Saturday, March 7, 2009

Timex Road Race Series starts March 15th in Calgary

The Timex Provincial Road Race Series kicks off in Calgary next weekend with the St. Patrick's Day 10K. How the series works is there are 12 road races from March to September throughout the province that are tagged by Athletics Alberta and Timex as qualifying for an overall age-group year-end award. Each race scores you some points based on your time and position and the more races you're in the more points you get.

Last year the top woman was Krissy Dooling of Edmonton, then Heather Price of Canmore and Lisa Harvey of Calgary. Lindsay McLaren and Nancy Alingsangan (both of Calgary) placed 6th and 8th respectively. For the men the overall winners were Brian Torrance of Edmonton, Paul McCloy of Calgary, and Matthew Norminton of Edmonton. More Calgarians: Ed Bickley was 4th, Jeremy Deere was 6th, Richard Kellet was 7th and Geoff Hopfner was 10th.

If you think road racing series championships is just for the kids, this is the age group breakdown of the top 10 in each gender. F20-29: 1, 7, 9, 10. F30-39: 3, 5, 6, 8. F40-49: 2,4. M20-29: 9, 10. M30-39: 1, 3, 6. M40-49: 2, 7, 8. M50-59: 4, 5.

So, the trick is to attend as many of the following races as possible, make sure you're in the correct distance for scoring, and rack up some good age-group times. This year there is also a Corporate Team Challenge, which is a way of uniting 5 to 20 of your co-workers to compete in 5 selected races.

The races are the Original St. Patrick's Day Road Race 10k, March 15th in Calgary. Registration is $45, which gets you a t-shirt and a chance to win your weight in beer.

Race TWO is the Lethbridge 10 Mile Road Race, April 18. Entry is $32 with a first place prize of $250.

Race THREE is the St. Albert 10 Miler, put on by the St. Albert Road Runners & Triathlon Club, which is unfortunately the day after the Lethbridge 10 Mile, April 10. Double the prize money for the winner though, while entry fee is $45 for now.

Race FOUR is the half marathon at Woody's RV World Marathon Weekend in Red Deer, May 17. Entry is $60 until March 17 and $70 or $80 afterwards.

Race FIVE is the 10k at the HSBC Calgary Marathon Weekend, May 31. Entry is $40 and includes a sleeveless technical shirt. There is a stunning $1000 award for fastest male and female, with prizes for 2nd through fifth as well. There's also $300 for the fastest master (40+) male and female, plus $500 for the top Canadian.

Race SIX is the Little Big Run 10k in Edmonton, also on May 31.

Race SEVEN is the 10k at the Footstock Race Weekend, June 13 in Cochrane. Entry is $40 until March 13, then $50 or $60 afterwards. This year the 10k does NOT start with a big hill climb, instead it is an out and back along the shale pathway by the river.

Race EIGHT is the 15k Canada Day Road Race in Edmonton, July 1. Entry is $45, and the course starts and finishes at the Legislature Grounds.

Race NINE is the 10k at the ING Edmonton River Valley Family Festival, August 15. I think it gets such a long name because they split the marathon and half onto a different day from the 10k. Entry is $30.

Race TEN is the 10k distance at the Dino Dash in Calgary, September 6. Registration is not up for this year, but last year the entry fee was $25 for early bird and $35 for regular.

Race ELEVEN is the 10k distance at the Stony Plain Rotary Run for Life, September 13. Registration and entry fee information is not on their website yet, but last year there were $300 prizes for first place male and female.

Race TWELVE is the 10k distance at Melissa's Road Race in Banff, September 26, which is of course sold out. There is no waiting list, but if you hover around some online forums in September people will start dropping out of the race and wanting to sell their bibs.

The series concludes with a 10k in Edmonton that isn't scored, but after the race the Timex Series awards will be given out. More information can be found at the Timex Series Alberta website.