Name: Gregory Boutin
Self-described age group: 65-69
Residence: Burke, Va.
Occupation: Retired
Why you run: Started running for general health reasons. This quickly morphed into: enjoyment of the quiet time running provides, the ability to push my limits in either a competitive or non-competitive way, and the feeling of accomplishment I get after finishing a hard workout or race.
When did you get started running: I started walking 4 – 4.5 miles a day when I was 50 years old and 35 pounds overweight. After five or six months I transitioned to walking/jogging, and finally to just running.
Have you taken a break from running: Yes, for about 4 years in my later-50’s. At that point in my work career I had changed jobs and found that working much longer hours left little time for running. Trying to make up for that by running on the weekends was not a good idea.
Covering 18 miles at once may not sound difficult to many runners, but it becomes far more difficult when those 18 miles are split up over the course of the three separate runs without proper recovery time in between, lack of sleep or square meals. Plus at least one of those legs takes place in the middle of the night.
Road relays like Ragnar or American Odyssey have become popular staples in the running world. These 24-hour, 12-person races involve runners taking turns running three legs of various lengths across 100+ mile distances across either road or trails. Some teams run short-handed for an extra challenge.
The idle runners follow their active runner in a van, and wait at an exchange zone until it is time to hand off the running responsibility. Trail races, on the other hand, follow loop courses, with participants staying in a camp or village until it is time for their leg.
RunWashington, along with Pacers Running and New Balance, will be celebrating the start of the 2019 cross country season Aug. 25 by recognizing 62 of the most promising young cross country runners in the D.C. area.
A preseason pep rally, held at the Pacers Running pop-up at 600 H Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, will open at 5:30 p.m. and start up at 6 p.m.
It’s a chance to mix with the people you’ll be running into on race courses throughout the fall while you’re not trying to grind each other into the grass, hear from a Foot Locker Cross Country champion and get excited for the upcoming season. Wear your team’s t-shirt to show off [insert mascot’s name here] pride, intimidate your rivals by telling them how much you ran during your vacation at altitude, show off your watch tan lines … it’s going to be great!
The Bowie State football team, following its first CIAA title last fall, took a break from preseason practice for its inaugural 5k. Senior safety John Johnson IV, 21, demonstrated that he hadn’t been slacking off on days he hadn’t made practice by winning the race around the campus in 19:49. Reston’s Robyn Kenul, 32, a recent transplant from Long Island, won the women’s race in 21:08.
Name: Laura Povlich
Self-described age group: 35-39
Residence: D.C.
Occupation: Program Director at NIH
Volunteer roles in the running world: Event Coordinator for my local triathlon club, District Multisport
Why you run: My motivation for running has changed throughout the years, but I’m currently motivated to get outside, see new and beautiful places, and spend some miles with running friends.
When did you get started running: I started running about 12 years ago to try to get into shape after undergrad. I spent most of my younger years dancing and running seemed like a logical hobby to pick up. My husband also started racing triathlons around that time and I was inspired by the variety of athletes that competed.
After a summer hiatus, the hosts return to talk to Jose Ortiz, founder of Run Hope Work, which trains 20-24-year-olds in the skilled trades, using running as the underpinning of the program.
In 2012, Chantilly High School track and cross country coach Matt Gilchrist wanted to run a mile with one of his graduating seniors, state champion Sean McGorty. But the weight Gilchrist had gained over the years of putting his coaching before his own health stopped him in his tracks.
“I remember getting about 600 meters around the track and I was done. I couldn’t do it,” said Gilchrist, who previously ran at Gettysburg College. “At the time, I was 40 years old and couldn’t run a mile.”
But this past May, 162 pounds lighter, Gilchrist cruised around the track alongside one of his graduating runners, Nicole Re, who called the four laps together “a memory that will stick with me.”
Spot her two letters and Fairfax’s Bethany Sachtleben can rearrange her name to spell “schedule.”
Her daily routine dictates how she fits in her 100+ mile weeks around her full-time work and coaching, but even farther removed from that, she was trying to figure out where all those miles were going. Yes, the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials Feb. 29, but more immediately, she was supposed to race a marathon on July 27. For Team USA.
But less than a week before she was due in Lima, Peru, she wasn’t so sure. Told in early June that she was on the Pan American Games team, she was now apparently off. She found out on Friday; Her flight was the next Wednesday.
“I heard, ‘we’re offering your spot to everyone on the 2019 (performance) list,'” Sachtleben said. Her last marathon was a month before 2019 started. Everyone else would have to decline, including runners whose times were slower. “Then I started getting calls from friends saying they had been offered my spot and they turned it down. I felt awkward and uncomfortable for everybody because it’s a huge opportunity, but nobody is going to decide to jump into a marathon the week before.”
