Things were going quite well for Ava Gordon during her freshman year at Rock Ridge High School. She was the top freshman in Virginia’s 5A division, finishing fourth at the state meet and 15th at Nike Cross Southeast. She liked her coach and her teammates and running around Ashburn.
The problem was, other people were coming to like Ashburn, too. The population growth was forcing the Loudoun County School District to expand, adding Independence High School. That meant students eastern Loudoun County would be redistributed among Rock Ridge, Independence and Briar Woods. At the same time, her family decided it was time for Ava’s grandmother to move in, and that would mean needing more room of their own. So the Gordons headed west, and Ava and her older sister Alex.
“It was something we had been talking about doing for a while, but the timing wasn’t right,” Dan Gordon said. “We were going to have Alex at Rock Ridge, Ava was going to be moved to Briar Woods. We just wanted to reset everything, have everyone at the same school, everyone in the house and finally make that move.”
Oakton alumna Claire Wood talks about her 10+ years at New Balance and her decision to try something new, professionally. Read more about her career in running shoe design from RunWashington’s 2016 profile of Wood.
A lot of hardworking journalists put together RunWashington, all on top of their full-time jobs. Meet a few of them, learn a little bit about their personalities and read some of their best work.
- Heritage alumna Weini Kelati was named USATFCCCA Division I National Athlete of the Week for her win at the Joe Paine Invitational Oct. 4. She runs for the University of New Mexico.
- George Washington University freshman James Glockenmeier was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for finish as the top freshman in his race at the Paul Short Run.
- Liam Walsh, a 2016 Quince Orchard alumnus, was named University Athletic Association Cross Country Athlete of the Week Sept. 17. He led Carnegie Mellon to victory at the Allegheny College Classic, taking first place overall.
- Georgetown alumna Rachel Schneider competed in the preliminary heat of the 5,000 meters at the IAAF World Championships. Georgetown alumnus Amos Bartelsmeyer, running for Germany, advanced to the 1,500 meter semifinals.
- The Army Ten-Miler is Sunday, Oct. 13. If you don’t have a bib, don’t run in someone else’s.
Name: Jonathan Terrell
Self-described age group: 55-59
Residence: Washington, DC
Occupation: President of KCIC Consulting
Volunteer roles in the running world: I love to help new runners in their dreams to complete long courses.
Over a 5k, Zoe Edelman barely gets warmed up.
Thanks because the Washington Latin junior got her real start in racing doing half marathons. In 2016, at age 12, she ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon in just over two hours with her father, Josh.
What’s more, she ran it with a broken wrist, with a cast on her arm.
When he tore onto the track at Kenilworth Park while finishing the DCXC Invitational, Luke Tewalt wasn’t upset to be counted third among seniors. Nearing the finish line as the clock turned over into the 15:30s, he knew he was going to PR no matter what (he ran 15:35), and that was unthinkable a few weeks before.
On his second set of one of his favorite workouts as Washington Latin Public Charter School’s season got started, he felt something go wrong in his right glute.
“It was a twinge, but I felt like I could run through it,” he said. “A little while later, I couldn’t move without it hurting.”
Writer and satirist Mark Remy talks about the inspiration for Dumb Runner.
She already went through the trouble of doing the training. Coming to the meet. Warming up.
As long as she’s there, Elise Abbe might as well run really, really hard.
It took her the better part of three cross country seasons, but she figured out that putting herself out there in a race wasn’t going to kill her.
“A lot of people are scared to race, that it’s going to hurt,” she said. “I go into my races excited that I have a chance to push myself, so I want to find out how fast I can go.”
- Keira D’Amato, an alumna of Oakton High School and American University, was the fifth American woman across the finish line at the Berlin Marathon, running 2:34:55.
- Sara Freix, a Westfield High School alumna, was named Virginia Tech Athlete of the Week after winning the Hokie Alumni Race.
- Heather Delplaine, a Damascus High School alumna, was named the Capital Athletic Conference’s Athlete of the Week for her second place finish, for Salisbury University, at the Hornet Harrier Invitational. The University of Mary Washington’s Jeff Gibson, an Edison alumnus, was Capital Athletic Conference’s Athlete of the Week following his victory at the same race.
- Catholic University’s Alex Filiault and John O’Rourke were named Landmark Conference Athletes of the Week, also for their races at the Hornet Harrier Invitational.
- Quamel Prince and DuVal High School alumnus Edose Ibadin, both members of the District Track Club, competed in the preliminary heats at the IAAF World Championships in the 800 meters. They represented Guyana and Nigeria, respectively.
