Running Shorts

Photo: Ed Lull
  • Patriot alumna Rachel McArthur elaborated to The Stride Report on her decision to transfer to the University of Colorado from Villanova University.
  • South Lakes alumnus Alan Webb has been named associate head cross country and assistant track coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
  • Georgetown alumnus and former director of track and field Chris Miltenberg has been named director of track and field at the University of North Carolina. He coached the 2011 Georgetown women’s cross country team to an NCAA championship.
  • George Mason rising sophomore Siobhra O’Flaherty will represent Ireland in the 10,000 meters in the European U23 Championships July 12 in Galve, Sweden.
  • Quince Orchard High School named its inaugural athletics hall of fame class, which includes distance runners and contributors:
    • Wayne Bartholomew
    • Karen Pulliam Egan
    • Troy Harry
    • Coach Jerry Link
    • And track and field athletes Ruth Kura, Ariel Nehemiah, Aron Dorsey, Bani Gbadyu and Travis Hawkins
0 Comments
Chase Weaverling outkicks Jim Walmsley to the finish at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon. Photo: MarathonFoto

If Chase Weaverling didn’t think he was going to qualify for the US Olympic Marathon Trials before starting the Houston Half Marathon, it definitely didn’t help his confidence when he hit the ground a half mile into the race. He clipped the heels of a marathoner he was drafting off of, then stumbled once that the marathoner went down.

Weaverling, who graduated from Poolesville in 2014, was a few months into his post-collegiate running career following a solid four years at the University of Virginia.

But in less time than it would take to explain that his Reebok Boston Track Club is actually based in Charlottesville, he was back on his feet and catching back up to a pack which included two pacers aiming for 1:04:00. That’s the time he needed to qualify for the trials and that’s what he ran, tying him for the slowest time qualifier, and at 23, making him one of the youngest. It was another example of him making the most out of his opportunities.

“I just told myself not to freak out,” Weaverling said. “My left side was pretty scarred up, but I didn’t even realize I was bleeding until afterward.”

Read More

0 Comments

Name: Adam Lesser

Self-described age group: 35-39

Residence: Fairfax

Occupation: IT Consultant

Volunteer roles in the running world: 5k Fun Run Committee member for my son’s annual elementary school 5k fundraiser event

Why you run: This has changed over the years, but anything from: pushing myself toward big goals, stress relief, to solve the world’s problems, for health and to motivate others to be active (especially my kids).

Read More

0 Comments
District Track Club runner David Timlin (left) charges to the finish of the 800 meters at the Mason Spring Invitational. Photo: Courtesy of the District Track Club

Even as the number of male American milers to hit that mark approaches 550, a sub-four-minute mile is still a middle distance runner’s milestone, bolstered by the stark difference between 3:59.99 and 4:00.00. For the 65 years men have been running sub-four miles, nobody has done it in Washington, D.C.

With a loaded field, that may change July 13 at the D.C. Road Runners Track Championship, when the race’s momentum, a national developmental effort and new track league converge at Dunbar High School. Eight men entered in the mile have broken 4:00, with Trevor Dunbar’s 3:55.54 PR leading the way. A field of more than a dozen women will race the 1,500 meters, several chasing the world championships qualifying standard of 4:06.50. Elinor Purrier (4:02.34) and Shannon Osika (4:06.17) have met the standard, with four more runners within two seconds. Abbey D’Agostino Cooper, a 2016 Olympian at 5,000 meters, is a late entry. Georgetown alumna Katrina Coogan and Lake Braddock alumna Katy Kunc will race in the elite field.

Brian Danza has been directing the meet and recruiting runners for years and watched the men’s mile times steadily drop over the last seven years down to 4:03 – in a deluge – from 4:16 in 2012. He feels like the meet has something to prove.

“New York and Oregon have a few big meets each year and D.C. doesn’t,” he said.

He saw no reason why the DCRR Track Championships could not be that meet for D.C.

Read More

0 Comments
Mike Wardian runs through Prince George’s County, Md. June 29 while circumnavigating the Capital Beltway. Photo: Phil Hargis

Try as he might, Mike Wardian wouldn’t get to run on the Capital Beltway.

“There’s no way in Hell anyone was going to be able to do that,” said friend Phil Hargis.

So, like a lot of drivers, he took a detour. 

Almost 18 hours later, Arlington’s Wardian circumnavigated the D.C. area’s iconic roadway on foot, covering just short of 90 miles on a sweltering day. The Fastest Known Time organization ratified his June 29 run, which started in McLean, Va. and ended across the Potomac River, east of Carderock, Md. His GPS tracker counted 89.99 miles, taking 17 hours, 54 minutes and 58 seconds; he was moving for 15 hours of that time.

Read More

0 Comments

Name: Lisa Romanzo

Self-described age group: my mornings fueled off coffee, my evenings off wine and ice cream, my current bosses can’t even complete full sentences, and I’m in bed by 930… i must be in the 30-35 range. waiting to move on up to the next age group!

Residence: Ashburn

Occupation: Physical therapist, but currently on hiatus to be home with my kids.

Why you run: Running makes me a better person. It’s my “quiet” time. With a traveling husband and family states away, running serves as my hobby but also my self care time. It allows me mental clarity, to work through things in my head or to just be in that meditative, steady state where I am free of thought. I love the endorphin release. How strong it makes me feel. And for the invaluable lessons it continues to teach me about self acceptance, resilience and hard work.

When did you get started running: Once college soccer came to an end, I needed an outlet to maintain some sanity and release some energy to get through graduate school so I picked up running. When I was deployed to Afghanistan, about three years later, my love for running grew deeper. Not only was it one of the only things for me to do, it filled the void and served as my therapy at a pretty low point in life. I carried it with me during the transition home and ran my first marathon, Marine Corps, that same year. I haven’t turned back since and running has never given up on me!

Read More

0 Comments
×

Subscribe to our mailing list