Ham City Hustle Invitational 2025

This early invitational will serve as a great Rust-Buster for your teams!  We'll have an A Race and a B/JV Race each for Boys and Girls on our beautiful, fun 5000m Course, which has hosted the 4A Regional Championship Meet for the past 6 years. The A Races will be limited to 10 runners per team per gender and the B Races will allow unlimited runners and serve as our JV Races, with 8^th graders allowed (No 7^th grade or lower). We added over 100 more runners last year from our first year, so now after 2 very successful events in a row, and due to this being one of the VERY BEST TRUE XC COURSES in the entire southern part of the state, WE ANTICIPATE HIGH REGISTRATION, SO DO NOT DELAY!

SCHEDULE:

Thur.  9/4, 5pm - Registration Closes

Sat. 9/26 Schedule:

7:15am - Bus and Spectator Parking Lot Opens

7:30am - Course Open for warm-up and course preview until 8:45am.  

8:00-8:30am - Team Check-in/Packet Pickup/Course Maps - In main field adjacent to Finish Line

8:30am - Coaches Meeting - In main field near Check-in

9:00am - Girls A/Varsity Race(Limited to 10 runners per team, no 8^th graders allowed)

9:30am - Boys A/Varsity Race(Limited to 10 runners per team, no 8^th graders allowed)

10:00am - Girls B/JV Race (No limits on # of runners and 8^th graders are allowed)

10:40am - Boys B/JV Race (No limits on # of runners and 8^th graders are allowed)

11:30am - Awards for all 4 races (Medals to Top 10 in each event, Trophies to Top 2 Teams in each A Race)

TIMING SERVICES:

Provided by Lampert Timing and will be VHSL and neighboring-states Sanctioned. All Race results will be posted quickly.

COURSE: This is a true XC Course with a combination of grass, gravel and hard-packed cinder & clay. The course  will be very clearly marked. It has several modest hills to negotiate and three wooden bridges, two short and one that is fairly long (approx. 100m). It's a really fun course to run with wonderful scenery throughout. While it's not flat, it is easy-to-moderate in difficulty level with some gradual rises of a couple to a few hundred meters each and a handful of small rollers throughout. It has three short (20-foot wide) road crossings (volunteers and road closure signage will be placed there). This 5000m course is spike-friendly and has a VERY WIDE OPEN START AND FINISH WITH EXCELLENT SPECTATOR VIEWS. At a few of its narrowest points in the woods, runners will be limited to 3-wide. We'll have the 1 and 2 mile points clearly marked, with numerous volunteers placed throughout the course. 

TRAINER: A Certified Athletic Trainer will be on-site. A Recovery Station with water will be available for runners pre-and post-race near the Finish Line, but water will not be available for filling team coolers.

AWARDS:  Medals awarded to the Top 10 individuals in each race. The Champion and Runner-up Teams in the A Races will receive a Custom Trophy commemorating the accomplishments in this sizzling Ham/Bacon/BBQ Themed Event! Awards will take place at approximately 11:30am.

REGISTRATION FEES:  $10 per runner, or maximum registration fee across all 4 races of $300, which includes unlimited entries for B Races. This is a REGISTRATION FEE NOT A PARTICIPATION FEE and will not be reduced if there are registered runners who DNS on race day. In the event of a weather cancellation, at the sole discretion of the host School District, a reschedule opportunity or refund will be available. Checks may be made out to Smithfield 

High School with "CROSS COUNTRY" in the Memo and mailed to 14171 Turner Drive, Smithfield, VA 23430, Attn: M. Lanzalotto .If you need a W9, please email  mlanzalo@iwcs.k12.va.us  with Subject Line: "W9 Needed". OR, see here for W-9://assets.sp.milesplit.com/meets/696889/files/w9_isle_of_wight_county_schools_-__2024.pdf

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE at 5pm on Thursday, September 4^th . Checks brought on event day will be collected 

at Check-in. LATE FEE OF $25 if the check is not received by the day of the meet (without pre-meet approval).

SPECTATOR FEES: There are no fees for Spectators.

PARKING: No vehicles may park on any roads or any other area than the LARGE PARKING LOT DESIGNATED FOR OUR EVENT, FOLLOW FLAGGER VOLUNTEERS. 

CONCESSIONS: Near Check-in, w/sports drinks, waters & various protein bars available.

TEAM CHECK-IN/PACKET PICKUP: Directly across the main field from the Finish Line, adjacent to the Starting Line area starting at 7:30am. 

Coaches Hospitality Area will be available from 7:30 until 8:30am near Check-in. 

COACHES MEETING: 8:30am in main field between Check-in and the Finish Line    

Directions to Windsor Castle Park, 705 Cedar St., Smithfield VA from Highway 17: Turn onto Hwy 258/32 in Carrollton and drive 2.8 miles to a stoplight and bend in the road to the right, which continues Hwy 258. Continue on 258 into Smithfield and after 2 miles, stay left to continue on 258 Bypass (NOT 258 Business/Church St) for approx. another 2.5 miles to Main St and turn Right. You will see brown park signs on the right side of road from this point on. Follow Main St for .3 miles to Underwood Ln, turn right, and take that 475 feet and turn right onto Cedar St. Follow Cedar for .9 mi to Jericho Rd, and turn left. Continue straight on Jericho for .4 mi then turn right onto Kayak Lane, where Parking Attendants will guide you to lot entry.

****CRITICAL INFO FOR BUSSES***: If bringing your team via bus, please follow the directions above, via Underwood, then Cedar Avenue, and then onto Jericho, instead of coming onto Jericho Ave directly off S. Church Street, further in town! Your GPS will likely encourage you to take Jericho straight off of S. Church Street, BUT DO NOT DO THAT, as the road is cobblestone and includes a steep incline that Busses have trouble with. The suggested directions above simply enter the park from the other side and are safer for busses.

PLEASE REVIEW YOUR MAP/DIRECTIONS AND/OR SHARE THIS INFO WITH YOUR DRIVER!

***SEE THE ATTACHED SITE AND COURSE MAP FOR BUS AND SPECTATOR PARKING*** 

ALSO NOTED ON MAP: Tent City Locations, best areas for Spectators and Porta Potty locations. There are no dressing rooms on site and there is water available only at the main parking lot porta potty area. Please pick up all trash upon completion of your final race, before departing and take it with you in large bag provided to you at check-in.

DUE TO RACE COURSE LIMITATIONS, VEHICLE TRAFFIC INTO AND OUT OF THE PARK WILL BE HALTED FOR APPROX 5 MINUTES AS EACH NEW RACE BEGINS. 

QUESTIONS? Please reach out to Race Director, Smithfield HS Head Coach Steve Sheppard (steven.sheppard@hotmail.com) or by text 757-676-9696.