Arlington Cooperation Foundation proudly presents Friends of the W&OD 10K, a first-time race on a unique course, Saturday night, July 28, at 6:30 pm in Vienna, VA

The 10K race (6.2 miles) runs on the pancake-flat Washington & Old Dominion Trail, one of the nation's best-known rails-to- trails parks, from Ayr Hill Road to Hunter Mill Road and back, with a short spur onto Clark's Crossing Road and Batten Ridge Road.

From 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm the day of the race, ACF presents "College of the Environment -- Green University," at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry Street SE in Vienna. Environmental organizations are welcome to sign up to exhibit their programs and products at the College.

In addition, the College features three presentations:

2:00 pm - Gary Baise, one of the founders of US EPA
3:00 pm - Stephen Case Foundation environmental grant program announcement
4:00 pm - "An Inconvenient Truth" special screening presented by Satish Sharma

The event emphasizes how runners can work to improve the environment. The race announcements are printed back-to-back with another flyer on recycled paper, all trash from the race will be recycled, race organizers will facilitate car-pooling, and the race will plant new trees along the W&OD Trail.

Sponsors include Pacers Running Store, Whole Foods of Vienna, Bikes @ Vienna, and Ledo's Pizza. The post-race celebration will include an open house at Evolution Fitness, 216 Dominion Road NE, Vienna, VA 22180 (703-255-9707)

All participants receive a commemorative t-shirt printed by Sport Science of Vienna VA using a non-polluting ink fusion process. Sport Science will display the fusion process at the College of the Environment.

The race offers cash prizes of totaling $1,000
$250 for 1st place - male and female
$150 for 2nd place - male and female
$100 for 3rd place - male and female
plus gift certificates from Pacers Running Store for 1st place in each 10-year age-group, male and female. The field is limited to the first 200 who entrants.

"By organizing the unique race, we encourage runners to understand their impact on the environment and how they can choose to mitigate that impact," said race director Jay Jacob Wind. "Each of us has the tools to act to improve the environment -- our own hands, our feet, and our wisdom."

ACF is a co-op of six charities whose mission is to work toward a sustainable future for our community by supporting, encouraging, educating, and disseminating information about good health, healthy nutritional choices, physical fitness, issues of public health, and the benefits of co-operative living. The race is a benefit for Vienna-based Friends of the W&OD, working to maintain the trail and its bridges, and ACF's six Marathon Charity Partners:

AIMS for India
Asha for Education
Association for India's Development (AID)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of National Capital Area
Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse
Girls on the Run of Montgomery County

They will staff the refreshment stations along the course. Roger Neighborgall of Falls Church is president of Friends of the W&OD.

For information, call 703-218-2726 or write racedirector@att.net.

To register, see Friends of the W&OD 10K. Registration is $35 by July 25, and $40 on July 28 at packet pickup during the College of the Environment.