By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Lombard, Ill --- DyeStat Illinois is happy to announce that we will sponsor the Sub-5 / Sub-6 Challenge for the 2014 Track & Field season.

The idea is the brainchild of Hinsdale Central Assistant Cross Country Coach Noah Lawrence. In a letter that he sent to me, he wrote:

“As track season approaches, I had an idea which I think could foster some excitement among our JV athletes and push us all to be better.  Basically, the goal would be for each coach to maintain a list of the number of athletes on your team that break 5:00 for the 1600 over the course of the season.  This would be an informal competition to determine which team is the "deepest." 

I would send out an email to check in on March 1st, April 1st, May 1st, and finally the week of Sectionals (May 23rd) and will compile the results and update every one of the current and final standings.  As it is a low-stakes competition, this would simply be self-reporting.  You can count any kid that breaks 5:00 either in a meet or a time trial. 

I think it could be a fun way to motivate our JV guys to hit that barrier and to make them feel they are an important contributor to the team.

In the spirit of full transparency, we had 32 guys run sub-5 last track season, which bested our previous mark of 27 set the year before.  I know some of you have smaller numbers of guys on the team, so perhaps we could also have a category celebrating the team with the highest percentage of team members who break 5:00.

The 5 minute mile is a memorable moment in a runner’s life. It is a forever moment that a runner will never forget. In keeping this chart for the 2014 season, there were some categories that Coach Lawrence notated:

• Most Boys runners under 5 minutes for 1600 Meters.

• Most Girls runners under 6 minutes for 1600 Meters.

• Lowest average by school and gender who have made the list. There will be two categories: Schools that have more than 10 runners on the list but less than 19; or schools that have 20 or more runners on the list.

• Most Boys runners under 10:30 for 3200 Meters.

• Most Girls runners under 12:45 for 3200 Meters.

This is a friendly competition. We will not be crowning a champion for this. It will just be interesting to see how many schools will participate in this. It is not a matter of winning or losing, but participating. Most importantly, it will give recognition to runners on DyeStat Illinois and throughout the country that would not be able to receive that on the TFX leaderboards.

Guidelines

1– All performances must be done between December 1, 2013, and the end of your season (state meet). For Illinois, it would end on May 24 for Girls, May 31 for Boys. Personal Bests from previous seasons cannot be used.

2- You can break either 5:00 or 10:30 for Boys, 6:00 or 12:45 for Girls, in either a meet or a time trial. Coaches: you are on the honor system on this.

3- We will try to keep up the charts daily. In most cases, the charts will be updated at the beginning of each month.

4- ONLY COACHES from the individual schools may submit performances. We will not accept performances from athletes, parents, or media.

5- To submit a performance, the following information must be provided:

-    Name of athlete

-    School

-    Year in school

-    Performance

-    Location of Performance (please notate if this was a meet or a time trial)

-    If the athlete is already on the list and has improved their performance, please put UPDATE next to the athlete’s name.

6- You can participate in this project as long as your school is within the United States. This is not an ILLINOIS only endeavor. At the end of the year, we will publish complete lists by state along with the category rankings.

Performances can be e-mailed to either DyeStat Illinois ([email protected]) or Coach Lawrence ([email protected]). Please title your e-mail Sub 5 Challenge Performance.

Coach Lawrence will be sending e-mail reminder notices at the beginning of each month. If you would like to be put on this list, please e-mail him at the above e-mail address.

The Sub 5 / Sub 6 Challenge is another effort by DyeStat, DyeStat Illinois, and RunnerSpace to promote track & field within the state of Illinois and throughout the country.

Along with the challenge, we will also do the Relay Schools of the Year in Illinois that we started in 2013. There are a few other programs that will be initiated throughout the year on DyeStat Illinois.

If there are any questions about this or you have any other ideas to promote the sport, please contact me at [email protected].

Remember, the worst idea is the idea that is never mentioned.

Have a great 2014 season. Stay safe, stay healthy, and realize your dreams.