For a lot of distance runners who reside in the Northern California region, the season does not officially start until the 3rd Saturday in March. Previous meets/invitationals are used to set up fast times at the Rolls Royce of distance invitationals, the Dublin Distance Fiesta (DDF). The numbers for the meet are now mind-boggling including 101 teams and 2334 athletes. According to meet director Chris Williams, the meet is now the largest distance meet in the United States based on the total number of entries. You can see below the incredible efficiency of this meet thanks to Jesuit coach, Walt Lange. The meet is also now officially linked to the top invitational in California, the Arcadia Invitational. Along with T-Shirts, bags, sombreros, and plaques, the real prized result for a top finish at this meet may be the automatic entry to Arcadia with a top 2 finish in the fastest heats of the 1600 and 800. The top two finishers in the 3200 fastest sections (girls and boys) will both automatically qualify for the Arcadia Invitational section. The top two Distance Medley Relay teams will also qualify for the Arcadia Invitational and their placement will be based on time. We are in store for some terrific races throughout the day and it's amazing the type of effort you will see as novice and experienced runners battle to the wire in order to win one of those prizes mentioned above. The following is a closer look at all the sombrero races including the Distance Medley Relay.