Rochester Runner of the Year

The RROY series is down to the final two races, the East Avenue Grocery Run 5k on November 5 and Race with Grace 10k on Thanksgiving Day.

Our local Sal's running group is doing quite well in the series, whether intentionally or not. A minimum of four races and maximum six (out of 12) are needed to be included in the final year end standings. The top five finishers in each age group get awards for the series.

Pete Leonard currently leads his age group, but is in a tight race with two other competitors. Mike Weinpress is in second place in his age group. One runner has first locked up and four others are on Mike's heels. In my age group first place is also locked up. The second place runner should at least remain in the top five. Then there are five runners, including myself, who need to run at least one of the next two races to qualify. Any one of us could finish from second-seventh place. I am currently in fifth.

On the ladies side Jan is in a very tight battle for 3-7th place and currently sits in fourth. First and second places are probably locked up. Eileen Weinpress is in fifth place and may be able to move up to fourth.

There are some great competitions in all of the age groups. I do believe, however, that the RROY committee should look at over the winter how to increase the series participation. It seems like running four races out of twelve shouldn't be a problem. Maybe it's the races they pick that count, the prizes awarded at year's end, the cost of attending the banquet (which is far more than the coffee mug or other prize they give AG winners), or advertising?

Jan and I like the series though. It's one method of measuring yourself against similar aged runners, especially after all of these years of running, of training enough to stay competitive and keep motivated.