SBAAGP 2009 23-Jan-2009 Eligibility Age Groups The age groups for determining year-end awards for both male and female divisions are as follows: 18 and under, 19-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70 and over. Your age on the day of your first Grand Prix race of the season will remain your age for the entire calendar year, regardless of your birth date. Qualifying Races The qualifying Grand Prix Series races are designated on the SBAA Race calendar and are subject to additions or cancellations at the discretion of the Grand Prix committee. Participants must finish at least 4 races to be eligible for a Grand Prix award. For age divisions 18/under through 45-49 the 8 best age division finishes will be counted. Beginning with the 50-54 division the number of qualifying race finishes will be reduced by one race every ten year period. Specifically, ages 50-59 will have 7 qualifying races, 60-69 will have 6, 70-79, 5 and 80/over will have the minimum, 4. Scoring Finish points for individual races will be awarded as follows: 1st place - 1000 points; 2nd – 900; 3rd – 800; 4th – 700; 5th – 600; 6th – 500; 7th – 400; 8th – 300; 9th – 200; 10th – 100. The finish place is computed according to your finish against all other Grand Prix competitors in your age group division. If you place 11th or over you will receive 50 points for finishing the race. Volunteers All Grand Prix participants are expected to volunteer at least once during the year. It’s easy to contact a race director and make yourself available. Some race director’s may offer a “volunteer for free entry” exchange. Also, with the consent of the Grand Prix committee “key volunteers” may “pre-race” the course. Advance notice to these volunteers’ appropriate age-group competitors must be provided. These “pre-race” times will be officially entered into the final results except in cases where significant differences in weather or other running conditions may provide an unfair advantage. The viability of the SBAA and local running community is dependent upon everyone fulfilling their responsibility as a volunteer. Grand Prix Standings For an overall up-to-date view of the standings and results for each Grand Prix race log on to SBrunning.org. Awards Event There will be an awards celebration upon completion of the 2007 Grand Prix Series season. Awards will be presented for top finishers in each qualifying age group and special awards will be presented to the Overall Grand Prix Champions. Overall Grand Prix Champions Overall male and female Grand Prix Champions will be selected from the age group champions. They will be determined by adding the age-graded numbers for each runner’s applicable Grand Prix race performances and dividing by the appropriate number of races. The male and female runners with the highest average performance will be crowned Overall Grand Prix Champions. Grand Prix First Overall Champions Awards the fastest Grand Prix runner over the course of the year. The male and female runners who have the most first place finishes will be recognized as the Grand Prix First Overall Champions. Tie Breaker Policy In the event of a tie in any of the award categories the determining factor for deciding the winner shall be the “head-to-head” competition between the tied individuals in commonly run GP races. This will be based on place, not time. T-Shirt Optional Policy All Grand Prix races are required to offer a no t-shirt option to be worth a standardized $5 reduction in entry fee. This option is only valid for pre-race entries although some races may offer the t-shirt option at race day registration. Grand Prix participants should simply write “no shirt” on their pre-registration and deduct $5 from the normal entry fee. Rules Interpretation Any issues concerning eligibility, race results or rule interpretations will be resolved by the Grand Prix Rules Committee.