The Usual Red Tape
Each team must include either one member of Congress, the Cabinet, the Vice President, Sub-Cabinet Agency Head or equivalent, Federal Judge, on-air radio or TV journalist, or print journalist.

Gender Goals
Teams must have five runners, at least one of the five must be a woman. All five count in scoring.

TEAM GUIDELINES
Legislative Branch
Team captain must be a member of Congress, with other team members chosen from congressional staff or immediate family of Representative or Senator. Since there are separate but equal Senate and House awards, all legislative branch team members must come from their Captain's side of the Hill. This means Senators use Senate staff and Representatives are limited to House staff.

No more than one member on any Legislative team may come from Staff of Capitol Police, Clerk's Office, Sergeant at Arms, etc. Teams with members that do not comply with rules above or below leave themselves open to censure.

Executive Branch
Team Captain must be either an elected Executive branch official, Cabinet member, US Ambassador, or Sub-Cabinet Agency Head or equivalent, with other team members chosen from agency staff of Captain. That is, Transportation uses Transportation staff; Energy uses its staff, and the CIA will likely try to do whatever it wants.

Judicial Branch
Team Captain must be Federal Judge (presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed), with other team members chosen from the Judge's respective court staff.

Media
Team Captain (or to win an individual award*) must be either on-air radio or television journalist or a professional print journalist (editor, writer, etc.) with a magazine, newspaper, etc. (Publisher cannot be a captain.) Other team members MUST be chosen from the fair and balanced regular staff of the individual radio, TV, newspaper, magazine. The Media division has two categories, print and electronic (TV, radio). No category mixing please.

INTELLIGENT DESIGN
Race limited to first 140 teams that enter. The number of teams from any one government entity or corporation (media) is strictly limited. If you are considering fielding multiple teams, inquire about limitations before entering.

Yes You Can
Senators and Representatives who are unable to field teams may enter unattached (without teams) and are eligible for individual awards.

No You Can't
Eligibility rules for captains are strictly enforced. No eligible captain, no team. Please read the regulations and abide by them. We do run background checks. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

A Team Name Contest will be held for three Best and three Worst Named Teams. There will also be a special Team Award for Best Spirit.

ABSTINENCE
At the risk of appearing anti-family values, we remind you that in accordance with safety guidelines, baby strollers are prohibited due to the risk of accidents. We strongly recommend against the use of IPODS or similar devices. Race officials reserve the right to remove any runner from the course for medical, political or any other valid reason. Any entrant attempting to run with a dog (or a cat for that matter) will be removed from the race.

TRANSPARENCY
Race Director reserves the right to be generally arbitrary and capricious in rule interpretation, if it conflicts with his or the race's best interests. Any team seeking special favors or sympathetic rule interpretation is reminded that the likelihood of an affirmative response is greatly influenced by how close the request is to the race date and whether you have been helpful to the race director in the past. Hint: Ask Early.

All your entry fees are donated to District of Columbia Special Olympics (None are used for T-shirts or other race expenses). And thanks to ACLI, Aegon USA, ING, John Hancock, MetLife, New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, Prudential, RGA, Swiss Re, Western and Southern Financial Group, Roll Call and Winstead attorneys, no additional donation (unfunded mandate) will also be added to your fees.