RRCA 2000 Top Sites

This year the number of RRCA club web sites was over 300. To minimize the task of reviewing sites, clubs were asked to submit their sites for the competition. This cut down on the number of sites judges had to review, but there were so many good sites submitted that judging was still a tough task.

Judging was done in each of two catagories. The A division - clubs with more than 100 members, and the B division - clubs with 100 members or less. Three Top Sites were picked in each division. Winners were announced at the RRCA convention awards ceremony on May 12.

Eligibility

To be eligible sites had to be RRCA clubs with web sites listed on April 3,2000. They also were required to have a link to the RRCA from their home page, a requirement which eliminated a few clubs who obviously did not read the rules.

Judging Criteria

The judging criteria are listed below.

• First Impression
• Layout/Graphic Design
• Use of Technology
• Depth of Content
• Uniqueness
• Contribution to RRCA

The Judges

The judges were:

• Kevin Molloy - President Cool Sports Inc. CoolRunning.com.
• Warren Finke - Warren is President of wY'east Consulting Inc. which produces 9 web sites related primarily to fitness and endurance sports. These include RRCA.org.

2000 A Division Top Sites

• Northeast Running Club, OH
• Second Wind Running Club, IL
• Southern Arizona Roadrunners, AZ

2000 B Division Top Sites

• Batten Kill Valley Runners, VT
• Greater Derry Track Club, NH
• RidgeRunners Club, VA

Comments

There were more than a dozen sites in the large club competition which were within a few points of each other in my judging. These included very large clubs down to Virginia Happy Trails which had just graduated from the small club ranks.

The quality of the small club sites show it doesn't take lots of money or hoardes of contributors if you are organized and have a few dedicated people.

Finally, you can get a lot of ideas for improving your own club if you take the time to surf a few of these sites and find our what is going on in other clubs -- a great source of new ideas. Warren Finke webmaster