flrunners.com Invitational New Varsity Division, Schedule Changes

New Varsity Division on Saturday

Normally, I would not have added a new division. I would have just said "hey we filled up... sorry!" But given that we filled up well over a month before the actual entry deadline... I felt bad. I don't want kids to be left out if possible and saw that coaches had no way to really realize that they had to register so early this year. NEXT YEAR YOU SHOULD BE WARNED THOUGH!

So.... we took a waiting list and then were able to work the schedule so we were comfortable adding another division. The goal is to keep the schedule manageable from a heat standpoint and not load more kids on the course than it could handle. That meant making some tough decisions like setting strict time limits and runner limits on the JV races,  compressing the schedule a bit, and going to rolling awards. Hopefully it is worth it and you all will be happy with it.

So all teams are in and essentially Saturday registration is back open. Warning though about Friday... we only have about four more slots left on Friday and will not be adding any other races there.

Schedule of Events

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Minimum Time Requirements

We want to make our race for all kids, not just the elite. With that said, there are certain time constraints AND we have a race for every level. So we are introducing some semi-strict time limits. If your last kid on varsity is substantially slower and can't make the cutoff... run one less on varsity and move them to junior varsity. We have a lot of races to fit in. And while we will attempt as best we can (avoiding head on collisions of races) to allow all kids to finish, please understand that if they are not running at this pace, they may be pulled.

Number of Runners Per Race Limit

All Varsity Races -- 10 Runners
Friday Junior Varsity  -- Unlimited
Saturday Junior Varsity -- 10 Runners
Community Open (Overflow JV) -- Unlimited
Middle School -- Unlimited
College -- Unlimited

From a pure numbers standpoint, we need to limit the number allowed in the Saturday JV races to ten runners.We have created the Community Open race as an overflow so that all can run.

About the Community Open

We will keep time for runners with chips in this race. However, there will be no awards. And we will NOT frown upon bandit runners. So parents, coaches, etc. feel free to jump into this race.

Because it is a mixed and open race, please be aware of FHSAA regulations. Most likely the FHSAA will not care because it is not a varsity level race. However, if you don't want to risk it then runners should be participating without a school jersey.

Rolling Awards

Pay attention to the schedule! We are going with rolling awards this year. It has been a common request and with adding more races on Saturday it became necessary. This will allow you to get out of there earlier for dinner on Friday night and out of there only a little later than normal on Saturday, even with JV.

Awards will not be mailed so be sure to get them.

Adam Goucher Speech

Adam will be there hanging out at the race all weekend. However, for some really one on one and inspring stuff...

After the dinner break on Friday night, join us at Indian River City United Methodist Church. Adam and co-author Tim Catalano will get there about 8PM and hang out for 30 minutes. Then they will give an hour long presentation with videos, music, and slides from 8:30-9:30. It should be highly educational, inspirational, and entertaining for your kids. Then from 9:30-10:00 we can hang out a bit more before headed back to the hotels for bed.

The good thing is that this new venue for the speaking (IRC Methodist) is only two miles from the hotels... on the same road (Highway 50). So it is very convinient to check in, get dinner, catch the speach, and get back to the hotel at a good hour.... all right on Highway 50.

More on Adam coming to FLR 13...

Map to Church...

Seeding Teams: What Race am I in?

A lot of people are always confused about our race. They don't get what race they are in and kind of freak out about it. But it's not really that complicated.

First off..... you race on whatever day you entered. I am not going to change your date.

If you enter on Friday varsity.... if you are 1A or 2A you will be in the small shcool. If you are 3A or 4A you will be in the large school. I have occassionally asked some of the stronger small schools to move up to face tougher competition. But that is something I will ask you if needed.

If you enter on Saturday varsity... then I am going to seed your team based on its strength. Our top teams will be in the Race of Champions. This is roughly top ten in the state or 17:20-17:30 team average or better for boys and 20:30-20:45 team average or better for girls. The invitational is the second tier elite and it is roughly 18:15 team average for boys and 21:30 for girls... about 10th-20th placed teams at state. If you are outside of state competition, you'll be in either the Unseeded A or Unseeded B races... which were split into two races this year, last year it was one race called Varsity Open.

So, yes, if you are racing Saturday there is some variance of what race you could be in. But, coaches, you should have a pretty good idea the level your team is at and plan accordingly. You can even email me what you are thinking or any inside info to make your case to be in the elite races. However, it's my call. And we will announce the ROC invitations slowly and announce full seeding the WEEK OF THE MEET.  So, yes, many of you will not know what race you are in until that week.... but the races are like 25 minutes apart. So does it really make that big of a difference? :-) You'll already be there. Thanks... this is how we do things and it works well. Trust me. :-)

Unattached High Schoolers: What race?

We've got some kids either coming solo or are a strong kid on a weaker team... so want to race without their team. First off, you MUST have the approval by your coach (the coach must enter you also) and be officially representing your school in the race.

If you are racing on Friday.... 1A/2A in small school, 3A/4A in large school.

If you are racing on Saturday... we have semi-strict minimum time requirements. Must run under or close to 16:00 for boys or 19:00 for girls to be in the ROC. Must run under 17:00 for boys or 20:00 for girls to be in the Invitational. All others can run in either Unseeded race. Up to you and I don't really need to know which you will run in. Your chip will tell us when you cross the finish! All of our races have good competition. All of them. So don't worry if you don't make the cut off. You will have competition in the race you are in.