PALM COAST -- The Flagler Palm Coast cross country team is opening the season with a pair of races on their home course. Both are inaugural events and one is open to the community.

On Aug. 26, the first Trails, Bales and Rodeos cross country fundraiser race will be staged at the Flagler County Fairgrounds, 150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell, off County Road 13 and is open to the public. Flagler Cross Country Boosters is the sponsor.

The 7:30 a.m. race is a 5K over roughly the same fairgrounds course that was the site of last season's Five Star Conference championships. It's an open race with a $30 prepaid entry fee Aug. 18-25 or $35 the day of the race. More information is available online at run4acause.org/Rodeo.

Awards will be presented to the top male and female finishers in 14 age groups ranging from 14-and-under through male and female masters division. FPC head coach Dave Halliday said there will be a scored "race within a race" event pitting current FPC varsity squads against teams of Bulldog alumni runners.

On Sept. 8, also at the fairgrounds course, will be the inaugural Spikes and Spurs Classic, believed to be the first cross country high school invitational hosted by FPC, according to Halliday. Spikes and Spurs is also a 5K event that has so far attracted commitments from Matanzas, Bartram Trail, Creekside, Orange Park Ridgeview and St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine).

Spikes and Spurs will feature four separate races, kicked off by a girls' high school race at 7:45 a.m., followed by a boys race at 8:15, a combined junior varsity/middle school girls race at 8:45 and a JV/middle school boys race at 9:15. An open race will also commence at 9:45 for the community, which may feature Bulldog alumni, and a 10:30 awards ceremony will follow.