The East Coast Spring Open 2021

The East Coast Spring Open

The East Coast Spring Open at Pole Green Park is open to all high school and middle school aged athletes. This race is NOT VHSL sanctioned and is open to all athletes from all states. Athletes can run for their club team or unattached. The race will take place on the upper course.

Introduction

Hello and welcome to The East Coast Spring Open XC race. We look forward to a great day of racing. First and foremost, meet management wants to remind everyone that this race is being held under very special circumstances and we, as a running community are responsible for its success. Please follow the guidelines below and remember one thing above all else.....this race is for the kids!

Pole Green Park will strictly enforce the 250 person limit for our event. If you are a coach, please impress upon your athletes and parents that this race is a VERY special circumstance and we simply cannot have many spectators. For this reason we ask that each athlete only bring their parents for spectating. Please do not bring your family of 6. As race director, I cannot overstate the importance of keeping our numbers small. More detailed information will follow once athletes register.

We will be following the Hanover County Parks and Recreation Phase 3 athletic field use protocol. To ensure the safety of our athletes, coaches, staff and spectators face coverings will be required at all times. Athletes can remove masks during warm up, racing, and cool down.

• Physical distancing for all players, coaches and spectators on and off the course
• At packet pickup, all athletes and coaches are required to fill out a 4 question Corona virus questionnaire
• This is a private event therefore FACE COVERINGS WILL BE WORN AT ALL TIMES for NON ATHLETES

Eligibility

• Open to club teams and unattached runners
• You CANNOT compete for your high school or middle school team
• Open to High school and Middle school aged runners
• Runners from any state are welcome to run
• Think of this as a local Turkey Trot 5K or similar. All kids are welcome to run and cannot be restricted by their school or county. This race is NOT sanctioned

Payment

• Cost to enter is $15/athlete
• Due to entry limits, I cannot offer a team rate. Once COVID restrictions are lifted we will offer a team rate
• All payments are required before race day
• NO payments will be accepted at Pole Green Park
• Athletes will not be given a bib until payment is received
• Send payments to

• PayPal @ Timcrytser@gmail.com

Schedule (Subject to change depending on race registrations)

6:30 a.m.- Course opens

8:00 a.m.- Open Girls B 5K (waves of 25 athletes)

9:00 a.m.- Open Boys B 5K (waves of 25 athletes)

10:00 a.m.- Championship Girls 5k (waves of 25 athletes)

11:00 p.m.- Championship Boys 5K (waves of 25 athletes)

12:00 p.m.- Open Girls A 5K (waves of 25 athletes)

1:00 p.m.- Open Boys A 5K (waves of 25 athletes)

2:00 p.m.- Middle School Girls 4K (waves of 25 athletes)

3:00 p.m.- Middle School Boys 4K (waves of 25 athletes)

Additional races will be added as current races fill to capacity.

Arrival Times and Procedures

As set by the State of VA, Pole Green Park is limited to 250 people per gathering. Please do NOT arrive more than 1 hour before your scheduled race.

For those not familiar with Pole Green Park, the 5K course is located at the very back of the facility. Once you enter the Park from Pole Green Road, drive approximately 1.5 mile to the back of the facility. To gain entry to the parking lot, all people in each car will be counted. Each athlete is limited to 2 accompanying spectators. Coaches are considered spectators so if you plan to bring your coach, he or she will count as one of your spectators. If possible, please only bring one spectator.

Each person in the car will be given a colored wrist band. The color of the wrist band corresponds with each race throughout the day. This will allow volunteers to visually determine who should and should not be in the park at any particular time. Athletes are required to leave the park within 1 hour of the start of their race.

Families with runners in several races will present a unique challenge. If for example, a family has a runner in the Champion Girls race and the Champion Boys race, we would ask that, if possible, you arrive in separate cars at the time scheduled. If, for car pooling purposes you cannot drive separate cars, the parking attendant will allow entry but we would ask the runner who is entering the park early to remain in the parked car until they are scheduled to enter. For families with kids in races that are several hours apart, we would ask that the athlete who is not running remain in the car while their sibling runs. In this case, parents would be given a wrist band for each race.

Scoring: