- Registration for the Marine Corps Marathon’s virtual options will open Wednesday, March 10 at 12 p.m.. If the race is able to be run in-person this October, those registered for the virtual race will have priority for in-person registration.
- Pacers Running, Summit to Soul and Vida Fitness are holding a virtual event at 7 p.m. March 10 for International Womxn’s Day including 40 minute yoga class and a panel discussing womxn’s leadership in the running community with Pacers CEO Kathy Dalby, Summit to Soul owner Kim Wattrick, Track Tuesday coach Keshia Roberson, New Balance’s Morgan Taylor and the November Project’s Katherine Foley. Learn more here
- The District Department of Transportation and Rock Creek Park are holding a remote public meeting from 6:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m. March 18 regarding the Rock Creek Park trail.
- Georgetown’s men’s and women’s cross country teams qualfiied for the NCAA Championships, George Mason sophomore Annanbelle Eastman qualified as an individual
- Georgetown graduate student Robert Brandt ran 13:24.31 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5,000 meters.
- Georgetown alumna Emily Infeld ran 31:08.57 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters. She was a guest on the More Than Running and For the Long Run podcasts.
- Oakton and American alumna Keira D’Amato has signed a professional contract with Nike. She ran 32:16.82 at the Texas Qualifier to meet the U.S. Olympic Trials standard for the 10,000 meters.
- I just learned about Georgetown alumnus Andre Laboy’s podcast Conversation Pace, which has featured interviews with a slew of other Georgetown alumni:
- Georgetown alumna Josette Norris was a guest on the Run Your Mouth podcast.
- A handful of local runners won distance titles at the Virginia Indoor Track state championships:
- 5A 4×800 meters Freedom (South Riding) 9:46.88 – Kayleigh Burke, Maya Porter, Madison Garber, Mackenzie Keller
- 6A 1600 meters – Zach Morse Oakton 4:16.73
- 3200 meters Bryce Lentz 9:23.25
- 3200 meters Gillian Bushee Herndon 11:07.52
- 4×800 meters West Springfield 8:09.87 – Luke Hawkins, Alex Asady, Tyler Weeks, John O’Donnell
- 4×800 meters West Springfield 9:48.11 – Chloe Miller, Ella Johnson, Aidan MacGrath, Jane Bruenjes
In any other year, a chilly Thursday morning would see a group of D.C. Road Runners gather in the pre-dawn hours at the Yorktown High School track. Paul Ryan would show up clad in his decades-old puffy U.S. Naval Academy warmup suit.
“Everyone else would be wearing tights, but Paul has this almost-plastic coat,” Rich Mendelowitz said. “It works for him, it’s all kind of old school and it fits his personality.”
Ryan, an Arlingtonian who recently turned 70, has been choosing his running partners carefully during the pandemic, waits for the days when he can get together with people to race again, or just hang out.
“I look forward to being with fellow runners again and feeling good about that bond with fellow runners because right now except for running with one or two different people, it’s been a very solitary existence,” he said. “I avoid crowds, I avoid places where other people are, so running has become what I do when I want to get out of the house and go do something.”
Name: Omar Ali
Self-described age group: 50-55 (but I’m on the very low end of this age group)
Residence: Kensington, Md.
Occupation: Clinical scientist for a small biotech company
Volunteer roles in the running world: I usually volunteer for various roles with my running club (MCRRC). Most of the time, you can find me working as a course marshal or serving food at the end of a race. My favorite role is handing out bibs to runners – it’s fun to see the excitement on people’s faces, especially if it’s their first race.
How has your running changed in the last six months: I usually run with the club’s Experienced Marathon Program (XMP) in the summer and the club’s Winter Trails program in the…well winter (and I really miss running with these groups). With nothing in the immediate future to train for, I’ve just been maintaining some base mileage. I’ve definitely gotten slower during the pandemic, which has been discouraging. But I figure I’ll regain the speed once I start training for a race again. The time off from training has forced me to get a little more serious with strength and cross-training, which I’ve always neglected.
- The District Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to discuss the progress on the design of the remaining sections of the Metropolitan Branch Trail Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Use this link to join the meeting: rebrand.ly/MetBranchTrail
- Written comments will be accepted through Feb. 1 for the project to missing segments of the shared-use path along northbound Route 29 (Lee Highway) between Vaden Drive and Nutley Street (Route 243) in Fairfax County, directed to [email protected] and [email protected]. Please reference “De Minimis Impact Towers Park” in the subject line. See more information here: Route 29 Northbound Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements
- The City of Alexandria is seeking input from community stakeholders regarding the proposed project Old Cameron Run Trail. Give your feedback via this feedback form. Feedback is due on Sunday, Jan. 31. Learn more about the project here: https://www.alexandriava.gov/tes/info/default.aspx?id=116739
- Georgetown Day School alumna Ziyah Holman’s kick in a 4×400 meter relay for the University of Michigan got about as much play from ESPN as a collegiate runner can expect.
- The Hoya Insider podcast has featured both Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Alton Mckenzie and Head Men’s Cross Country Coach Brandon Bonsey.
- Montgomery County’s Christine Dunn was a guest on the Run Farther and Faster podcast.
- Georgetown alumnus Andrew Bumbalough was a guest on the Citius podcast, talking about his retirement from professional running.
Name: Megan Schoffstall
Self-described age group: 30
Residence: Montclair, Va.
Occupation: Stay at home mom to four kids, part-time admin for Honorable Service Realty
How has your running changed in the last six months: I went from training for a mile on the track to training for a 50k!
Why do you run: To challenge myself
When did you get started running: I’ve only been running for two years. I started running after seeing my husband run his first marathon in Richmond in 2018. Seeing all the runners cross the finish line that day was so inspiring. I ventured out one evening with my sights set on four miles, not actually sure I would be able to make it back home. Well, I made it back home, and I’ve been running ever since.
- Plans to repave and add a pedestrian bridge to the Rock Creek Park path will go forward starting in late February, after DDOT awarded a construction contract. Details include:
- A pedestrian bridge to the south of the tunnel
- Reconstruction of the “zoo loop” that had eroded into the creek several years ago
- Repair of the retaining wall along Piney Branch Parkway
- Various trail closures
- Laurel resident Juliette Whittaker, who is a junior at Mount de Sales Academy, qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in the 800 meters, running 2:02.7 at the Virginia Showcase last weekend, the third fastest time for a woman under 20 and a junior class record. She was also a member of the 4×800 meter relay team that set an under-20 world record 8:37.20 the next day.
- The Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation is putting together a Bike and Pedestrian Network Plan to prioritize resources for bike and pedestrian improvements over the next five years. Comments, which you can make on the map, will be accepted until Jan. 22.
- You know the drill about Keira D’Amato by now, she was a guest on the Six Minute Mile podcast.
- Georgetown alumna Rachel Schneider and Heritage High School alumna Weini Kelati were guests on the 2 Black Runners podcast.
You’ll never have a still enough day to see it quite that way, but the Potomac River is a mirror.
On one side, the C&O Canal Towpath, ranging from sandy with a few puddles to vast, flat and smooth, all the way to Cumberland.
Across the span, however, you’ll find the opposite — rugged, rocky and halting. The Potomac Heritage Trail. The name means a lot of things — primarily a network of trails flanking the river between the Potomac and Ohio river basins — but in D.C., it means the towpath’s sinister sibling.
Time moves differently now for Andrew Lent.
Part of it is his age — he’s 21, and a minute, an hour, even a month exists on a broader scale than it did a few years before.
But he’s also made new choices. Since he finished his high school career at Poolesville with a state runner-up finish in the 3,200 meters behind teammate Ryan Lockett, he’s now competing in situations where those same 3,200 meters can include two walking breaks, even on his way to a top-10 finish at the storied JFK 50 Miler.
“You can get a real second wind in ultra running,” he said. “It could take hours, but at some point, you usually come back around.
“It amuses me that it can happen. You come from track and cross country where your race is about 15 minutes and if things feel bad, it’s not going to get much better. Now I’m in situations where an hour ago, you couldn’t fathom taking another step and all of a second you’re running even better than you had been.”
- The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile has been postponed until Sept. 11-12, with the lottery running June 1-13.
- The Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation is putting together a Bike and Pedestrian Network Plan to prioritize resources for bike and pedestrian improvements over the next five years. Comments, which you can make on the map, will be accepted until Jan. 22.
- Oakton and American alumna Keira D’Amato’s 2:22:56 at the Marathon Project was the seventh fastest American women’s marathon time. She was a guest on the I’ll Have Another podcast.
- Heritage alumna Weini Kelati was a guest on the Citius and Keeping Track podcasts.
- Georgetown alumna Rachel Schneider was a guest on the C Tolle Run podcast.
- Montgomery County Department of Transportation is repairing a culvert that will close a section of the Matthew Henson Trail for several months at Turkey Branch Parkway and Grenoble Drive. MCDOT will install an ADA compliant detour for trail users. See more information here
Emily Hart’s friends raved about how Marine Corps would be the best “first marathon” for her, with deafening crowds, thousands of volunteers, aid stations and the atmosphere of running through her home city.
When finally she ran it, her experience was completely different from what she’d heard about, but no less memorable. Like many of the D.C. area’s marathoners, she charted her own course for 26.2 miles in 2020 — straight up the W&OD Trail — one of hundreds whose options were only limited by their creativity and motivation. And, public health orders limiting gathering sizes.
With the November postponement of the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Marathon, usually in March, and the undetermined rescheduling of the Boston Marathon, these will likely be the stories of more runners who feel the itch to go for a very long timed run though at least the first half of 2021. While a smattering of small marathons are being held in the D.C. area, with others tending larger in other parts of the country, fortune will favor the self-motivated.
