CYO Championship

The CYO Championship Meet is Saturday at CYO Complex!  It's been a fun season so far, and Saturday will be a great day!  The weather is looking pretty good at this point - maybe a bit windy but should be dry and warm!  Although this is a championship race, we will treat it no differently than any other meet.  Please do not put any extra pressure or expectations on your runner.  Simply let them know that they have put a lot of hard work in all season, and that this is their chance to go out and do their best!  We are again in need of finish line volunteers for each age group, so please help out!  Cadets, Minors, Pee Wees - SignUpGenius  Juniors - SignUpGenius

There will be a trophy presentation after the cadet races for the Juniors and Cadets, and another one after the minor races for the Pee Wees and Minors.  We will be taking pictures of each team (hopefully with their trophy!) after the ceremonies, so please stick around so can we get as many kids in the pictures as possible.   

-Address:  

- Follow the signs to the racing area once you arrive at Maumee Bay.  You are highly encouraged to drive at the posted speed limit as the park rangers will (and frequently do) provide speeding tickets.  Only park in a parking lot as they will tow any car that is parked illegally.  We will have our large blue tents in the grassy area to the north of the finish line.  A course map with the approximate location of the tent can be found at the bottom of this page.

-Please report to one of your coaches upon arrival according to the following times:

-Before arriving to the race site, be sure to have your athlete use the restroom as the lines can be long on race day.  Please check to make sure their shoes are tied and double knotted.

-The coaches will gather their age group to stretch and do a warm up jog before the race (we do not walk the course).  The coaches will place a sticker which has the child's name and the school name on each child’s shirt during the pre-race stretch.  As the children finish the race, they will be given a place card, and they will be ushered to our finish line volunteers in the chute area.  No other parents in the chute area please! The volunteer will take the sticker and put it on the place card and hand the runner a participation ribbon. The runner will then leave the chute area.  Parents are encouraged to be there to congratulate their child and walk them to the tent for a celebratory snack and drink!!

-While children are racing, cheer for everyone on the course, including our competitors. You are NOT allowed to run next to your child (this is called pacing).  The athlete will be disqualified from the race, and the team could be disqualified as well.  

-Please be there to encourage your child and provide positive reinforcement! Please do not put any pre-race pressure on your child. If the children can remain relaxed, they will perform better than if they are too uptight. A little nervousness is to be expected as this means they want to do well. The coaches will talk about race strategy before the race with the team - please let the coaches do their job!

-Don’t forget to take lots of pictures throughout the day!   In order to make sharing of photos easier, and to make it easier to put together the end of season slideshow, we have a Google photo album.  Follow this link to learn about it: Pictures

-The volunteer assignments can be found by checking the SignUpGenius site:  SignUpGenius  Assignments for the Junior team can be found here:  Junior SignUpGenius  Please review the website for the details about being a finish line volunteer or ask the volunteer captain or coach.  There are adult size shirts in the plastic bin in the tent.  Grab one before heading to the finish line, and return it when finished.  For drinks and snacks, we have about 20 girl and 20 boy runners for each division.  Please clearly label drinks and snacks with the age group and gender so kids do not mistakenly take another groups' items.  If there are issues with the assignments, please arrange for a replacement.

-A good pre-race dinner is a pasta and protein combo with some vegetables and/or fruit.  Encourage your runner to drink water the night before and morning of the race. Eat a light breakfast such as cereal (without milk), a bagel or toast with peanut butter, and/or some fruit.  It is usually good to avoid any dairy products, eggs, and citrus fruit before a race. Recommend being done eating about two hours before your scheduled race. Having some water after that is OK, but it is not a good idea to drink large amounts of fluid right before a race.

-The Juniors will wear their blue race uniforms.  All other runners need to wear their green race jersey and black or blue shorts. We will have race jerseys available at the meet if you don't have one yet.  Sweatshirt and sweatpants should be worn over the jersey and shorts if it is cold. Every child will run in short sleeves and shorts during the race.   We will warm up with all clothes on, and then shortly before the race, we will have a parent/coach collect the sweatshirts and sweatpants and take them back to the tent.  Please remember to pick up any extra clothes before leaving the meet. If there is rain in the forecast, it is best to come to the meet with your race shoes and a change of socks in a plastic bag.  Then, shortly before the race, we will change into the dry ones.

-As a reminder, CYO prohibits bringing dogs, tobacco and alcohol to their family friendly events like cross country. Additionally, the carry-in carry-out trash policy is in effect for all meets. Please feel free to stick around and help pick-up at the end of the meet.  We can always use extra help taking down the tent!

-See you out there and GO JAGUARS!!