Colorado Association of Recreational Athletics (CARA) Youth Cross Country Rules

Objective:

To provide youth with a recreational distance running experience in a fun, age-appropriate, and skill-developmentally-based atmosphere.

Eligibility:

  • Events will be offered to boys and girls aged 14 and younger.
    • Age is based on the age of the participant on the first scheduled meet of the season.
  • Boys and girls will compete in separate divisions.
  • Participants may be on a CARA agency team or may register as an independent competitor by signing a participation waiver and paying the designated fee.

Fees:

  • Each agency will pay $6 per participant to CPRA, except for agencies hosting meets. In this case, they will pay $3 per participant.
  • Independent competitors will pay $10 per meet; $5 of the fee goes to the host and the remaining $5 goes to CPRA.
  • Fees are due by the first meet of the season.

Meets:

  • Teams will compete in 5 meets starting the second weekend in September and going through mid-October.
  • All meets will begin at 9 am.
  • The host agency will conduct a coach meeting at 8 am.
  • Age groups and race distances for males and females will be as follows:
    • Ages 8 and Under: 2K
    • Ages 10 and Under: 3K
    • Ages 12 and Under: 3K
    • Ages 14 and Under: 4K
  • The final meet will increase the distance by 1K (i.e., 3K, 4K, and 5K) in each
    • In the final meet only, awards will be given for all age divisions in the 5K race.
  • Participants may compete in further distances. However, they will compete as if they are that age.
    • Separate awards will not be given to participants who compete in further distances above their assigned division.
    • If someone competes in a lower age group, they will not receive an award for running that distance.
  • If participants have won their age group more than once, they should be challenged with an increased The committee chair may ask you to move runners up to keep it fun and recreational for all participants.
  • Host agencies need to have their meet course maps, directions to the meet (map), and weather line phone number to the cross-country chair no later than Friday, August 28. Any changes to these courses or locations need to be communicated as soon as possible to Robbie Jordano at RobJor@Lakewood.org.
  • Host meets will be responsible for the official time and individual participant results of their respective Individual results need to be sent to Robbie Jordano so they can be posted on the CARA TeamSideline Website.
  • Parents may not run the course with the participants. Any problems should be reported to the cross country chair as soon as possible. The chair will follow up with the coordinator of that

Teams:

  • Each team must adhere to the following rules to be eligible to participate in
    • All agency participants will be dressed in a team uniform. Any independent participants are required to wear a colored penny that will be provided by the host agency so they can be identified.
    • Coaches and participants are responsible for distributing sticker name tags to each participant before each meet. Bibs will not be used unless provided by a timing company.
      • Sticker name tags will be used at each meet unless there is a timing company providing bibs.
    • Below is an example of a participant sticker name tag:

Full Name
Age Group
Gender
Agency

Awards:

  • 1st-8th place ribbons will be given out to top finishers in each division and age

*Revised 6/25/2024

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