- Two walkers reported being attacked April a person on a black electric bike on Beach Drive near Wise Road in Rock Creek Park.
- Work to extend the Powerline Trail in Montomery County by 7.6 miles will begin in 2022 and eventually connect South Germantown Park to Cabin John Regional Park, thanks to $10 million from the state of Maryland.
- Loudoun Valley coaches Joan and Marc Hunter will be guests on the Out of the Blocks show tonight at 8:30 – the show will be archived, too.
- Work to widen the W&OD at Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run Drive may briefly affect trail access until Apirl 19.
- The Capital Crescent Trail will be closed north of River Road at times for a few days starting Monday, April 19 to allow for tree removal.
- Milesplit featured an interview with Heritage alumna Weini Kelati.
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- If vaccination rates continue on pace in Washington, D.C., outdoor races will be allowed to resume at 50 percent capacity, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced April 5.
- The City of Rockville is collecting input about the future of RedGate Park via a survey that you can take here.
- The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its Division I All-Academic individual and team honors for the 2020-2021 cross country season. Local runners include:
Alyssa Aldridge Georgetown Margaret Coogan George Washington Sami Corman Georgetown Katie Dammer Georgetown Maggie Donahue Georgetown Annabelle Eastman George Mason Camden Gilmore Georgetown Bethany Graham Furman John Champe Mary Hennelly Georgetown Kyra Holland William & Mary Loudoun Valley Caroline Howley Duke McLean Baylee Jones Georgetown Rachel McArthur Colorado Patriot Harry Monroe Virginia Gonzaga Peter Morris Virginia Loudoun Valley Matthew Payamps Georgetown Jack Salisbury Georgetown Parker Stokes Georgetown Women’s Teams GPA American University 3.8 George Washington University 3.67 Georgetown University 3.668 George Mason University 3.5 Men’s Teams GPA George Mason University 3.52 George Washington University 3.41 Georgetown University 3.41 American University 3.36
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Name: Judy Doldorf
Self-described age group: I am pretty deep into the Masters Division at this point
Residence: Manassas, Va.
Occupation: Public Safety GIS Manager for Fairfax County Department of Information Technology
How has your running changed in the last year: As races started to get sucked up in the COVID vacuum, I went into more of a maintenance mode. Instead of following a schedule, I ran when I wanted and I didn’t stick to any set mileage or pace goals. The flexibility and not having any set goals was actually kind of nice.
Why you run: Running is just a part of my life. Not running doesn’t feel normal to me. Sometimes I run for mental clarity. Sometimes I run to feel the sun and wind and rain. Sometimes I run to spend time with friends and sometimes I just run to simply run.
When did you get started running: I’ve been running my entire life, but after having kids, I started running and racing on a regular basis. I think it had something to do with needing some “me” time.
Have you taken a break from running: I have, but not by choice. See my answer below for the major injury question.
Training shoe: I am all Altra! For road, my go to is the Altra Escalante. For trail, Altra Superior.
Coach or training group: My coach is Devon Yanko with Chaski Endurance Collective. I cannot say enough about her and this group! My training group is DQTC and again, I cannot say enough about this group!
The hardest race you’ve ever run: Maybe because it is still fresh in my head, but I’d have to say the Terrapin Mountain 50K. It is a great race that offers a bit of everything from forest roads, jeeps trails, single track, etc. with the bonus of about 7,000 feet of elevation gain which is no joke. So. Much. Climbing. This race had me walking sideways to get up/down stairs for a couple of days.
Most adventurous decision you’ve made with your running: I’ve been heading toward the ultramarathon distance for some time now and have a few 50K races and one 50 miler under me. So, I am going to take it a bit further and see how the 100K and 100 miler feel.
Favorite local trail: I frequent the trails in Prince William Forest, so those trails are at the top of my list. I love running on the Appalachian Trail, although I don’t get the opportunity to do so often.
My best race was: I ran the 2015 NYC Marathon. This race wasn’t the best because of my result (it was actually my worst marathon time), but the experience of the race itself. The energy and excitement at this race is like no other!
Favorite local race: I am a big fan of the EX2 Adventure trail races. I’ve run a number of them over the years and they never fail to disappoint.
Ideal post-run meal: In an ideal world, my post run meal would be a huge veggie omelette with a side of home fries and bacon. But until I get my own personal chef, a fruit and protein smoothie, it is!
Favorite flavor of gel, gu, etc: I am a fan of Spring Energy. All the flavors are excellent, but my favorite is Speednut.
Pet peeve: Runners that come to a dead stop at aid stations. I have smashed into many a runner that have done this.
Goals: I am training for my first 100K in June. I am hoping to run a 100 miler in the fall but have not decided on that just yet. It just seems so far to run. Haha.
Your advice for a new runner: Do not compare yourself to others. Run for yourself.
Song in your head during a run: I did go through a phase when my kids were younger and songs from their various shows would repeat in my head. Try running to the Team Umizoomi theme song in your head and not breaking into some sort of dance in the middle of your run. Or better yet, the Baby Shark song. Admit it, now it is in your head. You’re welcome.
Have you dealt with a major injury: Unfortunately, yes. In 2017, I suffered a pelvic fracture due to a misstep into a pothole to avoid an oncoming car. This basically transformed me into a couch potato for six months.
Running quote: “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far…”
Why is the D.C. area a great place to be a runner: The DC area has so much to offer for all kinds of runners. There are a ton of trails and paths that offer many many miles. And on any given (normal) weekend, you can usually find multiple races at various distances.
- Part of the Western Ridge Trail will be closed for up to seven months for rebuilding starting March 31 between Porter Street NW to Bluffs Footbridge along Beach Drive NW. It’s the paved path that runs under the Porter Street Bridge, and the detour will follow the paved path on the other side of Rock Creek.
- The National Park Service has rolled back the pedestrian closure of East Potomac Park.
- Georgetown alumnus Andrew Bumbalough was a guest on the Morning Shakeout podcast.
Check out a food site and chances are the first thing you’ll hit is a story, rambling about who knows what, forcing you to scroll through narrative to… just give me the recipe already!
Trust me, this story is worth it, and it will make the recipe even better. I’m sure they all say that, but this time, it’s true.
There are any number of factors that have made Charlotte Turesson one of the best runners in Maryland. The one she’s most excited about sharing recently has been her menu.
If there’s anything she gained from more time at home during her junior and senior years at Richard Montgomery, it’s been more time in the kitchen and over the grill as she refines her mastery of different cooking styles.
“A lot of it came from my investment in being the best runner I can be,” she said. “I’ve always been pretty passionate about eating healthy, trying to optimize my performance. Once quarantine hit, it elevated my interest in cooking, trying new recipes.”
Once in a while during the D.C. summers, you get a cool, dry day that makes you forget all of those squishy shoes and the necessity of pre-dawn long runs.
I got one in late July 2017, the same morning as I drove out to western Loudoun County to meet up with Ed Lull to shoot our magazine cover – the Loudoun Valley boys’ cross country team. Looking for a rolling dirt road, Joan Hunter pointed us to Yellow Schoolhouse Road, near Bluemont. It did the trick alright. We only drove about a mile out, but I liked what I saw. I also knew it was an hourlong drive for me from D.C., so I had better make sure it was going to be worth my time to go out there.
When Kristen Serafin felt like a failure, running helped come back. Twice.
The first time, it was on a monthlong road trip with her now-fiancé Erin Kelman. The second time, when it was even more complicated, it gave her insight and an incentive to share her experience and strive to come out of it more motivated.
Back in September, recovering in Garfield Memorial Hospital in Utah, Serafin asked her attending doctor what would sound like an insane question: Could she run Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim? A 47.5-mile run though the Grand Canyon and back, 10 days after losing a pregnancy she only learned about two weeks prior. To her surprise, she got the go-ahead to accompany Erin.
“He was practical about it, he told me ‘you’re going to be tired, you lost a lot of blood, but I think you can do it if you want to give it a shot,'” she said, “He told me I might need to bail, but there’s nowhere really to bail.
“When I felt like I was a failure because I couldn’t do this thing my body was supposed to be able to do, I still wanted to do something amazing.”
- East Potomac Park and West Potomac Park will be closed to pedestrians during peak cherry blossom bloom, which is a variable but generally forecast to be March 26 – April 12, so Hains Point will be inaccessible in an effort to reduce crowding during the pandemic.
- Montgomery County is closing Little Falls Parkway, between River Road and Arlington Road.
- Marine Corps Marathon men’s course record holder Jeff Scuffins (2:14:01) died at 58.
- Thomas Jefferson alumna and Springfield resident Shauneen Werlinger was a guest on the D3 Glory Days podcast.
- Georgetown sophomore Maggie Donahue and women’s cross country coach Mitchell Baker were honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as athlete of the year and coach of the year for the Mid-Atlantic cross country region.
It started as a game — run a mile a day until things went back to normal.
For Pat Early and his children, it was a way to keep their heads up as the world reacted to the novel coronavirus, as they adjusted to school at home and a suddenly changed world. Then things didn’t go back to normal.
“We thought it would be a couple of weeks, maybe a month,” Pat said. “Now we’re a week away from a year and they’re still doing it.”
- The W&OD Trail bridge spanning Lee Highway in Arlington opened March 12.
- Montgomery County will resume closing two sections of Little Falls Parkway to motorists on weekends starting March 27.
- Loudoun County’s Office of Mapping and Geographic Information has launched a new mobile-friendly online map of the county’s unpaved roads.
- The Montgomery County Council will be discussing budget amendments March 23 at 9 a.m., including the includsion of the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel. View the meeting here
- The People’s Alliance for Rock Creek is organizing a campaign to ask the National Park Service to permanently close upper Beach Drive to through traffic.
- The College of William and Mary announced that its men’s track and field team, previously retained for a season after initially being cut last September, will remain an NCAA sport.
- Georgetown’s women team finished 18th and its men’s team finished 22nd at the NCAA Cross Country Championships March 15 in Stillwater, Okla. Georgetown alumnus and former coach Mike Smith coached Northern Arizona to the men’s title and Walt Whitman alumnus and former Georgetown coach Will Palmer, an assistant at Alabama, helepd coach women’s winner Mercy Chelangat and third place finisher Amaris Tyynismaa. Individual finishers with D.C.-area connections included:
