I thought I had been fooled.
No, I must have gotten something wrong. Turning out of Morven Park, the famed Old Waterford Road, which I found on Loudoun County’s map of unpaved roads, was most certainly paved!
Well, I was already out in Leesburg, I might as well keep going. I started climbing the hill (that will happen a lot on this route) and a while before I realized it, the road had indeed switched to rocky dirt, just as advertised.
I picked the road from the county’s new map, which is suited for mobile use, but found some supporting endorsement from the Loudoun Road Runners, who make the road a staple of their routine.
Before too long, I realized why. By the time I hit the intersection with Nestlewood Road, I was used to the climbing and the traffic, light as it was, was down to almost nothing. There are a few tricky curves, so you have to approach them with caution, but before long the road stretches out ahead of you with plenty of visibility.
I like rolling hills, so it was right up my alley – the climbing peaks before 2.5 miles on the way out, though 1.5 to 2.3 on Old Waterford climbs 267 feet. I’m mildly terrified of horses, and I passed a few, but they didn’t threaten me and everyone stayed cool.
Five miles in, you reach the end of Old Waterford, but if you’re willing to navigate 0.1 mile of pavement on a sweeping curve, Browns Lane gives you an extra 1.9 miles of dirt road – I initially missed it and ran too far on Loyalty, as you’ll see on the map. If 14 miles of mostly-dirt road isn’t enough, you can add on plenty on Morven Park, which is also a great place to park (or watch a cross country race).
I loved it on a day I was being pelted in the face by sleet. Chances are you’ll like it, too.
I don’t know what was wrong with me. I had this beautiful gift, and I had been ignoring it for years.
The last time I remembered running in the National Arboretum was right before Thanksgiving 2014. Then, for some reason, I just stopped running there. It wasn’t until the end of this past January, after months of me telling myself I should go back there, that I actually did.
What a treat.
Rockville’s Dylan Hernandez (2:26:02) and D.C.’s Madeline Hartlieb (2:57:52) were the first D.C.-area runners across the finish line at the 127th Boston Marathon.
Despite facing strong headwinds in the closing miles of the race, Hillary Bor broke the men’s American record for 10 miles at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Sunday, running 46:11 for second overall. He trailed Ethiopia’s Tsegay Kidanu by three seconds. Bor ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase on the U.S. Olympic team in 2016 and 2020, finishing seventh in 2016. Greg Meyer set the previous record of 46:13 at Cherry Blossom in 1983. Results Photos
Once again, the race served as the USATF 10 mile championships, and Sara Hall won the women’s division in 52:37, finishing behind second overall Uganda’s Sarah Chalangat’s 52:04. Vienna’s Perry Shoemaker broke the American record for women ages 50-54 with her 1:00:37.
Reston’s Susanna Sullivan, last year’s overall winner, was the D.C. area’s top finisher in seventh place, running 53:25. D.C.’s Zach Herriott was the top local man, running 48:57 for 14th place. Herriott won the race’s virtual competition in 2020. Bethesda’s Ben Beach completed the race, having run each Cherry Blossom dating back to when the race was started by the D.C. Road Runners
The race’s 50th running brought a new focus to the 5k race, which had previously been held as an alternative to the 10-mile distance. The race was held a day earlier and moved to a flat course starting at Freedom Plaza, where Baltimore’s Johan Fagerberg (15:03) and D.C.’s Casey Greenwalt (18:13) each won their respective races.
- The Montgomery County Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 5:30 pm March 30 on the Liittle Falls Parkway road diet, which has closed two lanes of the road for a half-mile stretch, allowing for recreational use. The county planning staff has recommended the program continue.
- The Zoo Loop in Rock Creek Park is now open through 7 p.m.
- D.C.’s Tim Choi was a guest on the Micromobility DC podcast.
- The Road Runners Club of America honored several local runners through the 2022 National Running Awards program:
- Conroy Zien and Sarah Day for their role leading the Mongtomgery County Road Runners Club’s First Time Marathon program – Outstanding Beginning Running Program. Zien was named Best Running Coach in the 2015 Best of Washington Running.
- Kelyn Soong of the Washington Post – Excellence in Running Journalism. Soong wrote for RunWashington for several years.
- Jean Arthur of Silver Spring – Browning Ross Spirit of the RRCA.
Check out some mile seven photos from the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon. If you use any, please credit Charlie Ban/@RunWashington. Or be a jerk and don’t.
- Saturday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon will include changes to the latter miles of the race, with the finish moving to Judiciary Square from its longtime home at RFK Stadium. The start of the race will include a trip over the Arlington Memorial Bridge after several years away.
- The Potomac Valley Track Club was a close second at the USATF Masters Indoor Track Championships. Vienna’s Perry Shoemaker ran 10:07.36 to set an American record for the indoor 3,000 meters for the 50-54 age group.
- Registration has opened for this year’s Army Ten-Miler.
- The Chocolate City Relay is accepting applications for the group’s June 10 event around Washington, D.C. Apply here
- After its winter hiatus, the District Running Collective will resume its Wednesday night runs this week. RVSP here
- South Lakes’ girls 4×800 team finished second at New Balance Indoor Nationals.
Runners from local clubs including the D.C. Road Runners, Georgetown Running Club, Prince George’s Running Club, Montgomery County Road Runners Club and more raced the RRCA Club Challenge Feb. 26 on Howard County’s hilly 10-mile course. The Georgetown Running Club won the overall, women’s and men’s team competitions, along with overall titles for Sam Doud and Kerry Allen, who set the course record. Check out photos here
- The National Park Service will close East Potomac Park for one week in early December to divide the road on Hains Point to add a dedicated bike and pedestian lane to the inside half of the road.
- NPS will hold a virtual public meeting a 7 p.m. Dec. 6 to address planned safety improvements along Arlington County’s portion of the Mount Vernon Trail.
- The entry lottery for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile will run from Dec. 1-5.
- Herndon’s Gillian Bushee, McLean’s Thais Rolly and Good Counsel’s Leah Stephens qualified for the Champs National Cross Country Championship (formerly sponsored by Foot Locker).
- Georgetown’s women finished 10th and the men 31st at the NCAA DIvision I Cross Country Championships, with Washington Latin’s Luke Tewalt (Wake Forest) finishing 22nd and John Champe’s Bethany Graham (Furman) finishing 27th to lead D.C.-area natives. Gonzaga’s Gavin McElhennon (Johns Hopkins) finished 27th and George Marshall’s Sophie Tedesco (Chicago) finished 60th at the Division III championships.
- Division I
- 21 Maggie Donahue – Georgetown
- 27 Bethany Graham – Furman, John Champe
- 39 Grace Jensen – Georgetown
- 59 Chloe Scrimgeour- Georgetown
- 86 Sami Corman – Georgetown
- 123 Melissa Riggins – Georgetown
- 190 Chloe Gonzalez – Georgetown
- 216 Katy-Ann McDonald – Georgetown
- Division I
-
-
- 22 Luke Tewalt – Wake Forest, Washington Latin
- 77 Bryce Lentz – Air Force, Colgan
- 105 Derek Johnson – Virginia, Tuscarora
- 132 Parker Stokes – Georgetown
- 137 Antonio Lopez Segura – Virginia Tech, Colgan
- 150 Sean Laidlaw – Georgetown
- 171 Sam Affolder – Washington, Loudoun Valley
- 178 Camden Gilmore – Georgetown
- 184 Rohann Asfaw – Virginia, Richard Montgomery
- 210 Matthew Rizzo – Georgetown
- 225 Lucas Guerra – Georgetown
- 250 Abel Teffra – Georgetown
-
-
- Division III
- 60 Sophie Tedesco – Chicago, George Marshall
- 71 Sarah James – Lynchburg, Brentsville District
- 155 Katie Hirsche – Haverford, Edmund Burke
- 166 Genevieve Dibari – Pomona, Stone Ridge
- 202 Ilana Zeilinger – Bates, Georgetown Day School
- Division III
-
-
- 27 Gavin McElhennon – Johns Hopkins, Gonzaga
- 91 Aaron Bratt – Haverford, Walt Whitman
- 144 John O’Rourke – Catholic
- 160 Timothy Boyce – St. Lawrence, Northwood
- 187 Daniel Ferrante – Christopher Newport, Fairfax Christian
- 190 Sean Enright – Johns Hopkins, Sherwood
- 203 Sam Llaneza – Lynchburg, Brentsville District
- 262 Aidan Nathan – Case Western, Briar Woods
- 272 Tor Hotung-Davidsen – Lynchburg, Oakton
-
- Sidwell Friends alumna Taylor Knibb won the Ironman world championship 70.3 in St. George, Utah.
Jim Ehrenhaft has coached his share of fast runners in his career, but the runners who made up his DCSAA-winning St. Albans team have been ahead of the curve.
Senior Pierre Attiogbe and sophomores Sebi Hume and William Strong, the first (15:52), second (16:43) and fourth place (15:50) finishers, have all been varsity contributors since their freshman years, and those strong finishes, along with sophomore Laszlo Wolfe in 10th (17:43) and seniors John Rhee and Jack Thomas in 13th (18:01) and 14th (18:03) helped the Buldogs to their first DC title, a 30-54 win over resurgent Gonzaga.
“I’ve never had guys that are ready to race so early in their careers,” Ehrenhaft said. “We stress long-term development, and they all came from a middle school program that emphasizes moderation and enjoyment of the sport.”
That means Ehrenhaft’s job has to shift to motivating his young charges to do something besides increase their training load. During their freshman track seasons earlier in 2022, Strong and Hume won the DCSAA mile and two-mile titles while Attiogbe was recovering from a stress fracture.
“Kids can get so excited about it that they want more and more, but they’ve done a great job of being patient, looking at the long term,” he said.
Attiogbe ran away from the pack at the very start, and cruising to a 51-second victory at Kenilworth Park, a low-lying loop that was mud-free in the first time since the race has been held there starting in 2016.
“As long as I finished first, I was happy,” Attiogbe said. “That meant we’d have a good start with the team scoring.”
Having a strong team has made the season even more fun for Attiogbe, who’s had his share of individual accolades, including wins at the Maryland and Skip Grant invitationals and a close runner-up finish at the Milestat Invitational, where he ran 14:45 for 5k. He, Hume and Strong swept the top three places at the IAC Championship.
“We have a lot of people to work with, it’s not a one-man show. We’re a real team,” he said. “We’re a bunch of guys who want to get better, as long as we’re with each other.”
This season, Attiogbe has focused on his pre-race visualization, anticipating how much certain points of the race will hurt and preparing himself to overcome them. He’ll join his St. Albans teammate Damian Hackett at Cornell University next fall.
The St. John’s girls managed to withstand a bout with the flu to win their third straight title 50-56 over National Cathedral School.
“It tore through our boys team before WCACs, but we thought the girls dodged a bullet,” said coach Desmond Dunham.
The customary large pack of Cadets started out in the front, but by the second lap of the course, fatigue combined with a hot day started to take a toll. Georgetown Visitation sophomore Vivian Kelly broke free of the pack and ran away on the second lap, looking back slightly while tracing the curve on the far end of the course to check on her lead.
“I usually start out fast because I get a lot of motivation when people cheer for me when I’m leading, but I let other people take the lead this time,” she said. “We went slower than I would have liked, but I was able to finish a lot faster than I usually do. I was proud of my last mile.”
Her 20:12 was a 22-second lead over National Cathedral freshman Cecilia Wright, who was leading a charge of her own. She combined with sophomores Caroline Lee (fifth in 20:52) and Margot Benelli (sixth in 21:00) to start the Eagles’ scoring off strong, but even wounded, St. Johns’ depth was too much to overcome.
Senior Caroline Gotzman did manage to dodge the illness that befell her twin sister, and she moved up throughout the race to finish third in 20:41.
“That was great for Caroline to come through for us like that,” Dunham said. “A lot of times she’s overshadowed by Meredith, but she ran a tough, smart race that showed how much she’s learned over the years. “
Junior Jennifer Maxwell was next in ninth in 21:30, with classmate Nell Droege three seconds back in 11th. Seniors Meredith Gotzman and Sophie Mattheus finished 16th (21:39) and 18th (21:56) to get five Cadets in before the Eagles had their fourth.
“This championship is a story for the history books,” Dunham said. “We don’t mess around with fevers, so we just kept them hydrating and checking their temperatures, hoping we could time it right with people recovering or being able to race before things got bad.”
The cancelation of the 2020 cross country season meant the core St. John’s team that started its wining streak in 2019 couldn’t go for a clean sweap, but it didn’t dull the team’s ambitions. With enough time to rest and recover, the Cadets are hoping for a strong race the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast meet after Thanksgiving.
