Shortly before Christmas, Columbia’s Julia Roman-Duval made the decision she had been wrestling with for weeks:  Run in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 29 or roll the dice and attempt to make the French national team for the Half Marathon World Championships by running the Paris Half Marathon the day after?

As a dual U.S.-French citizen, it was a unique quandary for the 37-year-old astrophysicist and mother of three who is still comparably new to the world of competitive road racing.

It’s a decision she didn’t make lightly. Having recently set a two-minute PR at the Chicago Marathon in October, Roman-Duval easily met the U.S. Trials qualification standard with her 2:35:41.

“The timing really stunk,” she said. “I was hoping I could do both, but if it weren’t for the timing it would have been possible.”

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NCB Capitol Hill Classic

The 43rd annual National Capital Bank Capitol Hill Classic will be held on May 19, 2024! Washington’s largest and oldest 10K will bring runners through the roadways of historic Capitol Hill, winding past the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, the

Name: Erin Cunningham

Self-described age group: I’m 30

Residence: Capitol Hill, D.C.

Occupation: Sometimes server, sometimes host, sometimes junior manager at Chloe, a restaurant in the DC Navy Yard.

Volunteer roles in the running world: I’ve never volunteered! Making a mental note to do some volunteering this year.

Why you run: I was inspired to start by my mom, who’s been running longer than I’ve been alive. She’s finished 32 marathons! I was never super athletic at any point in my life, always active to an extent, but that really dropped off during my twenties. Eventually I got the itch to start doing something and running seemed like a good idea. It’s also helpful for me because I work in a high stress environment and it’s a great way to relax, almost meditative.

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As she cruised along the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon last December, Callie Betman had a leg up on the rest of the runners. 

She had the personal pacing help of a newly-minted Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier — her sister, Hannah Cocchiaro. Famous in their family, the Betman Racing Team, for her ability to keep an even pace, Hannah kept Callie steady on the course, not too far from the water that they would have been found in a few years before when they were primarily swimmers. 

“It was really awesome,” Betman said. “It was so nice to have her there the whole time. It was good sister bonding time.

“Having grown up together (the sisters are roughly a year apart) she knew me well enough to be able to tell when I needed some encouragement and when I didn’t want her to talk. She knew the right times in the last six miles to say something quick and motivating when I was really struggling.”

Three weeks before, the Betman Racing Team (which includes their sister Leah Williams) was in Richmond, cheering Cocchairo (pronounced Coke-E-R-O) on to a third-place finish in 2:40:08, well ahead well ahead of the 2:45 standard that got her into the Feb. 29 Trials in Atlanta.

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Hero Dogs 5K9

5K race professionally measured and timed by Windsor Running. 8 am start – early bird prices starting at $30 includes a t-shirt and swag bag. 1K fun run and silent auction are also available. Post-race snacks and DJ. The race

Nothing the doctors told her about her daughter’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis sounded like “you will direct a race in 10 years.”

She was more worried that Isabelle couldn’t eat when she was hungry, which emotionally tough for both of them, on top of Isabelle’s physical discomfort. She was concerned with how much she could eat relative to her insulin levels, trying to avoid a seizure or diabetic coma. She was concerned with keeping Isabelle’s blood glucose levels under control while she was playing, trying to let her just be a kid.

Meanwhile, Jackson became a running ambassador for a local Lululemon store, and the managers soon asked if she could think of a community event that would bring people together in a healthy way. 

“I had wanted to start a 5k for T1D for a few years,” Jackson said. “We had done walks for T1D research organizations, but felt I like (they) didn’t represent my active daughter.”

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On Feb. 29, runners competing in the Olympic Marathon Trials will race a rough, hilly course in downtown Atlanta. Caroline Bauer will feel right at home, having started her journey there on similar terrain.

Four years and one day prior, she took off on the RRCA Club Challenge course in her then-hometown of Columbia, Md. It’s one of the tougher courses in Maryland, one that forces runners to scrap relative time goals and focus on the race’s inter-club competition. That didn’t shake Bauer, though, as she ran 1:01:33, finishing less than one minute behind Julia Roman-Duval, her Howard County Striders teammate who had finished 50th at the Marathon Trials two weeks before.

“I thought if I could run 65 (minutes) and change, that would be awesome,” she said. “I was trying to tuck into a pack, but at four miles I felt like it was too slow. I ended up negative splitting every mile on the course. I didn’t know where that came from.”

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Race to the Rescue 5k

Join PetConnect Rescue at 9:00am on Sunday May 19th for their second annual Race to the Rescue, 5k and children’s fun run.

Taking place at the beautiful Franklin Park in Purcellville VA, this is an event perfect for all. Run/jog/walk

Running Shorts

  • The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is having a community meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School to discuss designs of the Capital Crescent Trail tunnel and surface route through Bethesda.
  • Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich did not include any money in his budget proposal for the county’s for a tunnel to carry the Capital Crescent Trail under Wisconsin Avenue.
  • The Marine Corps Marathon has permanently banned a 55-year-old woman from its race series after an investigation showed she had cut several race courses over four years. A consistent absence of on-course photos and timing mat data helped the race organization come to that conclusion.
  • St. John’s College High School’s Desmond Dunham was named the National Federation of High School Associations Coaches Association’s girls’ track and field national coach of the year.
  • Dunham and Gonzaga College High School’s John Ausema were named cross country coach of the year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
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Name: Nate Rathjen

Self-described age group: slowly admitting I’m not a recent college grad anymore (25)

Residence: Historic downtown Leesburg!

Occupation: IT guy

Volunteer roles in the running world: Treasurer, Loudoun Road Runners

Why you run: What’s not to love? It’s free. I love exploring on foot. I meet awesome people. It’s a really time-efficient way to stay in shape. Also, I’d be lying if I said part of it wasn’t being able to eat whatever I want. Food’s a big motive.

When did you get started running: Actually, it all started when I ended up on UVA’s club quidditch team in 2012, my first year there. If you’re wondering what that looks like as a sport, combine basketball, rugby, and dodgeball, move the whole thing outside, and you’re close! Later that fall someone started group runs to work on the team’s conditioning, we became training partners, and the rest is history.

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