DC Running Coach & Kinetic Fitness Win Titles

The finale of the inaugural National Road Racing League season ended at the Race for a Cause 8k in Arlington.  DC Running Coach won the men's race and therefore the team title with an impressive display of speed.  Mike Hamberger led the team, followed not too far behind by Chad Wolf and Max Huffman.  Chris Coates finished top-100 overall, as he was the next DCRC runner across the line, and Mike McVicker finished 4 seconds ahead of a VIDA runner to round out the lineup.

In the men's Individual Points scoring, Hamberger out-sprinted Duffield in this winner-take-all last race of the season, as they finished 1-2 in NRRL racing for the 6th time this year.  Memo Saenz held onto his third place position, while Dan Hunt and Theron Thilenius moved into the top-5.  Brian Cunningham ran his fourth race of the season and just missed the top-5.

Kinetic Fitness had already clinched the women's title, but DC Running Coach had four runners in the race, with these runners also rounding out the top-4 places in the season's Individual Points race.  Johanna Mansilla, Carolee Williamson, and Jessica Leitsch were in all top-20 overall at the 8k, while Heather Coles was also toward the front of the race field.  

Williamson ended the season with a commanding lead in the Individual Points race, with Mansilla coming on strong in the second half of the season to take second.  Leitsch returned to solid running form late in the year to take the 3rd position, while Heather Coles finished fourth, as she continues to get stronger each race.  Kinetic captain Becca Lipscomb finished 5th in the standings.

Final team and individual standings are posted on the NRRL results page.

The NRRL post-season party is set for Saturday, November 12th at Lululemon in Georgetown, where team trophies will be presented to the winning teams, along with plaques to the top-3 runners in each division.

Registration for the 2012 season will open on January 1st, with much in store for the second edition of the NRRL!  Help us spread the word about the NRRL and join us next year as the league grows into a nationally recognized sporting league for amateur (and professional) runners!

Thank you all for your support and a great first season!

Mike

Final Countdown to Championships

 
The end of the rainbow is near.  With the conclusion of the Race For the Parks 10k, the NRRL is honing in on the final standing for both teams and individuals.  NRRL Results from Sunday's 10k are now posted.

In the women's race, Johanna Mansilla and Carolee Williamson of DC Running Coach, LLC took 1-2, respectively, to extend their lead over the rest of the field in the Individual Rankings.  Both runners set a 10k PR and earned age-group awards at the race.  Jessica Leitsch leads a plethora of runners in contention for the final plaque at the post-season party.

On the men's side, Rory Duffield from Potomac River Running took his second straight 10k victory among NRRL runners, finishing under 37 minutes.  He was followed by Mike Hamberger for the second time.  Memo Saenz of VIDA Fitness clinched an individual plaque at the post-season party by finishing 3rd among NRRL runners.  Andrew Tweedie and Chris Coates (pictured below) were next across the line for DC Running Coach, LLC.

Looking at the team standings, Kinetic Fitness has clinched the team title in the female division, due to early success in the season.

With the way the league is scored, the male division team title is looking at a potential tie-breaker between all teams, in which the tie-breaker is given to the team with the most 1st-place team finishes throughout the season.  Here are the league Rules, are you ready for some NFL-style playoff wildcard scenarios!?

As it stands, PRR leads the standings 8-9-9 over the other two teams.  VIDA Fitness and and PRR each have two 1st-place finishes (DCRC has one), so a PRR victory in the remaining race would give them the title outright, regardless of how the other teams finish.  A VIDA victory with PRR finishing second would give VIDA the tie-breaker because even though those teams would end up with the same number of total points, VIDA would have more 1st-place finishes over the season.  A VIDA victory with a DCRC second place finish would give VIDA the title outright.  Either way you cut it, if VIDA wins the final race, then they are champions, controlling their own destiny.

Now if DCRC wins the final race and VIDA is second, then DCRC wins the season title outright.  If DCRC wins the race, but PRR gets second, then we have a shared championship, because both DCRC and PRR will have the same number of first place finishes, as well as second place finishes (the next tie-breaker, and so on).  Due to bye weeks and incomplete teams at a few races, DCRC and PRR have no other means for a tie-breaker.  There was a 0.0001% chance of this occurrence before the season started.  Never say never!  There looms the possibility that captains may agree on this final race as a winner-take-all to avoid a shared championship.

For the final Individual Rankings, Hamberger can clinch by finishing any number of spots ahead of Duffield.  Duffield can clinch by finishing first and having Hamberger finish anywhere but second place.  If Duffield does not win the race, then he must beat Hamberger by two or more places in order to clinch the Individual Rankings.  Duffield and Hamberger will end up in a tie if Duffield takes first and Hamberger second.  In the case of the latter, because they will have the same number of 1st- and 2nd-place finishes, with no other placings able to used as tie-breakers, they will split the championship, or they may have a gentleman's agreement that the final race of the year is a winner take all.  FYI and as a reminder: Gambling on the outcome of NRRL races is legal as long as the prize fighters get a cut of the action! :)

The now uber-important final race of the season is a PRR hosted event (home field advantage) in Arlington, the Race For a Cause 8k!

We hope to see you there!

Mike