Do you want want to start 2020 with a race? Establish a standard for running for the new year? Lean into the punch after a New Year’s Eve party? Want to enjoy some unseaonable warmth? Do you just want to run with some other people? A variety of races and running events are yours for the striding, and three – The New Year’s Day 5k in Reston, the New Year’s Day 5k in Gaithersburg and the Predicitions and Resolutions 5k – are among RunWashington’s 2020 ranked races.
This is also a reminder that if you manage a road race in the D.C. area, the best way to reach the audience you want is to post your race on our free online calendar. As much as I’d like to say people come here for our prose and journalism, day-in and day-out, most people are also checking out the calendar.
8:30 a.m. Kensington parkrun 5k (Kensington, Md.) – Registration
The free weekly time trial makes an encore on Wednesday and is the earliest New Year’s Eve event (they say it’s not a race but there’s an order of finishers and times are kept, so you can debate semantics with them in person) to allow for runners to also participate in the College Park event two hours later. You have to register ahead of time and bring a printed bar code to be timed.
9:30 a.m. New Year New Day 5k/10k (Ashburn, Va.) – Registration
Ashburn may be the farthest west of local New Year’s Day races, but it plays host to some of the earlier races, with 5k and 10k courses that loop neighborhoods surrounding House 6 Brewing, which offers a post-race breakfast.
10 a.m New Year’s Day 5k (Reston, Va.) – Registration
The course starts and finishes at Reston Town Center and follows a USATF-certified course onto the W&OD Trail and back.
10 a.m New Year’s Day 5k (Gaithersburg, Md.) – Registration
The first of the Montgomery County Road Runners Club’s low-key (and low-cost) races, the race features several out-and-back stretches where you can easily see who else got up for the race.
10:30 a.m. College Park parkrun 5k (College Park, Md.) – Registration
Held with the Prince George’s Running Club, it’s the same routine as Kensington. You have to register ahead of time and bring a printed bar code to be timed.
10:30 a.m. Fletcher’s Cove parkrun 5k (Washington, D.C.) – Registration
This one is on the C&O Canal Towpath. You have to register ahead of time and bring a printed bar code to be timed.
Noon – Predictions and Resolutions 5k (Arlington, Va.) – Registration
The D.C. Road Runners’ annual New Year kickoff allows the greatest opportunity to sleep in. The USATF-certified course starts at Washington-Liberty High School and heads down and back up the Custis Trail.
Recent Stories
Looking for our race calendar? Click here Submit races here or shop local for running gear
Coaching high school cross country and track made Kelyn Soong a better runner.
A break from racing one of my favorite events gave me a chance to help other runners reach their time goals.
Eight local runners will compete in the Olympic Marathon Trials Saturday morning in Orlando.
HalfWay 2.5K
Join the Officer Down Memorial Page for our inaugural HalfWay 2.5K on November 16, 2024. The HalfWay 2.5K is a fun, global, virtual run to help you prep six months out from the National Police Week 5K. Run or walk
James W. Foley Freedom Run
Inspired by the moral courage of freelance journalist James Foley, the mission of the nonprofit Foley Foundation is to secure the freedom of Americans held captive abroad unjustly by terrorist organizations or rogue states, and to promote journalist safety.
The