Collegiate Running Association: Welcome & Vision 

Thank you for becoming a free member of the Collegiate Running Association! We are excited about the future and glad that you are interested in what we are doing. 

The Collegiate Running Association aims to provide and expand opportunities to all college students that enjoy running. Our vision is to offer national championship events in road racing, mountain running, and trail running that will be open to all college students. These national championships will be held in conjunction with pre-existing races in various parts of the country that can attract and handle large numbers of college students. Additionally, we are excited that our national championship events will offer prize money to top finishers, which will help attract the best college runners in the country. 

We created the Collegiate Running Association for two main reasons: to fill voids in the current collegiate system and to expand upon current offerings. We certainly recognize and greatly appreciate that for some college runners, the opportunities in the current collegiate system are vast and fulfilling; three long seasons with plenty of races and championships at the conference, regional, and national level. However, only a small percentage of college runners fit into this category. For instance, did you know that:

• 95% of high school cross country runners do not continue to the NCAA level

• There are roughly 450 NCAA programs (all divisions, men's and women's total) that do not sponsor year-round running programs, meaning that they may only offer Cross Country without offering Outdoor Track & Field, or vice versa

• Part-time students, those that have exhausted NCAA eligibility, and those that do not  / cannot compete in the NCAA lack college-specific racing opportunities

In order to expand upon current offerings, we will be:

• Providing national championship races in road racing, mountain running, and trail running. These are three growing disciplines of the sport that are not currently sponsored at the college level, meaning there are no national championship events for college runners in these areas

• Providing national championships that allow all college students, regardless of division or level, to compete against each other in the same race at the same time. Our only eligibility requirement: be enrolled in at least one college course at any level. This means that part-time, full-time, undergraduates, graduates, NCAA student-athletes, club runners, and any other college student you can think of are all eligible! 

In order to make our national championships worthwhile for as broad a group as possible, we will:

• Partner with well-established races that offer a top notch experience for all participants

• Pick destinations accessible to large student populations via a short road-trip, train, or major airport

• Work with local running groups at each race that can help provide as many host families as possible for participants to save on hotel costs
• Have pre-race and post-race interviews and features on participants

• Offer PRIZE MONEY specifically for college students

• Offer networking opportunities at our events in order to connect college students with potential employers and contacts

We sincerely believe that the Collegiate Running Association offers something for all college runners. It’s a broad-based idea. We aren’t looking specifically for top varsity athletes. We aren’t looking specifically for club athletes. We aren’t looking specifically for social runners. We are looking for all college runners, of all levels. We want college students to embrace road racing, mountain running, and trail running. We want people to stay in the sport of running and excel. We want those that can, to participate in our national championship events. We want those that do participate to return home with experiences that last. 

Again, thank you for joining the Collegiate Running Association. We look forward to the journey and hope that you will join us for our first national championship event on March 29, 2014. We could not be more excited to partner with the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k presented by MARTIN's! 

Be sure to visit our website at www.collegiaterunning.org, follow us on twitter @collegerunning, and like us on facebook.

Sincerely,