Last Sunday, I participated in the MD/DC RRCA 10 Mile Club Challenge, the premier race between competing running clubs in the DMV. I represented my club, the Howard County Striders (HCS). The HCS is a rather snotty, elitist group of runners from one of the wealthiest counties in the DMV, and I sometimes wonder what the heck a rabble rouser like me is doing in their midst.
In any event, the HCS were the hosts of the competition, and it was on their turf. The race is very hilly, and the temperature, as usual, was cold. Because of the distance (10 miles), the hills, and the stringent time limit, nearly all the participants are strong, accomplished runners. So, running this race necessarily entails competing against the best in the area.I completed the race in 1:25 (read "one hr 25 min"). It was my third time doing it, and, time-wise, my finish was mid range between my other two attempts. But that was just my individual finish time, which I also clocked using my watch.
The bigger question- and the point of the competition, which is what differentiates it from other races- was: How did all the teams do against each other, and how did individual runners do compared to other members of their team? None of this information was available for days.
The HCS usually organizes all its races to a "t." No detail is overlooked. This year, for some reason, the team results were taking unusually long to be posted. The HCS website said that complete race results (including how each team ranked) for the event would be posted within 24 hours of the event. So, for a Sunday morning race, that meant results had to be posted by Monday morning.
I looked on Monday, and the web announcement had been altered to say the results would be posted within 48 hours of the event. That meant they would be posted Tuesday.
On Tuesday, I checked the website again, bemused as to why it was taking inordinately long for the results to be posted. There was nothing.
On Wednesday, a new message appeared in bright red lettering on the HCS website.. It said: "Official results posting will be delayed due to processing and re-scoring against gender changes and DQs." [DQs are disqualifications.]
So, people changing their gender was the primary reason for the delay in results?!! I was blown away.
On Friday morning, the team results were finally posted. Our team, for being the host team, did not do well. There are 8 categories of team competition, based on age and gender (per cross country rules).
We did well in only three of those: In the Male Grandmasters (50 and over males) category, we took the top spot. In both the Female Overall, as well as the Female Masters (40 - 49 females) category, we took second place.
But, in all of the younger age groups, we did rather poorly. And in general, the HCS men did much more poorly than the women (compared to their counter parts from other running clubs).
One bit of hopeful news for me personally: I was the top finisher for my team in my division (Female Grandmasters). Other than a sister named Aaliyah El-Amin from the Prince Georges Running Club (finish time 1:33), who is quite an accomplished runner, mine was one of the few Muslim names in the roster. Alhamdulillah for all things.
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