Jenny Paul

Jenny Paul is an attorney who has written for RunWashington since 2018, including this profile of Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Kerry Allen. Read more of her work here.

Name: Jenny Paul

Self-described age group: 30s

Residence: Washington, D.C.

Occupation: Lawyer by trade, but amateur meteorologist in the days leading up to a race

Volunteer roles in the running world: (as applies)

Why you run: I’m competitive, I get to start off the day by seeing friends, and I don’t have to check my work email for a good 90 minutes while I’m running!

When did you get started running: I ran (or jogged very slowly) my first mile outside of gym class during my freshman year of college. I started running seriously about 10 years ago in law school.

Have you taken a break from running: No extended time off, thankfully

Training shoe: Zoom Flys and Brooks Launch

Coach or training group: Dojo of Pain

The hardest race you’ve ever run: CIM 2018

Most adventurous decision you’ve made with your running: Taking a leave of absence from my full-time job to try to train to qualify for the Trials (which ended fatefully at CIM 2018, see above). The plus side was the leave allowed me time to write great stories for Run Washington, which I hope to get back to some day soon!

Running mentors: Alan Pemberton, Jeff Redfern, Dan Yi, with assists from the rest of the Dojo

My favorite place to run in the D.C. area is: Love it or hate it, Hains Point is where the Dojo does its business

Favorite local trail: I am highly averse to trail running.

My best race was: Hoping the best is yet to come.

Favorite local race: Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon before they moved the date; now I have to say Lawyers Have Heart, because who doesn’t love running in a sports bra in front of all of their colleagues on the Whitehurst Freeway?

Ideal post-run meal: Baked & Wired iced tea/lemonade or something from Bassett’s after a Dual Ferries run

Favorite flavor of gel, gu, etc: Chocolate

Pet peeve: Anyone who tries to tell me that weather doesn’t matter on race day because it’s out of my control

Goals: A goal: OTQ; B goal: place really high among American women in Boston 2020; Always goal: have fun while running and never take for granted the D.C. running community — it’s the best.

Your advice for a new runner: Find training partners; it makes every run so much better.

Favorite running book: Currently working my way through the AAA’s tome on Salazar

Song in your head during a run: Anything from Hamilton

Have you dealt with a major injury: I’m not going to jinx myself

Running quote: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” — Teddy Roosevelt

Why is the D.C. area a great place to be a runner:  The running community is second to none, and, quite frankly, so is the wide variety of long run options (but RIP, Big Loop).