Welcome back, runners. This is your local race director and club aficionado, Matthew Hammersmith, and today I’m handing the mic to the next generation, because we’re talking about the Upstate Youth Series.

Important Club Links

• Club Membership Page

• Club Store Page

• Race Discounts on ALL Events

• Club Member Benefits

• Strava Club - Kudos Korner

• Run Club Schedule

• Facebook Group

• Facebook Page

Race Series Pages 

• Upstate Trail Series

• Upstate Road Series

• Upstate Brew Series

• Upstate Youth Series

• Upstate Giving Series

• Upstate Ultra Series

If you’ve got a young runner in your house who can’t stop sprinting to the mailbox, racing you to the car, or “accidentally” doing strides through the grocery store, this series is for them. The Upstate Youth Series is our first annual age group competition built specifically for up and coming youth runners right here in the Upstate.

And I want you to picture what this really is. It’s a season-long adventure where kids get to show up, pin a bib on, line up with other young athletes, and learn what it feels like to chase a finish line with confidence. It’s structured, it’s exciting, and it’s built to keep it fun and approachable, with race distances under ten K.

Now here’s the best part. Joining the series is effortless.

There’s no special registration or extra step to “enter” the Youth Series. If your athlete registers for any included Upstate Race Series event using the same RunSignUp profile each time, they’re automatically entered and scored automatically. No extra forms. No confusion. Just sign up, race, and let the season build.

Alright, let’s talk scoring, because this is where the series gets really fun in a friendly, chase-your-buddy kind of way.

Your athlete’s series age group is based on their age on December thirty-first of the year. They can still place in their current age group at each individual race, but the series standings are scored based on end of year age, so it stays consistent all season.

Points are awarded by age group finish like this. First place gets ten points. Second gets nine. Third gets eight. Then it steps down from there, until tenth place and all remaining finishers receive one point. And that means something important. If your athlete shows up and finishes, they’re on the board. Effort counts, consistency counts, and that’s exactly the kind of lesson we love teaching through sport.

And for parents juggling schedules, school calendars, and a household that runs on snack time and sprint time, here’s the built-in flexibility. Only the top five races count. A maximum of five races can score, and if your athlete competes in more than five, we take their best five finishes. So you can chase the series hard, or you can pick the events that fit your life and still be right in the mix.

Now, who is this for?

The Youth Series is scored across these age group categories: six and under, seven to eight, nine to ten, eleven to twelve, thirteen to sixteen, and seventeen to nineteen. So whether your athlete is just getting started or already dreaming big, they’ve got a spot on the leaderboard.

And yes, there are awards, because finishing a season deserves a moment.

At the end of the year, we recognize the top three finishers in each age group at our annual awards ceremony, with awards made by Hickory Handcrafted. That’s not just a medal you toss into a drawer. It’s the kind of award that lives on a shelf and reminds a young runner, “I earned that.”

So what kinds of races are included?

The Youth Series pulls from a wide mix of Upstate Race Series events, which makes it fun because you can find the style that fits your athlete. There are shorter road efforts, some longer youth-friendly challenges, and even a few iconic events that feel like a big stage, with big energy.

A few highlights from the included events in 2026 look like this.