LOS ANGELES, CA—Southern California USATF Open and Masters Road Running Committee chairs Wayne Joness and Sissel Berntsen-Heber have announced a new SCA Road Running Grand Prix for 2009. The SCA Road Running Grand Prix will provide cash awards and championship medals to the top 10 overall men’s and women’s scorers. Gold, silver, and bronze USATF medals will also be awarded to the top-3 scorers in 26 men’s and women’s individual 5-year age-groups and championship plaques will be awarded to the top-10 scoring clubs. “We believe this Grand Prix Series will encourage more runners to participate in our SCA Road Championship races and other premier Southern California road race events, say Wayne and Sissel. “It will also recognize the clubs that are supporting and developing runners and provide important incentives for the creation of new clubs.”
HOW IT WORKS
The seven SCA Road Running Grand Prix Series races for 2009 are posted at www.scagrandprix.org. Individual runners must finish at least four (4) of these races during the calendar year, including at least one SCA Road Championship race, and, afterwards, record their official, web-published finish time using the “Report Results” link of the Grand Prix home page at www.scagrandprix.org or forward it by email to the GP Scorer, Sissel Berntsen-Heber, to generate an age-graded score.
For USATF clubs to post a score in a SCA Road Running Grand Prix race, a minimum of 5 of its member runners must post a finish time. Club members can be of any gender, and any age. It is not necessary to have 5-runners of the same age group and gender. The total club score is determined by adding the 5 highest individual member age-graded scores from the race. The club’s 2009 year-end total score will be determined by adding its highest club scores from four (4) Grand Prix races.
Eligibility
All SCA Road Running Grand Prix participants must be current members of the Southern California Association of USATF. There is no additional fee for members to participate in the SCA Road Running Grand Prix or SCA Road Championship series. The SCA Road Running Grand Prix is conducted throughout the 2009 calendar year, during which individuals can enter the SCA Road Running Grand Prix series at any time. A runner’s age-group category will be based on their age in the first race they participate in.
For club scoring, only running clubs registered with the Southern California Association of USATF can participate. Individuals scoring with a club must have USATF affiliation with that club. All its scoring members must also be listed on the club’s on-line roster. More information on registering clubs with USATF is available at http://www.usatf.org/clubs/.
Qualifying Races
SCA Road Running Grand Prix Series races are listed on the SCA website at www.scagrandprix.org and are subject to additions or cancellations at the discretion of the SCA Road Running Committee. The SCA Road Championship races for 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon and Marathon are among the designated 2009 Grand Prix races. Individual GP participants must finish a minimum of 4 races, at least one of which must be an SCA Road Championship race, to be eligible for Grand Prix awards. Clubs must compete in at least 4 GP races with 5 finishers, at least one race of which must be an SCA Road Championship race, to be eligible for SCA Road Running Grand Prix awards.
Individual Scoring
For individual runners, scoring is based on age-graded results. This score is computed by dividing the runner’s finishing time by the approximate age-group record and multiplying it by 1000. For example, the score for a 46-year old male who records 39:19 for 10K in which the age-group record is 29:44 would be computed as follows: 29:44 ÷ 39:19 = 0.7564
0.7564 x 1000 = 756 points
A runner’s year-end total score will be determined by adding together his or her highest age-graded scores from four (4) Grand Prix races. The age-graded scoring calculator used for the SCA Road Running Grand Prix scoring is posted on the SCA Road Running Grand Prix home page at www.scagrandprix.org.
HOW TO ENTER THE GRAND PRIX
Individual SCA/USATF members who finish a SCA Road Championship Series race will automatically have their results added to the SCA Road Running Grand Prix series. However, results for additional races in the SCA Road Running Grand Prix must be self-reported.
Current SCA Road Running Grand Prix standings will be posted on the SCA Road Running Grand Prix home page www.scagrandprix.org within one week of each successive race in the GP Series (although results may be delayed pending official revisions). It is the responsibility of individual participants to submit their results from GP races that are not SCA Road Championship events. They can do so by using the “Report Results” link on the SCA Road Running Grand Prix home page, or by sending an email with their official published finish time and current 2009 USATF membership number to scoring@roadrunner.com.
All club results, including those from SCA Road Championship races, must be self-reported. It is the responsibility of participating clubs to report official web-published results for 5 or more of its individual members from a GP Series race. They can do so by using the “Report Results” link on the SCA Road Running Grand Prix page, or by sending an email to the GP scorer with each runner’s official web-published finish time and 2009 USATF membership number to scoring@roadrunner.com.
GRAND PRIX Prize Money and Awards
The Top-5 men and Top-5 women with highest individual 2009 year-end total scores will be awarded the following cash prizes and SCA Grand Prix Championship medals:
1ST Place: $200, plus Gold Medal
2ND Place: $100, plus Silver Medal
3RD Place: $50, plus Bronze Medal
4TH Place: $30, plus Bronze Medal
5TH Place: $20, plus Bronze Medal
6TH-10TH Places: Bronze medals
Cash prizes will be awarded in the form of checks issue by Southern California USATF. 2009 Grand Prix checks and championship medals will be mailed to the recipients no later than January 15, 2010.
The Top-3 men & women scorers with highest individual 2009 year-end total scores in the following 13 individual 5-year age-groups will receive gold, silver, and bronze USATF medals:
13 & under, 14-18, 19-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70+
The Top-10 USATF Clubs with the highest 2009 year-end point totals will receive Grand Prix Championship plaques from the Southern California Association in recognition of their accomplishments.
FAQ's and More
CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Wayne Joness, Chair
SCA Open Athletics Road Running Committee
Res (310) 390-5357
Cell (310) 600-5332
Email: runner@joness.com
Sissel Berntsen-Heber, Chair
SCA Masters Road Running Committee
Cell (415) 652-9221
Email: sheber02357@roadrunner.com
