m starting box to promote social

distancing.

 

How to Register and Associated Costs: please visit https://www.shenandoahvalleyxcleague.com/

The league will cost $100 per athlete, and will guarantee entry to the four regular season meets plus series T-shirt.

Depending on field sizes, there will be a limited number of openings for participants wishing to register for single meets. We will allow day of registration if one wishes to run an individual race, but will automatically be placed in an open wave going last. A singular race will cost $30 to enter. There is no entry fee for the athletes who qualify for the Championship meet. 



Qualifying for Championship

Top 35 males and top 35 females, plus the next 5 in each age group based on collective season race time total.

Must race all four regular season races in order to qualify for the Championship

If there are not 5 in a particular age group, we will pull the remaining fastest collective times in order to fill the championship field to 50 athletes per gender.



Awards (for Championship Meet only):


Final season awards will be mailed and/or available for pick up, no award ceremony on site.

Trophy to male / female league champion

Medals to top 10 overall.

1st place medal to age group champion (with the exception of the overall champion)



COVID protocols that will be enforced for the race series:

  • The total entry field will be limited to 250 athletes, breaking that field up into 5x 50 athlete waves.
  • The park will open exactly 90 minutes prior to each meet, and close exactly 60 minutes from final finisher. Warm up, race, cool down, go home.
  • Our starting line is 90 meters wide. We plan to put 50 runners on the starting line, spread out over that 90 meters (which is one runner every 5' 10").
  • Each wave will start 2 minutes apart, seeded fastest to slowest, to ensure that no one "catches up" to the wave in front of them.
  • The startline we utilize at Kernstown is 675 meters before the first turn, so not only are the athletes already spaced out almost 6 feet at the starting line, but the first 3 minutes of the race will spread the runners out even further as they settle into their comfortable race pace.
  • When checking in to their assigned wave, in addition to the spread out starting line, each separate wave will be minimum 50 meters apart from the next.
  • NO SPECTATORS will be allowed north of the main road in KBA where the running will take place. One of the largest issues in athletics is spectator control. If we have an opportunity to allow an athletic event to take place, the parents, friends, significant others, etc need to not be selfish and understand they just will not be allowed if this is to take place in order to maintain social distancing protocols. If 16 year old Bobby needs his mom to drive him to the race, she will need to wait in the parking lot for Bobby to finish.
  • We will have masked parking lot attendants enforcing social distancing within the parking lot area for any spectators/drivers waiting for their athlete to finish.
  • With the exception of warming up, racing, and cooling down, every human on property must wear a mask, even after warming up, but waiting in corral for their next wave to run. Athletes may remove their mask when their wave moves up to the starting line. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to keep a mask on at ALL TIMES.
  • There will be no awards ceremony, or any other social gathering on property. Show up, warm up, race, cool down, go home. -Awards can be individually picked up at a later date from the Kernstown Battlefield Visitors Center Saturdays/Sundays -between 10am to 4pm.
  • The athletes will wear color coded bib numbers with two seperate 15' wide finish lines based on that color bib number to further social distance at the end of the race. This will help prevent chaos that typically happens at the end of the race in the finish corral of too many athletes finishing at same time in a small area.
  • We will have two certified athletic trainers on site to assist with any post race issues.

  • We will require all athletes to supply their own water. Our athletic trainers will have cases of sealed water bottles for emergencies.
  • Volunteers (roughly 15 people) will be masked, and aiding in enforcing all of these protocols.

  • We will also have hand sanitation stations inside the finish corral, the clerking corral, and entering/exiting the parking lot to cross the street onto the north side of the KBA property.
  • In addition, a symptom check form (temperature, symptoms, exposure to COVID+, etc) will be required the day of each race from the athlete in order to participate.