JV boys race the 2014 DC-MD Private Schools State Championship. Photo: Dan DiFonzo

Race like the pros. That’s what high school runners have been able to do whenever they spike up at the Agricultural Farm Park in Derwood, Md. The Montgomery County-managed facility played host to the 2009 USATF Cross Country Championships, and it also led the composite scores of MoCo Running’s inaugural course ranking.

A collaboration between MoCo Running and RunWashington, this was vastly Kevin Milsted’s brainchild. We surveyed coaches from around the D.C. area and members of the All-RunWashington preseason teams. This gave us a solid and well-informed sample, many of whom were able to evaluate at least one of the nine courses that made the final.

You can read Kevin’s analysis in robust detail here. He also examines the survey’s limitations and potential for improvement here.

It’s all worth the time for anyone interested in the courses that make up some of the most popular races around the D.C. area.

The Oatlands Plantation course in Leesburg, Va., seen here during the 2017 Oatlands Invitational, plays host to one of the D.C. area’s top invitationals and ranked second overall in the survey. Photo: Charlie Ban
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A little more than half of the 2019 All-RunWashington team. First row: Sean Stuck, Gavin McElhennon, Sam Pritchard. Second row: Ellie Desmond, Zoe Edelman, Piper Dean, Jenna Goldberg, Jenny Schilling. Third row: Luke Tewalt, Garrett Suhr, Albert Velikonja Photo: Ed Lull

For the sixth year, RunWashington’s coaches panel has chosen 62 of the most promising cross country runners in the Washington, D.C. area, naming them to our preseason honor teams.

The panel prized cross country achievements from  last fall, but took into account improvement during the track season when selecting the teams. The top 10 boys and top 10 girls, regardless of geography, assemble the All-RunWashington team. Coaches also selected an additional team for Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland.

On Wednesdays this season, RunWashington will publish profiles of the All-RunWashington team members, starting Aug. 28 and running for 10 weeks. Check them out and get to know some of the best this sport has to offer!

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Erika Fields with her cousin

Name: Erika Fields

Self-described age group: 40-45

Residence: NE D.C.

Occupation: Operations Manager for Circa Lighting

Why you run: Fresh air and exercise cures most woes.

When did you get started running:  I remember joining my dad for Turkey Trot 5K when was around 10 years old.

Have you taken a break from running: I take breaks all the time.  I’m currently trying to get back into a running routine after a break.

Training shoe: Running in Brooks Ghosts right now.  I don’t have loyalty to a specific brand or style.  Every time I need a new shoe, I get a fresh assessment at a local running store and try something new.

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Montgomery Village native Aileen Barry runs in New York’s Central Park Photo: Jody Bailey

When Aileen Barry was a lacrosse player for Watkins Mills High School in Gaithersburg, she knew she was quick on her feet. 

If she got the ball, “no one could catch me,” Barry remembered.  

It was the first sign that the Montgomery Village native, now 37, had a hidden talent for running. But it wasn’t something she paid much attention to back then, instead concentrating on ballet and field hockey in addition to lacrosse. 

Fast forward to 2018, when Barry punched her ticket to the 2020 Olympic Trials at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn. She finished in 2:44:49, 11 seconds under the 2:45 standard for women (her gun time was 2:44:51, which is what U.S.A. Track and Field accepts for its qualifying standards.) 

“It was close,” said Barry, who now lives in Manhasset, N.Y. on Long Island. “Grandma’s was an amazing experience. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. At mile 24, would I totally blow up?”

Instead, she passed two other women in the last mile.

Barry’s OTQ came as little surprise to her coach, Devon Martin, who has been working with Barry since she joined the Central Park Track Club in 2006. 

“Six weeks before the marathon, I knew she was ready,” Martin said. 

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Roman Gurule. Photo: Niamh Brennan

As a gregarious extrovert, Roman Gurule met a number of his friends through happy hours and dinners during his time as a federal government employee. He joined his colleagues whenever they drank alcohol and Gurule went out about five times a week to relieve stress from work. It felt like a normal thing to do, even if he would wake up the next morning with a pounding headache and a scant memory of what happened the previous night.

He repeatedly told his friends he would cut back on his self-proclaimed “rockstar lifestyle” that he started after college, but then it would happen again the following weekend. And the next. “I think that nobody took me seriously,” Gurule says. 

Finally, he had enough. Drinking all week began to negatively affect all aspects of his life. 

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Pictured with Tracey Dahl is Furbutt, the VHTRC mascot, who she bought for the 25th Women’s Half Marathon in 2017.

Putting on a race is no small task.

Race directing usually involves hours (and hours) of prep work to scout course routes, secure permits, find and order materials on time, and coordinate an army of volunteers. Not to mention scrambling to make last-minute adjustments for terrible weather or missing volunteers.

Even with all the logistical gymnastics and giant drains on free time, most race directors certainly arent in the game to make money.

We talked with four local trail RDs about how they got started with their events, why they keep at it, and how every single one believes race directing is a team sport.

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