How long is the membership for?
Dues are good for one year from the date you paid.

What should we bring to workouts?
Shorts, running shoes and maybe a water bottle. Cougar Field has drinking fountains.

Tilden not so much.

How long do workouts last?
Sunday workouts go from 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 pm. Wednesday workouts go from 5:00 pm
until 6:30 pm. Parents are welcome to leave kids at workouts and get an hour and a half of
freedom.

How big is the club?
We usually have 40-50 paid-up members. Actual attendees at workouts is more like 25-35.

Do we have to come to every workout?
No. We have some runners that rarely miss a workout and others we might see twice a year.
We don’t take attendance. We work with anyone who shows up.

Does my child have to be a “good” runner to participate?
Absolutely not. We are here to help kids improve. As long as they have the interest, they will be
fine. Talent in the club runs from seriously fast to somewhat pokey. Every runner gets
treated the same, fast or slow.

Is there an email group?
Yes. We use Team Snap. To get on the list simply email coach Rick
(rickholtzman6@gmail.com.) We will need your athlete’s date of birth and any phone numbers
you’d like to have listed. The site will also have an up-to-date schedule of workouts and events.

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Is there Raptors clothing?
Yes, every registered runner gets a cool-max Raptors t-shirt, and a choice of Raptors jacket or
hoodie. For those running in track meets we also have free track spikes.

Are there workouts besides Sunday?

Yes, Coach Romy holds Wednesday evening workouts. These are for advanced runners who
can run at least five miles fairly easily and are by invitation only. Romy also has a separate
program for these kids at the Sunday workout. These workouts are fairly difficult, certainly
harder than the average middle school workout. Anyone who wants to run the Wednesday
workout should run in Romy’s Sunday workouts. Everyone else is in the “beginner” group with
coach Rick, Justin, Joel and Teo. If a turnout is large, the beginners group will be split into smaller groups, so that the coach/runner ratio is smaller.

Do the Raptors compete?
Yes. We are a USATF registered club and we run USATF meets in both track and cross-country.
We don’t force anyone to compete but this season we would like all our kids to do at least four
competitive runs over the course of the year . These can be a track meet, a cross-country
meet, the “fourth Sunday’ 5k at lake Merritt of a local 5K or fun run.

What is USATF?
USA Track and Field. USATF is the sanctioning body for all competitive running in the United
States, from youth meets to the Olympic trials.

What are the age groups in USATF track/XC meets?
Group 1: 8 and under
Group 2: 9 and 10
Group 3: 11and 12
Group 4: 13 and 14
Group 5: 15 and 16
Age groups are the same for boys and girls. Each gender has its own set of events.

What track events does the club train for and compete in?
Running events: 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters 1500 meters, 300 meters and
hurdles.
Field events: long jump, triple jump, javelin throw (smaller, rubber-tipped plastic javelins), and

shot put.

We are also working on getting a high jump landing pit but that hasn’t panned out so far. Kids are allowed to do either one, two or three events per meet but no more than three.

Do we have to sign up for meets or races ourselves?
No. Raptors does all the paperwork for each meet and pays all entry fees. Entry fees alone last
year were over $3000 !

When do track meets start?
Our first meet this season is March 1st.