2003 Championship Summary

79 competitors joined us for CIRC 2003 as we initiated two new events:

Adaptive Event

Dr. Ed Melian may have been our only competitor, but as he told me before the event "my presence will increase participation by 100%!" By inaugurating our Adaptive event, he not only set the competitive tone but he cemented our commitment to actively grow this event for the future.

Chicago Area Youth Challenge: $1000 in Awards

This event hit a nerve and our Chicago Area teams each showed up seriously intent on taking home the prize. The excitement generated was matched by the competitive spirit and respect each team had for the other. It was indeed a question of honor and the final 2500-meter relay raised the roof as each team cheered their mates to shave every second off the time. A review of the times shows how close the competition was with Lincoln Park Junior Women and Loyola Academy Men taking home the final honors and a check for $500. Now the rivalry turns to the water as these teams prepare for the Spring Sprint season. Click here to see all final scores.

The Health Club Challenge

Despite all the work and effort Coach Tim Field put into clinics and encouragement, not one Fitness Club showed up to complete. We will review this program to see how we can get it off the ground since we are convinced it has a future.

Other Notables

Dean Smith (Veteran), who is 6th in the World Rankings, used this race as a warm-up for a run on the record in Elkhart Indiana set for February 16th. He was only 1 second off his record time.

Matt Donoghue (Ignatius Crew) took 1st place in the Junior Men division at 06:38.0 that ranks him 77th worldwide out of 694

Robin Weber took home the Junior Women honors with a time of 07:38.1 that ranks her at 42nd out of 319 worldwide. Anne Kelly of Lincoln Park Juniors was close behind at 2nd with a time of 07:41.1 that ties her at 48th in the rankings.

Comments / Suggestions about CIRC 2003

The Seward Park facility worked well and everyone appreciated the free parking along with the viewing bleachers. The following comments will result in changes for next year.

Group events to reduce waiting time. Next year we will run the Adaptive through Open events in the morning and the Junior events in the afternoon. There will be two registration periods. This will eliminate competitors waiting around for several hours for their events.
Add computers to shorten the 'race' setup time between events
Number the lanes so competitors know where they belong.
Expand the Youth Challenge by adding Novice divisions hence increasing the cash awards.
Expand our efforts to get media coverage.

To all competitors, volunteers and sponsors that made CIRC 2003 a success, Thank You! And to those who didn't make it, we look forward to you joining us next year at CIRC 2004.