The various state championships wrapped up last weekend and Herndon senior Gillian Bushee completed the distance sweep for the year, winning Virginia’s 6A titles in cross country, along with the indoor and outdoor 1600 meters and 3200 meters.
In non-championship news, St. Andrews senior Tinoda Matsatsa, ran 3:58.70at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis, making him the first Black high school student to break the four-minute mile barrier.
Local state champions:
D.C.
800 Lorelei McIntosh – St. John’s 2:19.01
1600 Meredith Gotzman – St. John’s 5:08.41
3200 Gotzman 11:13.99
4×800 St. John’s College (Sophie Mattheus, Kendall Robinson, Lorelei McIntosh, Meredith Gotzman) 9:32.82
800 Pierre Attiogbe – St. Albans 1:59.29
1600 Attiogbe 4:06.66
3200 Sebi Hume – St. Albans 9:46.74
4×800 St Albans (William Strong, Hume, Liam Quinn, Attiogbe) 7:50.48
Maryland 4A
800 Grace Finnegan – Richard Montgomery 2:17.29
1600 Victoria Ketzler – Thomas Wootton 4:58.29
3200 Katherine Greenwald – Walt Whitman 10:49.37
4×800 Walter Johnson – MacKenzie Raue, Zuzana Huserova, Carolyn Hultman, Megan Raue – 9:29.82
800 Gage Osborne – Northwest 1:55.9
3200 Alejandro Berrio – Seneca Valley 9:28.62
4×800 Montgomery Blair – Frederick Alfonso, Erich Ramos, Micah McKenzie, Alexander Risso – 7:58.48
Virginia 6A
800 Kenza Elakari – West Springfield 2:11.72
1600 Gillian Bushee – Herndon 4:56.14
3200 Bushee 10:30.46
4×800 South Lakes – Aya Ryan, Catalina Simon, Caroline Elliott, Bella Harsanyi – 9:00.11
800 Iyasu Yemane – Oakton 1:55.42
4×800 South County – John Baxter, Isaac Garcia, Nayan Kasperowski, Kian Khorashadi – 7:49.88
Virginia 5A
800 Annie Sullivan, Annie Stone Bridge 2:16.66
Virginia 3A
1600 Grace Crum Meridian 4:59.88
VISAA Championships, Division I
800 Reagan Exley – Potomac School 2:19.8
1600 Exley 5:09.12
I thought I had been fooled.
No, I must have gotten something wrong. Turning out of Morven Park, the famed Old Waterford Road, which I found on Loudoun County’s map of unpaved roads, was most certainly paved!
Well, I was already out in Leesburg, I might as well keep going. I started climbing the hill (that will happen a lot on this route) and a while before I realized it, the road had indeed switched to rocky dirt, just as advertised.
I picked the road from the county’s new map, which is suited for mobile use, but found some supporting endorsement from the Loudoun Road Runners, who make the road a staple of their routine.
Before too long, I realized why. By the time I hit the intersection with Nestlewood Road, I was used to the climbing and the traffic, light as it was, was down to almost nothing. There are a few tricky curves, so you have to approach them with caution, but before long the road stretches out ahead of you with plenty of visibility.
I like rolling hills, so it was right up my alley – the climbing peaks before 2.5 miles on the way out, though 1.5 to 2.3 on Old Waterford climbs 267 feet. I’m mildly terrified of horses, and I passed a few, but they didn’t threaten me and everyone stayed cool.
Five miles in, you reach the end of Old Waterford, but if you’re willing to navigate 0.1 mile of pavement on a sweeping curve, Browns Lane gives you an extra 1.9 miles of dirt road – I initially missed it and ran too far on Loyalty, as you’ll see on the map. If 14 miles of mostly-dirt road isn’t enough, you can add on plenty on Morven Park, which is also a great place to park (or watch a cross country race).
I loved it on a day I was being pelted in the face by sleet. Chances are you’ll like it, too.
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I don’t know what was wrong with me. I had this beautiful gift, and I had been ignoring it for years.
The last time I remembered running in the National Arboretum was right before Thanksgiving 2014. Then, for some reason, I just stopped running there. It wasn’t until the end of this past January, after months of me telling myself I should go back there, that I actually did.
What a treat.
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After years of dedicated planning and construction, Montgomery Parks opened the Powerline Trail, also known as the Pepco Trail, in October 2018.
The 6.8-mile trail, which kicks off from South Germantown Recreational Park in Germantown, Md. and terminates at North Potomac’s Muddy Branch Stream Park, marked the first use of power corridors for recreational use in Montgomery County. In my final days before shipping out for my freshman year of college, I decided to hit the trail to see if it would live up to the hype.
The origins of the trail date back to 2015, when power companies Pepco and Exelon were nearing a merger. Dave Magill, the Maryland advocacy director for MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts), remembers first hearing of the possibility of including the construction of a trail as a condition in the merger.
“A bike advocate, whose name I cannot remember, was chatting with me and said, “you know, Pepco hasn’t been very good with allowing trails of any kind, whether bike or hikers, either on or even across their power lines. Maybe to get an approval, they’ll have to go before the public utility commission (PUC). This is an opportunity to intervene in the merger and ask for them to change their policy about trails. That idea really resonated with me.”
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Rockville’s Dylan Hernandez (2:26:02) and D.C.’s Madeline Hartlieb (2:57:52) were the first D.C.-area runners across the finish line at the 127th Boston Marathon.
Despite facing strong headwinds in the closing miles of the race, Hillary Bor broke the men’s American record for 10 miles at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Sunday, running 46:11 for second overall. He trailed Ethiopia’s Tsegay Kidanu by three seconds. Bor ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase on the U.S. Olympic team in 2016 and 2020, finishing seventh in 2016. Greg Meyer set the previous record of 46:13 at Cherry Blossom in 1983. Results Photos
Once again, the race served as the USATF 10 mile championships, and Sara Hall won the women’s division in 52:37, finishing behind second overall Uganda’s Sarah Chalangat’s 52:04. Vienna’s Perry Shoemaker broke the American record for women ages 50-54 with her 1:00:37.
Reston’s Susanna Sullivan, last year’s overall winner, was the D.C. area’s top finisher in seventh place, running 53:25. D.C.’s Zach Herriott was the top local man, running 48:57 for 14th place. Herriott won the race’s virtual competition in 2020. Bethesda’s Ben Beach completed the race, having run each Cherry Blossom dating back to when the race was started by the D.C. Road Runners
The race’s 50th running brought a new focus to the 5k race, which had previously been held as an alternative to the 10-mile distance. The race was held a day earlier and moved to a flat course starting at Freedom Plaza, where Baltimore’s Johan Fagerberg (15:03) and D.C.’s Casey Greenwalt (18:13) each won their respective races.
- The Montgomery County Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 5:30 pm March 30 on the Liittle Falls Parkway road diet, which has closed two lanes of the road for a half-mile stretch, allowing for recreational use. The county planning staff has recommended the program continue.
- The Zoo Loop in Rock Creek Park is now open through 7 p.m.
- D.C.’s Tim Choi was a guest on the Micromobility DC podcast.
- The Road Runners Club of America honored several local runners through the 2022 National Running Awards program:
- Conroy Zien and Sarah Day for their role leading the Mongtomgery County Road Runners Club’s First Time Marathon program – Outstanding Beginning Running Program. Zien was named Best Running Coach in the 2015 Best of Washington Running.
- Kelyn Soong of the Washington Post – Excellence in Running Journalism. Soong wrote for RunWashington for several years.
- Jean Arthur of Silver Spring – Browning Ross Spirit of the RRCA.
- Saturday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon will include changes to the latter miles of the race, with the finish moving to Judiciary Square from its longtime home at RFK Stadium. The start of the race will include a trip over the Arlington Memorial Bridge after several years away.
- The Potomac Valley Track Club was a close second at the USATF Masters Indoor Track Championships. Vienna’s Perry Shoemaker ran 10:07.36 to set an American record for the indoor 3,000 meters for the 50-54 age group.
- Registration has opened for this year’s Army Ten-Miler.
- The Chocolate City Relay is accepting applications for the group’s June 10 event around Washington, D.C. Apply here
- After its winter hiatus, the District Running Collective will resume its Wednesday night runs this week. RVSP here
- South Lakes’ girls 4×800 team finished second at New Balance Indoor Nationals.
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Runners from local clubs including the D.C. Road Runners, Georgetown Running Club, Prince George’s Running Club, Montgomery County Road Runners Club and more raced the RRCA Club Challenge Feb. 26 on Howard County’s hilly 10-mile course. The Georgetown Running Club won the overall, women’s and men’s team competitions, along with overall titles for Sam Doud and Kerry Allen, who set the course record. Check out photos here
- The National Park Service will close East Potomac Park for one week in early December to divide the road on Hains Point to add a dedicated bike and pedestian lane to the inside half of the road.
- NPS will hold a virtual public meeting a 7 p.m. Dec. 6 to address planned safety improvements along Arlington County’s portion of the Mount Vernon Trail.
- The entry lottery for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile will run from Dec. 1-5.
- Herndon’s Gillian Bushee, McLean’s Thais Rolly and Good Counsel’s Leah Stephens qualified for the Champs National Cross Country Championship (formerly sponsored by Foot Locker).
- Georgetown’s women finished 10th and the men 31st at the NCAA DIvision I Cross Country Championships, with Washington Latin’s Luke Tewalt (Wake Forest) finishing 22nd and John Champe’s Bethany Graham (Furman) finishing 27th to lead D.C.-area natives. Gonzaga’s Gavin McElhennon (Johns Hopkins) finished 27th and George Marshall’s Sophie Tedesco (Chicago) finished 60th at the Division III championships.
- Division I
- 21 Maggie Donahue – Georgetown
- 27 Bethany Graham – Furman, John Champe
- 39 Grace Jensen – Georgetown
- 59 Chloe Scrimgeour- Georgetown
- 86 Sami Corman – Georgetown
- 123 Melissa Riggins – Georgetown
- 190 Chloe Gonzalez – Georgetown
- 216 Katy-Ann McDonald – Georgetown
- Division I
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- 22 Luke Tewalt – Wake Forest, Washington Latin
- 77 Bryce Lentz – Air Force, Colgan
- 105 Derek Johnson – Virginia, Tuscarora
- 132 Parker Stokes – Georgetown
- 137 Antonio Lopez Segura – Virginia Tech, Colgan
- 150 Sean Laidlaw – Georgetown
- 171 Sam Affolder – Washington, Loudoun Valley
- 178 Camden Gilmore – Georgetown
- 184 Rohann Asfaw – Virginia, Richard Montgomery
- 210 Matthew Rizzo – Georgetown
- 225 Lucas Guerra – Georgetown
- 250 Abel Teffra – Georgetown
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- Division III
- 60 Sophie Tedesco – Chicago, George Marshall
- 71 Sarah James – Lynchburg, Brentsville District
- 155 Katie Hirsche – Haverford, Edmund Burke
- 166 Genevieve Dibari – Pomona, Stone Ridge
- 202 Ilana Zeilinger – Bates, Georgetown Day School
- Division III
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- 27 Gavin McElhennon – Johns Hopkins, Gonzaga
- 91 Aaron Bratt – Haverford, Walt Whitman
- 144 John O’Rourke – Catholic
- 160 Timothy Boyce – St. Lawrence, Northwood
- 187 Daniel Ferrante – Christopher Newport, Fairfax Christian
- 190 Sean Enright – Johns Hopkins, Sherwood
- 203 Sam Llaneza – Lynchburg, Brentsville District
- 262 Aidan Nathan – Case Western, Briar Woods
- 272 Tor Hotung-Davidsen – Lynchburg, Oakton
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- Sidwell Friends alumna Taylor Knibb won the Ironman world championship 70.3 in St. George, Utah.