If you’re hoping to catch some looks in Georgetown, hop behind the wheel of race organizer Jay Wind’s maroon Ford Aerostar XLT van. I did in 2011, for a spin around M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. It handled well enough, but what mattered was inside. Enough equipment to manage a road race, or have a lot of fun on the lam:

• A scaffolding for the finish and start lines
• Enough cones to set up a driver training course
• A few tables and chairs
• Some odds and ends that could probably repair a metro escalator
• A computer older than me
• Ribbons
• A loudspeaker
• A wooden train whistle
• Extension cords to stretch to a 5K turnaround
• Miscellaneous track implements, including several shot puts
• Banners
• A stack of frisbees
• PVC piping
• Bolt cutters
• Tents
• A beach ball
• A plastic novelty oversized lime