NIRCA News

Runners, start marking your calendards now!

NIRCA Half Marathon, Track & Field Nationals heads to Bloomington, IN on April 6, 2013! Get the latest information on the event here at clubrunning.org.

NIRCA, assisted by the Ohio State University Running Club, held a successful 2013 Winter Conference in Columbus, OH January 18-20, hosting over 90 officers and members from 13 clubs for the three day event.  Presentations from staff and current club officers covered topics ranging from member recruitment and training, to fundraising and finance.  Four of NIRCA’s nine regions were represented among those assembled, which included new and well-established clubs.

The officers had a blast @nirca winter conference. We learned a lot and can't wait for what comes next! #nircawc

— StridersRunningClub (@MiamiStriders) January 22, 2013

December 15, 2012 - NIRCA is now accepting bids from member clubs interested in co-hosting their 2013 Regional Championship meet with the association.

Hershey, PA – November 10, 2012 – On the heels of a seventh successful cross country season, including the Cross Country Nationals in Hershey, PA this weekend, the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association (NIRCA) announced Spring Championship details for 2013. NIRCA will return to Bloomington, IN on April 6, 2013 to host the expanded NIRCA Track & Field National Championships, supported by IU Athletics and Hoosier Sports Corp. The NIRCA Half Marathon Championships will join the Hoosier Half Marathon (formerly the IU Mini).

Columbus, OH – November 10, 2012 – The Ohio State University RPAC will play host to the 2013 NIRCA Winter Conference January 18-20, 2013. The goal of Winter Conference is to promote intercollegiate club running through presentations of the NIRCA organization, developmental workshops, and forums for feedback from member clubs.

One thing is certain in the 2012 Men’s National Championship race; a new individual will be crowned. Gone is last year’s champ, Andy Weaver of Delaware, along with the entire top five from 2011 and most of the 30 first and second team all-americans. But don’t think this field is short on contenders.

There has never been a repeat individual national champion in the women’s field despite the defending champion returning three times in the last five years. So if Betsy Suda plans to top the podium again she has to re-write NIRCA history this Saturday. What doesn’t make things any easier for the defending champ…seven of the top ten from 2011 Nationals are in the field and 18 of the 30 all-americans from a year ago as well. This should be a fun one!

For weeks leading up to the NIRCA championship series it seemed that November 10th would be the coronation for a dominant Iowa State team. Favored a year ago they stumbled at the finish to place second in the country but with all seven runners back how could ISU lose in 2012? And they haven’t yet. Results from the last two weeks however show us that Saturday’s race is going to be more of a battle than we previously anticipated and maybe the best team race NIRCA fans have ever seen!

No one doubts that the University of Virginia is among the best women’s programs in NIRCA. It’s an elite distinction and shared with the likes of Michigan Ann Arbor, Illinois, Oregon, and Penn State. These schools have dominated the national scene since NIRCA’s inception in 2006. But the Wolverines, Illini, Ducks, and Nittany Lions all have something that the Cavaliers don’t - a national title. On Saturday in Hershey, UVA hopes to get that monkey off its back and add the only missing piece to an impressive resume that includes five regional titles, numerous invitational wins, and individual all-americans.

For the 2012 Cross Country National Championship NIRCA has formalized the A/B split race at the National Championship meet. Course capacity is 350 runners, and because the total number of runners in both mens' and womens' fields exceeds 350, both races will be split. This configuration ensures the safety of our participants on the course. The decision to combine races was introduced earlier this season based on the expected registration for the National Championship event to date, to be held in Hershey, PA on November 10th.

Oregon was supposed to win big. Central Connecticut State was an unknown. Indiana was, well…impressive! And so we close out the 2012 NIRCA Regional season with our final men’s rankings before the always anticipated Nationals predictions next week.

After three weekends of racing, NIRCA’s nine regional championships are in the books for 2012. While there weren't any major surprises in the Great Lakes, Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Gulf Central, there is some more clarity for our nationals preview coming next week. But for this week, here's a look at the results and our final regular season rankings.

Last year's 4th place finisher at the NIRCA XC Nationals, Jannis Topfer, led the Fighting Illini to a 4th place team finish at the Big Ten Conference Championship. His time of 24:06 for 8k was good enough for 9th place overall and was the 10th fastest time in school history. Jannis ran with the Texas Running Club last year as a German exchange student and is now a graduate student at the University of Illinois.

Given the feedback received at the 2012 Winter Conference, NIRCA has elected for an A/B split race at the National Championship meet. Course capacity is 350 runners, so if the total number of runners in an A and B race is less than 350, then the field will be combined. This configuration ensures the safety of our participants on the course. The decision to combine races will be formally announced following the registration deadline for the National Championship event.

Iowa State Men, Illinois Women Show Depth at the NIRCA Great Plains Regional in Ames, Iowa.

A year ago the Mid Atlantic, Great Plains, and Southwest Regional team titles were all decided by six points or less (one on a tie breaker). But those hoping for nail-biting repeats in 2012 were let down as defending champions created some distance en route to the crowns this time around.

Teams from four different NIRCA regions took to the course on Saturday in search of championship honors and previewing what we may see in Hershey on November 10th. The performances also shook up this week's rankings.

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Several cries of “Tar … Heels!” rang clear and true during NIRCA’s Southeast Regionals Oct. 13 in Spartanburg, S.C., with both the women’s and men’s team championship accolades going home with UNC-Chapel Hill. Individuals from Florida, Duke and Wake Forest also impressed with their performances as runners begin putting in their final tune-ups for nationals in Hershey, Pa. next month.

Our week 5 rankings are out a little bit later this week so we can not only wrap up last weekend’s competitions but also preview some blockbuster regional championships taking place this Saturday.

First, how our NIRCA clubs performed last week…

The second annual HEPS invitational featured our top Ivy League clubs as well as some of our mid atlantic talent outside of the Ivy. The University of Delaware turned in a strong performance with seven in the top fourteen of the race lead by Chris Warren (25:43), Josh Hayman (25:50), and Collin Zeffer (25:54). The Blue Hens tallied 39 points, well ahead of regional foes Princeton (69) and Penn (70). The Maryland duo of Ty Stump and Craig Morgans finished 1-2 at HEPS in 25:19 and 25:24 respectively.

If there is any doubt that Michigan should be on top of our week 5 rankings, the women of MRun quickly put that to rest with their results at the Spartan Invitationao in East Lansing on Sunday. Michigan cruised to yet another tea victory scoring 38 points and clearly not at full strength for this meet, with virus top runners sitting out. Michelle Lapin led the charge with her third place finish in 19:40 on the 5k course. All scoring five finished in the top 12 and under 20:45, as the Wolverines out-distanced big ten rival Ohio State (55) and Michigan State (56) for the title. 

ISU's small but solid race turn out this season is a step in the right direction - Last fall season the Illinois State University Run Club struggled to put up team scores, especially on the girls side. Although they had several members coming to the weekday practices, meets were a different story. Since a minimum of five runners are needed to make up a team score, they weren't able to provide a girls team score for any of their races, including their own home invitational. 

In 2008, the University of Delaware cut all their men's running programs because they claimed the teams were not competitive enough, too expensive, and of course the classic Title IX excuse that so many schools seem to be piggybacking off of in the past few years. In Delaware's first season as a club cross country team they finished 4th place at the NIRCA Nationals with Andy Weaver finishing 1st place overall.

After debuting at #1 in our season preview rankings, Iowa State did not disappoint in their first showing with the NIRCA target square on their backs. The Cyclones ran to a runner-up finish at the Dan Huston Invitational which featured some very tough NCAA Division 2 schools. Mason Frank led the way with a 25:14 as all scoring five were within 62 seconds of one another. With Regionals just a few weeks away, ISU continues to look very strong and very deep.

With NIRCA’s championship season just around the corner, it was a relatively light weekend of racing among our women’s clubs. Our number one club from last week, Michigan Ann Arbor was off, but 2, 3 and 4 were all in action and yielded great results.

Iowa State Running Club competed in the Dan Huston Invitational this past Saturday. They placed second as a men's team losing only to Augustana SD, a powerhouse Division 2 program. Mason Frank led the men's team with an impressive showing of 25:14 and an 8th place overall finish. He was the first non-Augustana runner to cross the finish line. David Sevcik set a huge PR with a 10th place finish in a time of 25:24. Chris Robertson got back into the game after struggling at Loyola. He finished 15th overall in a time of 25:54. Danny Ducharme had an off race but was still able to clock a time of 26:13. Daniel Sevcik ran a PR with a time of 26:15. Freshman Rob Scanlon increased his PR by 20 seconds to run a 26:20. Six Iowa State runners under 26:20 was good enough to best every team but Augustana SD, who perfect scored the meet.

Defending national champion Illinois used a tight spread and had three runners under the 25 minute mark last season to run away with the crown. The Illini return another strong group in 2012 lead by Brendan McDonnel (12th at Nationals) who recently navigating the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in 26:11, clocking the second fastest time by a NIRCA male at the event.

Parity wasn’t exactly a word associated with the NIRCA women’s championship over the past six years. Prior to 2011 only three schools laid claim to the title with Penn State and Oregon dominating most of those championships. But 2011 threw our polls and history out the window with Illinois and Virginia’s nail biting 1-2 finish well ahead of the traditional powers. And for the first time in awhile, our women’s preview isn’t as clear cut.

Things are heating up this year in East Lansing as Spartans work towards postseason.

After a year of growth and experience, the Michigan State Running Club is ready to roll this cross country season. Those with a solid summer of training under their belts are already showing great progress as they put in harder workouts and higher mileage weeks than in past years. Both the women and men finished second in the team scoring to MRun at the Michigan Fall Classic and are striving towards similar team finishes in October and November.

UVA Men and Women sweep Cavalier Invite with dominating performances in the Southeast Region.

Iowa State has started the season, already racking up 3 races and strong finishes for the club. 2 5k road races and the club's first 8k cross country D1 race saw the club place well:

Hey Runners! Remember to check out this year's new eligibility requirements to ensure that you're all set for Hershey!

Teams: Any NIRCA team (Male & Female combined) MUST BE represented at your local Regional Championship in order to compete at this year's National Event in Hershey!

Individual: Any NIRCA individual MUST compete at one NIRCA sanctioned Event prior to competing at Nationals. This is event includes, but is not limited to Regionals.

For more details, check out the NIRCA eligibility webpage!

Each year, many NIRCA participants take to road racing in addition to cross country racing in the fall. While many popular and local road races are similar in distance to cross country distances, some of the ever increasingly popular distances are much more daunting, namely, the half marathon and marathon distances. The half marathon and marathon road racing scene has begun to rapidly increase in popularity in recent years, and these races involve a great deal of commitment along with many new challenges.

The addition of track to this year’s 2012 spring nationals appeared to be the added incentive for teams to make the trip to Bloomington, IN. The NIRCA half marathon team championship, once again paired with the IU mini, drew the interest of 135 NIRCA participants divided between 8 women’s and 11 men’s team. Returning team champions Iowa State (men) and University of Cincinnati (women) were both in attendance to defend their title, and well aware of the increase in competition as all events in NIRCA see year after year. 

IURunClub (@IURunClub)
Congratulations to all our runners on an amazing weekend at @nirca nationals! Full results will be up asap. #iurc #nircanats

20 clubs and nearly 300 runners prepare to make the journey to Indiana University and Bloomington, Indiana this weekend in anticipation for the first-ever NIRCA Road and Track National Championships. This eclipses the first-ever Cross Country Nationals, held in 2006, which saw just over 200 runners from 12 different universities.

Mike Williams (@MikeWilliams117)
@nirca nationals 2012 in Hershey PA? Sounds like home field advantage for @PSUClubXC #winningthealumnirace

Hershey, PA – March 19, 2012 – NIRCA will host the 2012 Cross Country National Championships in Hershey, Pennsylvania over the weekend of November 10, 2012. Following discussions at the 2012 Winter Conference calling for a central location for the 2012 event, Hershey was selected as the site for the event. This decision comes from a desire for a destination that will foster the club camaraderie NIRCA events are known for. Priority was also given for a central location, with nearly 40 clubs within a 7-hour drive and with Philadelphia and Harrisburg airports close by.

East Lansing, MI – It was only a matter of time before the timeless in-state rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans took to the track.  B1G Ten Championships and NCAA tournaments aside, club runners from UofM and MSU finally had a chance to start their own legacy by competing in the first ever club dual meet between the two schools.

Fullerton, CA – Cal Poly Distance Club competed in its second track meet of the 2012 season this weekend at California State University–Fullerton's Ben Brown Invitational. The Mustangs took part in the 1500 meter and 3000 meter steeplechase events. Chris Sandstrom highlighted the 1500 field with a 4:08.63 performance that led to a victory in his heat. Cal Poly's Ruben Baerga ran up front from the start, while Sandstrom laid back and worked his way through the field. On the final lap, Sandstrom beat Brandon Haugen, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country Freshman of the Year, to the finish line.

February 10 - At the Flotrack Husky Classic, all three teams in the Pacific Northwest Region (Boise State Track and Field Club, University of Oregon Running Club, and the Husky Running Club) competed in a Club-only section of the men's 3k and the women's mile.

In the recent 2012 Olympic Trials, NIRCA had one of their very own compete for a spot on the 2012 U.S.A Olympic Marathon Team. Lauren Philbrook of Penn State Club Cross Country placed 39th out of 152 competitors. Lauren finished with a final time of 2:39.47 as one of 2 twenty-four year-olds in the top 40 finishers (the other being Clara Grandt, 7th place). The Houston trials was Lauren's second marathon! She qualified for the Olympic trials in her first marathon back in 2011 in Pittsburgh where she finished with a time of 2:45.11, 7th overall and the 2nd place American. Given these times, Lauren PR'd over 5 minutes! You guys may remember Lauren from the 2009 NIRCA Nationals where she lead the PSU women's team to their 3rd national title with her first place finish ahead of Oregon. Lauren joined PSU Club XC after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts where she claimed the title as the NCAA D-III Outdoor Track & Field Champion in the 10k in 2009 with a time of 35:46.62. I had to opportunity to sit down with Lauren to discuss her experience at the trials a little more in depth.

Bloomington, IN–November 14, 2011–NIRCA is partnering with the Indiana University Athletics Department and Hoosier Sports Corp to host the first NIRCA Track National Championships. This event will combine with the IU Mini Marathon’s partnership with the NIRCA Half Marathon National Championships to offer NIRCA member clubs a weekend of Track and Road National Championships.

Charlotte, NC - November 12, 2011 - After testing weather’s fate five straight years in the north, NIRCA took Nationals to the sunny southern state of North Carolina, and the weather did not disappoint.  Enthusiasm in Charlotte was apparent as a record number of teams streamed in on Friday afternoon for the official course preview.  An apparently flat and fast course had anticipations running high for personal best performances.

Virginia sent a loud and resounding message to the rest of NIRCA on October 29th. The Cavaliers will be a factor in deciding the 2011 national champion and Penn State is vulnerable.

The Mid Atlantic Regional saw UVA hand the Nittany Lions their first loss to a NIRCA school since 2008 with a stunning 26-30 victory. Behind a 1-2-3 finish, Virginia was impressive, as they have been all year with big wins at JMU and in their home invitational. But the 2:06 spread between runners 1-5 at regionals could be a cause for concern in a bigger meet. The good news, that spread gets a lot smaller when you add Anna Gordon, UVA’s #1 who didn’t run at regionals, into to the mix.

If the team race at Nationals is anything like the Regional Championships, we are in store for one entertaining men’s championship.

Four of the six regionals decided their men’s team champion by 6 points or less with Indiana besting Michigan 49-50 at Great Lakes, Iowa State getting by Illinois 33-39 at Great Plains, Cal Poly over USC in the Southwest 35-39, and Delaware taking down Virginia in the Mid Atlantic on a tie-breaker after both clubs scoring five totaled 43 points. Add in the two other regional champions and former NIRCA national champions, North Carolina and Oregon and you can see why this should be one of NIRCA’s most memorable men’s championships.

28 seconds. That is the total amount of time, over the last two championship races, that has separated Clemson grad student Wallace Campbell from a NIRCA national title. But the back-to-back runner-up is once again among the favorites of the 2011 men’s field after a dominating season.

What do you get when the top nine finishers from last year’s national championship aren’t returning?...A wide open championship race in 2011! After years of epic battles featuring names like Mohror, Philbrook, Schnepp, Woods, Belli, and Knight we see a field with a lot of brand new stars on the rise and women who have waited their turn patiently in NIRCA, now ready to take aim at a title.

Iowa State holds Illinois at bay from mid-season to post-regionals, as the teams gear up for the Nationals push. The former midwest still holds the cards on the top teams, but will that be the actual outcome?

MRUN's strong regional performance makes them the favourite over former title winners Penn State and Oregon, with Virginia breaking into the Top 3 following the Regional Championships. Mizzou and Cincinnati round out the Top 10 with a first time showing in the fall season rankings. Will they try to claim the women's title this year or remain at the heels of other teams from across the nation?

USC’s Martinez and UCLA’s Zola Take Crowns; Cal Poly Sweeps Team Titles

San Luis Obispo, CA–The Southwest’s seven collegiate-club teams took to the Cuesta-Fairbanks Cross Country Course for the first ever NIRCA-hosted race in California. The hot sun and steep hills of the course presented a tough challenge that awaited these determined athletes. Teams in attendance included the Wildcat Running Club from the University of Arizona, the Cal Poly Distance Club, the Stanford Running Club, the UCLA Bruin Runners, the Running Club at UCI from UC Irvine, the Running Club from UCR from UC Riverside, and the Men of Troy from USC.

NIRCA's first foray into hosting a regional meet in the running hotseat of the Pacific Northwest was a great success. See the highlights in the recap, as well as interviews with the clubs!

Watch the NIRCA Pacific Northwest Regional 2011 on flotrack.org

 4th place on a Tough day at the @nirca southwest regional.

Ten schools and almost one hundred and thirty runners competed at the third annual Princeton Invitational this Saturday, October 22nd. 

NIRCA hosted its first meet of any kind in the Pacific Northwest region on Sunday October 16 at Pier Park in Portland, OR. With several teams in the lightly populated region unable to travel, the University of Oregon and Boise State University competed in likely their most important dual meet in club history – one for a Regional Championship.

Penn State continues to hold the top bid for their fourth National Championship title, with former champions MRUN and Oregon close on their toes. Illinois slingshots into the top 5 and Loyola breaks into the field at 10. The women's field is still open to change, with drops by North Carolina and Wisconsin falling to 6 and 7 in the top 10. Will there be further changes as Regionals loom closer?

The Midwest clubs surge to the top of the mid-season club rankings, as Iowa State takes the top spot ahead of Virginia. UPenn men make jump to the middle point of the rankings, solidly finishing at 5, over former National Champions Oregon and Wisconsin. As the clubs continue to race in the lead up to regionals, what clubs will begin showing their hand prior to the Nationals Championships in Charlotte?

NIRCA's first conference championship races went off Saturday at Princeton University at the first Ivy League (Heps) Cross-Country Championships. Princeton swept the men's and women's races over Penn to take both titles. Cornell's Julianne Quinn and Penn's Nate Ennist took the individual crowns with both clocking in at NIRCA-affiliated record times for the West Windsor Fields course.

Sunnyvale, CA––14 men from the Cal Poly Distance Club took to the course at  Sunnyvale Baylands Park where they would face some of the strongest Division I and Division II opponents in the country. In a meet highlighted by an invitational clash between top-notch NCAA programs, Cal Poly's Distance Club team looked to make a historic run of its own in the 8K Open. When the dust cleared, the men of CPDC took their first podium finish in a major NCAA open competition, finishing 3rd as a team. junior Mike Marlin and senior Andrew Ariey led the way running 25:57.0 and 25:57.5 respectfully. A 19th and 20th place finish overall.

San Luis Obispo plays host to 7 of the west's best collegiate club teams!

NEWSTEAD, NY--   The University at Buffalo welcomed racers from Binghamton University in yesterday’s Second Annual Running of the Bulls Invitational at Akron Falls County Park.  Contrary to the inaugural race, this year’s weather cooperated and showcased sunny skies and around 75 degree weather.  The two Northeast SUNY club teams, Buffalo and Binghamton, squared off on the treacherously slow and hilling home course of the Bulls in a dual meet showdown.  Two races were run for the invitational: a NIRCA Men’s 8K, followed by a NIRCA Women’s 6K.

After hosting and sweeping an awesome home meet, UVA Club XC has been working hard to maintain its status as one of the top club programs in the nation. 

The 8th MC5 and 2nd Nittany Lion Invite saw over 200 runners compete in NIRCA Sanctioned Races.

The 39th Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational hosted over 1000 collegiate runners and over 2500 high school runners October 1 on the shore Montrose Ave Beach in Chicago, Illinois. More than 12 NIRCA clubs participated in the NIRCA Promoted Race in the collegiate division amongst university cross country teams.

Over 375 runners ran in the first 3 NIRCA Sanctioned Races of the season, held in the Southeast, Great Lakes and Great Plains regions. 

Syracuse places 3rd at Lemoyne College Inviational

Two NIRCA clubs participated in the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational over the weekend, placing in the top 20 as teams.

After years of knocking on the door, Michigan Ann-Arbor’s veteran team finally broke through

in 2010, stunning the favorites en route to their first-ever NIRCA team title…and it was a

memorable nationals performance. With five seniors/grad students leading the way a year ago,

the Wolverines will be re-building in 2011 but will still be in the thick of a very competitive

men’s field.

Two-time defending champion Penn State has never finished worse than second at Nationals in

five appearances and hasn’t lost a meet (of any kind…yes NCAA D-III invites included) since

2009. Despite losing three of their top four to graduation, a deep and experienced squad returns

from a team that captured Nationals by 78 points last year and saw all seven runners finish under

24:20. Expect the Nittany Lions to be the team to beat once again.

Off to a running start

15 Clubs join NIRCA for the start of the 2011 Fall Race Series and Championships, filling out the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic Regions

Running 185 miles for the Wounded Warrior Project

At the Collegiate Club Championships with Wisconsin's Team: A look at the camaraderie, coaching and choices faced by club runners

The concept for NIRCA was just a blip on the radar of Bryan Beightol, Jeremy Brown, and several other club members of the Ball State Runners Association back in 2004...

Spartan runners take to the track for the first time ever.

Flotrack has continued feature of NIRCA Nationals coverage with the first annual Half Marathon Nationals in Bloomington. The event, with more than 120 NIRCA athletes, introduced a pivotal step in NIRCA's continuous role in providing collegiate clubs a vital role in competition.

Since our November announcement of the NIRCA Spring Road Half Marathon Championship, we've been thrilled to read many emails and see your enthusiasm for long-distance road racing. Of course, some of you have also expressed your interest in a Spring track season. Since we have received several inquiries on the reasons for "going to the roads", we thought you may be interested in the thought process behind this decision.

NIRCA announced today that collegiate club runners will have the opportunity to compete for a national title on the pavement in Spring 2011, as part of the Association's expansion into road racing. The NIRCA 2011 Road Nationals Championships will take place in early April, in conjunction with the IU Mini Marathon in Bloomington, IN. Runners will contest the half marathon distance, with team and individual championships at stake. 

The NIRCA Executive Council announced today that due to the Association's highest-ever registration for the National Championships, the 2009 Men's Championship race will be split into two fields. The 2009 Women’s Championship race will not be split. The possibility for this situation was announced on November 2 (the full release is here). 

The 2009 NIRCA National Championships will be the biggest yet. NIRCA teams are traveling a total of 16,375 miles in their pilgrimage to Ypsilanti (an average of 528 miles!). Best of luck to all of our clubs in their road trips/flights. For those groups that can't make it, we hope circumstances change next year!

At its founding, NIRCA was a Midwest-centric organization. With each passing year, the Association gained more national flavor, with teams in the Northeast and Southeast regions climbing towards the top of rankings and filling up the members list. There has been, however, a exception to this trend: the West. There are only five member clubs in the West, only one club on of which, Oregon, attended Nationals before this year. These has never been a Western Regional Championship. In Ypsilanti, Texas joined Oregon as the second Western club to attend the meet. 

Clemson graduate student Wallace Campbell took the lead from the gun to win the men's 8k by over a minute at the Tar Heel Invitational. Campbell was followed by teammate Cameron Bell, throttling Clemson to a convincing win.

Ten clubs competed at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational as part of a new addition to the NCAA meet.

Meet the Mizzou Running Club: one of the newest clubs in NIRCA, one of the more isolated clubs in NIRCA, and yet one of the most active clubs in NIRCA. How is that even possible?

The National Intercollegiate Running Club Association (NIRCA) National Championship will commence with an open and alumni race on the morning of November 14, 2009.

Change is constant
This is one of the truth that the Indiana University club lives by. The University Athletic Club was founded at IU in Bloomington, Indiana. Like many other running clubs, the original club comprised a handful of members who loved to run and wanted to form a stronger running community at the school. This group, better known as the UAC, started life as a small student organization with minimal recognition by the university. As a club working on a budget of zero dollars, club activities were extremely limited; UAC runners could be spotted racing in team uniforms consisting of a $2 white Hanes t-shirt with "UAC" drawn on the front with a red Sharpie.

For a town that is known for its longstanding basketball tradition, Storrs, Connecticut is definitely not a place that’s short on runners. As soon as you reach campus you are bound to see students running around on campus or out near the infamous Horsebarn Hill. But if you head over to the track, at 7:00PM on a Monday night, you will see the dedicated runners of the revitalized UConn Running Club.

The University of Oregon has a few advantages that many Clubs don't. In "TrackTown, USA", there's never a shortage of running enthusiasts or resources. So, it may be a surprise that Oregon did not have a Club until recently. A small, relatively unorganized group of recreational runners formed a Club in 2002, but Oregon’s Club really got its start when Tom Heinonen, longtime UO women’s coach, retired after 27 years with the team. The day after his retirement, he decided to volunteer as coach for the Club. On his final day of UO women’s coach, he said: "I'll give it a try. It's a pretty informal group, and we'll see what we can make of it, and if it's fun and rewarding for the kids and for me, then I hope I'd get to keep doing it."

 At least thirty people will stream into the University of Michigan Central Campus Rec. Building most fall nights at 4:45 PM, individually or in groups, guys or girls, serious or laughing, short shorts or knee length. They’re all here simply to run as a part of the always jovial but often eclectic U of M Running Club, known on campus as MRUN. Workouts vary by day and by groups of runners, customization being the key attribute of the club. If there is one thing that can be learned MRUN’s growth, it was that having fun, being different, and yet still forming a community can all fit together snugly.