Club
2008 Club Circuit Rules
1. What is the Club Circuit? A year long competition between running clubs/teams. Winners receive awards at the year-end CARA Awards Party.
2. In which races do the Clubs compete? All CARA Competitive Circuit races, from April 13 to November 9, 2008. When an event consists in a Competitive Circuit and Registered race, a portion of club members can be scored in the Registered race for club scoring purposes only (not for the Individual Circuit competition). In 2008, those events are: Elgin Valley Fox Trot 10m and 5k; Downers Grove 5m and 10m; Alpine Races Half-Marathon and 5k; Westchester Veteran’s Day 10k and 5k.
3. Who may compete? Running clubs/teams that are CARA members in 2008. CARA membership is $50 per year for clubs competing on the Circuit. Membership is FREE for clubs not competing on the Circuit.
4. Do club/team members have to be CARA members? No. But runners from states other than Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, will be scored for teams only if they have had continuing membership in the club for at least 30 days prior to the race in which they are scored. No ringers!
5. Does the size of the club/team matter? No. Clubs may select the division in which they wish to compete. There are two divisions – Yellow division and Green division. Generally, clubs with more competitors select the Yellow Division. Each club must compete in the same division for the entire season. Yellow division teams will be scored on the basis of the top 5 individuals on their team, with the 6th or 7th individual acting as tie-breaker. Green division teams will be scored on the basis of the top 3 individuals on their team, with the 4th individual acting as tie-breaker.
6. Can a club change divisions for the next season? Yes.
7. Can club/team members be added during the year? Yes. We recommend that captains periodically send membership updates to the CARA scorers. The scorers should be notified of new club members at least 48 hours in advance of a race before an Illinois, Indiana or Wisconsin resident is eligible to score on the Club Circuit, and 30 days for other out-of-state residents. New members may not be added on race day.
8. Can runners switch clubs during the season? NO!
9. How does CARA and the CARA Club Circuit scorers know who is competing for each club/team? Clubs/teams must submit a roster of members to the CARA office by April 7, 2008. To meet the needs of CARA’s scorers, every effort must be made to submit a list which contains only the names of persons eligible to be scored for that team. The list should contain each member’s name, address, sex, and birth date. Rosters should be sent to the two CARA Club Circuit scorers, Coach Patrick Savage and Doug Pearson at coachmpsavage@hotmail.com and dpearso1@hotmail.com respectively. Since runners may appear on more than one roster, CARA recommends that team captains initially email their rosters to each other. In this way, captains can contact members with multiple club memberships to determine for which club/team the runner is competing.
9. Can Club/ Team membership be challenged? Yes. Because clubs/teams competing on the CARA Circuit are constituted differently and have different definitions of membership, situations may arise where a runner’s team membership may be questioned or challenged. It is recommended that the questioning party make a good faith effort to present the challenge to the respective club/team captain and require that he/she substantiate the runner’s legitimate membership or identification with the club. If the issue cannot be resolved, CARA and the Racing Committee will do so.
10. How does CARA know how club/team members finished in each race? Within two weeks of the Circuit race, the club captains/scorers must send a list of competing team members with required fields and preliminary scores to Coach Pat Savage at coachmpsavage@hotmail.com. He will do the traditional scoring of clubs. Required fields of information will be provided by CARA.
Age graded scoring of the Club Circuit will be done by Doug Pearson. Club captains/scorers should submit the required information to Doug at dpearso1@hotmail.com. Again, required fields of information will be provided by CARA.
11. What if two (or more) clubs submit the results of the same runner in a race? The CARA scorer(s) will contact the respective club/team captains and request that they again determine for which club/team the runner is competing.
12. How is the scoring done? Individual club runners will be classified into the same age/sex groups that are used in the Individual Circuit. Points are scored according to an individual’s percentile placing (between 0 and 100) among all race participants in his/her age group. For example, a person who finishes 5th out of 50 in his/her age group is in the 8th percentile: total runners in age group field divided by place in field, less one (first place). Finishing time, age group place and total age group field will be determined by the official posted race results. In races with chips, official posted results may be in chip or gun time. If there is any question, contact CARA.
In mega races with many non-CARA, out-of-state runners, the age group field will consist of the entire field, taking care to include any runners selected out in the results for overall wins or other categories. This applies also to race results which have selected out Clydesdale competitors.The club score will be determined by adding up the percentile finishes of the top five (5) individuals for Yellow division teams, or the top three (3) individuals for Green division teams. The lowest team score wins.
Fifteen points will be awarded to the first place club at a race and one less point to each lower place (14 points for second, etc.). In case of ties for first place, the performance of the 6th or 7th team member (for Yellow division teams) or 4th team member (for Green division teams) will be included in the calculations. If there is still a tie, 14.5 points will be awarded to each of the two teams. All participating clubs with at least three runners will be awarded a minimum of one point. Clubs may score points in all Circuit races but only their top ten finishes will be used to determine their total score for the season.
Note: There are no tiebreakers in age graded scoring. Only the top five runners count. Scores are calculated to as many decimals as required to avoid a tie.
When a race consists of two events (a Competitive Circuit and a Registered Race), Yellow and Green division teams must score a majority of their athletes in the Competitive Circuit race. (However, a team member 14 and under, competing in the Registered Race event, will be considered as having competed in the Competitive Circuit race.)
In the event of a tie in the above situation, 50% or more of the runners must have competed in the Competitive Circuit race.
13. How long can a club wait to report results? Results will not be accepted more than two weeks after a race. Clubs may not “back track” and submit results later in the season for earlier races.
14. Do club members get race entry discounts? No. Only CARA members receive race entry fee discounts and other membership benefits.
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