P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Local running clubs announce 2011 schedule
No less than 40 races planned for five-county area this year
By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
MOUNT SAVAGE, Jan. 5 - The Queen City Striders running club has released its 2011 race calendar and schedule for the annual Racing Circuit Standings.
The RCS is a series of eight races from 1 mile to 10 miles. This year, only events in Garrett and Allegany counties were selected for the members-only competition.
The eight races are: the Snowflake Chase 5-miler at Deep Creek Lake on Jan. 15; the Cumberland Mini-Marathon 2.62-miler at Greenway Avenue Stadium on April 23; the second-year Catch Me If You Can 5- and 10-mile trail loop runs at Rocky Gap State Park on April 30; Katie’s Run 5K, a partially paved, partially cross country affair at New Germany State Park on June 11; Lisa’s Run 5K in Westernport on July 9; the Moonshine Class 10K at Big Run State Park; the second-year Recover Mile at Glendening Park in Forstburg on Sept. 17; and the Great Allegany Run 15K and 5K runs down state Route 36 from Mount Savage to downtown Cumberland on Oct. 1.
The Striders’ 2011 schedule includes 26 road and trail races. New events include the Mindy Van Pelt Memorial 5K in Rawlings on April 9, the Race Toward the Future 5K on May 14 on the Kempton Trail along the Youghiogheny River; the Cindy’s Fund 6K at Herrington Manor State Park and the Gulf War Memorial 5K in Cumberland on Sept. 10.
Those races losing RCS status in 2011 from 2010 include the Maple Festival 5K in Keyser, the Strides for Health & Fitness 5K in Bowling Green and the Frankfort Jingle Run in Fort Ashby.
The 2011 schedule does not include an anticipated six-race Junior Striders cross country series that typically run every other Tuesday in June, July and August.
In previous years, club officials have said circuit races are chosen for two key reasons. First, the club tries to spread the performance-based scoring system around the area and from one end of the calendar year to the other. Other times, the series is an attempt to help grow an event that otherwise has difficulty attracting runners.
It was a bit of surprise to some last year when the then-first year Catch Me If You Can trail races, co-directed by Connie Milligan and Shauna McQuade, were selected for the RCS series. But the two events combined to attract 107 finishers, including 78 in the 5-mile option - a considerable success for a any footrace in an area as geographically isolated as the Queen City.
This year, the series will start in January and wrap up at the Great Allegany Run in October. Winners are officially announced at the club’s annual banquet in Frostburg in late January or early February the following year.
The Mountain Maryland Marathon Club, meanwhile, has canceled its marquee event - the marathon festival in April - due to budgetary constraints.
Several races return for 2011, however, including the third annual Hobo's Heartbreaker 10K and half-mile kids runs in southern Bedford County next month - the only race in the area in February - and the second-year Polish Mountain Hill Climb Challenge, a 2-mile jaunt up Gilpin Road and back down again.
The marathon club intends to stage the Fire on the Mountain 50K trail run in Green Ridge State Forest in October for a second year and continue the Storybook Holiday Mile along Main Street in Frostburg in December.
Comprehensive 2011 event schedule
Jan. 1 - Midnight Mile on the Great Allegheny Passage
Jan. 15 - Snowflake Chase 5-miler at Deep Creek Lake
Feb. 12 - Hobo's Heartbreaker 10K, 1/2-mile kids runs in southern Bedford County, Pa.
April 9 - Mindy Van Pelt Memorial 5K in Rawlings
April 23 - Cumberland Mini-Marathon at Greenway Ave Stadium
April 30 - Catch Me If You Can 5- and 10-mile trail runs at Rocky Gap State Park
May 14 - Race Toward the Future 5K on Kempton Trail along the Youghiogheny River
May 21 - Cindy's Fund 6K at Herrington Manor State Park
May 28 - Redneck 5-miler on River Road in Romney, W.Va.
June 11 - Katie's Run 5K at New Germany State Park
June 14 - Relay for Life 5K at Hampshire Wellness Center in Romney, W.Va.
June 26 - Iron Furnace 5K in Lonaconing
July 1 - Independence Day 5K in Keyser, W.Va.
July 9 - Lisa's Run 5K in Westernport
July 19-24 - Summer XC Getaway
July 24 - Salem Challenge 5K west of Frostburg
Aug. 3 - Polish Mountain Hill Climb Challenge 4-miler
Aug. 6 - Moonshine Classic 10K at Big Run State Park
Aug. 13 - Strides for Health & Fitness 5K in Bowling Green
Aug. 20 - Andrea's Memorial 5K run in Barton
Aug. 27 - Garrett Open Trails
Aug. 28 - low-key 5-mile road run in Mount Savage
Sept. 3 - Mad Dash 5K in Oakland
Sept. 10 - Gulf War Memorial 5K in Cumberland
Sept. 17 - Recovery Mile in Frostburg
Sept. 18 - 3rd annual Iron Rail Days 5K in Mount Savage
Oct. 1 - Great Allegany Run 15K and 5K in Cumberland
Oct. 29 - Landon's Pumpkin Chase 10K and 5K at Broadford Lake Park
Oct. 30 - Fire on the Mountain 50K in Green Ridge State Forest
Nov. 24 - Turkey Day 5K in Westernport
Dec. 3 - Storybook Holiday Mile Run in Frostburg
Dec. 10 - Jingle Run 5K in Fort Ashby, W.Va.