Chamber Challenge Ready to Go On Sunday Morning

Last year, the Treasurer of the South Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, Shep Crow, asked Diana York if she would be interested in organizing the 10k Chamber Challenge.

With deep connections to the beneficiaries of the race—the South County Secondary School sports teams and Lorton area elementary PTSOs—York felt compelled to take on the responsibility. Additionally, she has never been one to wilt from a challenge.

After six months of meetings, York and her team of enthusiastic volunteers gathered in the South County SS parking lot on Thursday night to go over the details one last time. Maps were pulled out and the racecourse was reviewed. West Springfield Police District Crime Prevention Officer was on hand to explain how and where his 11-man security team will be operating. They'll partially close down Hooes and Furnace Roads to allow runners to compete safely. The race route will be marked with 88 cones.

As she reviewed the list of sponsors, notably Vulcan, Becky Rygiel, Shea Studio and Dominion Power, somewhere in the back of her mind York must have thought of the time when there were no sponsors and she had to drum up their support.  And that undoubtedly would have led to thoughts of her very crowded house, filled with prizes, waiting to be awarded to the top three finishers in each of six categories.

Then there are all the t-shirts and hats that need to be distributed to runners, not to mention the time-keeping devices, wrapped around their ankles which will make their times official.  And there's the hope against hope that the weather will cooperate so as to ensure an even larger turnout and more participants in the Fun Run and the Family Fitness Fair and more donors for the Inova Bloodmobile.

Perhaps one thing that caught York off-guard were all the events taking place while the race was being run. "They required a separate piece of planning than the race," she says. "But you have to do it in conjunction with the 10k."

The race itself was why people will come in the first place. And York had to market the event to make it appealing to elite runners. So, with the help of many volunteers, but particularly Shep Crow (who suggested she organize the race in the first place) and Dawn Shepard, prize money was put up and the course was sanctioned by USA Track and Field.

And then there are the generators and the tables and the coffee. An on-looker can't help but wonder, if this is the amount of preparation that goes into a 10k, what must a marathon be like?

The temptation is to say that York will have race preparation down to science for next year, but she's just focused on making sure the race on Sunday goes off without a hitch.

At some point she'll look back on a job well done, but that probably won't be until long after the last runner has crossed the finish line.

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Tomorrow, runners can pick up the necessary pre-race materials at South County between 1pm and 7pm. And runners can still register on race day up until 7;50 am, but keep in mind the fee moves from $35 to $40.  The gun sounds at 8.