General Information
The Snowball Series is a series of eight races, each of which counts toward series points. Points are awarded in 5-year age groups, beginning with 14 and under, and ending with 80 and over. The rules are as follows:
- Your age on the day of the first series race you run is your age for the entire series.
- Points are awarded to the top twenty places in each age group. The first place runner in an age group receives 20 points, second place earns 19 points, etc.
- You must be a DCRRC member on the day of the race to earn points for that race.
- In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by the victories in head-to-head competition. If there is still a tie, the time difference in those same head-to-head races will determine the winner.
- One must run three races to qualify for an award. A runner's top five races will count in the total scoring for the series.
- For the Club Challenge 10-Miler event you must run on a DCRRC team to score points toward the series championship. Only DCRRC runners will participate in the scoring; other clubs' runners will not act as "displacers" in assigning Snowball Series points.
- In the event one race is canceled (due, for example, to unsafe weather), a runner's top five out of seven races will count. In the event two races are canceled, a runner's top four out of six races will count.
- You must volunteer at a qualifying event or activity... see below for details.
- The DCRRC Vice President of Races has final authority to determine eligibility and awards.
All Snowball Series Races are free for DCRRC members, $10 to non-members who pre-register online. For race-day registration, the price is $5 for members and $15 for non-members, if space is available. Race-day registration is not available for races that start and finish at National Park Service venues (Bread Run, Gar Williams, JFK, Fort Hunt).
Race Schedule
- Bread Run 10K, December 10
- Gar Williams Half Marathon, December 17
- Al Lewis 10 Miler, January 6
- JFK 20K & MLK 5K, January 13
- Langley 8K, February 10
- Club Challenge 10 Miler, February 25
- Burke Lake 12K, March 4
- Fort Hunt 10K, March 11
Snowball Series Age Group Award Eligibility
An awards ceremony is held in the Spring and the top three eligible runners in each age group are presented with an award. To be eligible for an end of series award a runner must satisfythe following three criteria: 1) Be a club member 2) Have performed at least one volunteer role 3) Have accrued enough points to place in the top 3 runners who have satisfied conditions 1 and 2. To clarify further, if a top 3 point getter in an age group has not satisfied their volunteer requirement or maintained their club membership the award will move down in the standings until 3 eligible runners have been found. If an age group does not have 3 qualified runners then awards will only be given for the number that are qualified. The volunteer period to be eligible for the 2017 - 2018 edition of the Snowball Series will begin October 1, 2017 and end April 30, 2018. The specified roles for volunteer credit are outlined below in the section entitled "Eligible Volunteer Roles"
Eligible Volunteer Roles
No runner will be eligible for a Snowball Series age-group award unless that runner volunteers in one or more of the following roles:
- Snowball Series races: Water Stop; Finish Line (timing/scoring/awards/food prep); Course Marshall; Race Director or Assistant Race Director; other roles as defined by the Race Director. You cannot get volunteer credit for supporting a race that you have also run (although you're are still welcome to both support and run in the same event). The JFK 20K & MLK 5K races are the same "event" for purposes of this rule. No exceptions.
- Other Races between October 1, 2017 and April 30, 2018: Marine Corps Marathon, Alexandria Turkey Trot, Predictions & Resolutions 5K, GW Birthday Marathon & Relay. You must volunteer BEFORE the race by contacting the race director directly so that they may assign you a position and have an accurate volunteer count.
- Saturday Long Run/Marathon Training: Volunteering to provide beverages for the month.
- Marathon/Half-Marathon Training Programs: Coach or small-group coach.
- Newsletter Editor; Website Manager; Team Coordinator, Permit Coordinators, Photographer, Weekly Workout Directors (SLR and Wednesday Night).
- Other volunteer roles, as suggested, at the discretion of the Club president and vice-presidents acting jointly.
By rough estimate, the functions in 1 through 5 involve at least 150 separate volunteer "positions". This should be ample for people to choose from without "bunching" too many volunteers for a single event. If that occurs, priority will be given to those who volunteered first for the event, and others will be suggested to volunteer at a different event.
Snowball Series Shirt Eligibility
We added a Series Shirt Award to encourage club race participation and club volunteering. To be eligible for a series shirt a runner must satisfy the following four criteria: 1) Be a club member 2) Have performed at least one volunteer role within the Snowball Series (see number 1 above) 3) Have performed one volunteer role outside the Snowball Series 4) Run in 5 Snowball Series races.
We added a Series Jacket Award to encourage club race participation and club volunteering. To be eligible for a series jacket a runner must satisfy the following four criteria: 1) Be a club member 2) Have performed at least one volunteer role within the Snowball Series (see number 1 above) 3) Have performed one volunteer role outside the Snowball Series 4) Run in 7 Snowball Series races.
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