Starting a team from scratch is not easy, but for one local runner, it is a challenge worth doing.
Nicole Mancini may have had a short tenure as a cross country athlete, only competing for two years in college before switching over to marathon running, but her love for the sport is as strong as ever. Originally from Michigan, Mancini moved to northern Virginia in 2006 to work at Brentsville District High School in Nokesville.
There was no medal, no bib and no race director. But for Silver Spring’s Adrian Spencer, none of those things mattered as he attempted a run to Washington, D.C from Gettysburg.
Spencer had not always been a runner. He started running six years ago while on a beach trip with his family. Back then, he was 50 pounds heavier and could not even run a mile. Quickly approaching his 30th birthday, Spencer decided to give running a shot, hoping it would get him in better shape.
In 2007, Greg Mariano ran the worst race of his life when he attempted, and did not finish, the New York City Marathon. He considered giving up running for good after that. But less than 11 years later, Mariano is turning heads as one of DC’s fastest improving sub-elite runners.
Originally from Colonie, N.Y., Mariano can still remember the first time he discovered his knack for running. During his high school freshman gym class, he was asked to run as far as he could for 12 minutes. Mariano ended up running 8.5 laps. “I don’t know what possessed me to try so hard,” he jokes.
Military academies are some of the most revered institutions in the country. Many only take in around 4,000 students in total. Among that small number of students, even fewer compete in varsity athletics. Meet three local athletes now running at the United States’ military academies.
Gerry Ives sits at the table by his window, flipping through a photo album of old pictures and articles collected from decades of running. There are photos of him on magazine covers, on award podiums, out somewhere in the middle of a race and clippings of various articles and race results.
Every single photo in Ives’s thick book has a story and he joyfully recalls each one with a smile on his face. He is a man of countless tales, a man who has seen it all over 78 years.
It’s as inspiring as it is a little naughty.
T-shirts that say “Run like Schmidt,” worn by dozens of runners at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn.
For some runners, it’s a first marathon. Others treat it as a homecoming of sorts. There were 20,303 different stories that involved crossing the finish line of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon.
Antonio Osadalosada, 57, from Sacramento, Calif. was one of those runners.
“We’re moving,” reads a massive sign in the storefront window at 7516 Leesburg Pike near Tysons Corner.
To the passerby headed to do some grocery shopping, it may seem like any other storefront. But this location, home of one of the the longest continuous-running specialty running stores in the D.C. area, has held a special place in the running community since 1991. That’s not to say it hasn’t changed over the years–it began as Fleet Feet Sports, then Metro Run and Walk and, finally, Potomac River Running.
It’s Saturday morning on Fletcher’s Cove. A crowd of runners huddle together on the C&O Canal Towpath, ready to start their watches and run. At first glance, this may look like just a normal 5k, but on closer inspection, something is off. There are dogs in the crowd… children… strollers… No one is wearing numbers, there is no timing clock, no one is firing a starting gun.
Only a few miles away, a similar crowd gathers on the wooded trails of Theodore Roosevelt Island. Another gathers on the paved path of College Park’s Paint Branch Trail.
As the years and the miles add up, when you’ve seen the same trail hundreds of times, it can be hard to remember your first impression of running in D.C. But untold numbers of new runners move here each month, and their perceptions of the area, compared to where they lived before, are still fresh. Meet five of DC’s newest runners and their perspectives on running in the area.