Name: Katie McHugh. Or Dinterbeast. I’ll answer to both.
Self-described age group: I’m timeless.
Residence: The Hill is Home.
Occupation: Pediatric oncology research nurse
Volunteer roles in the running world: I am an expert cowbell ringer and very proficient in vuvuzela blowing. I am also an exceptional relay van driver, and I will get the team to the next exchange on time no matter what ill directions I have been given.
How has your running changed in the last few weeks: I’ve whittled down to only one running partner: my one-year-old daughter, Molly.
Why you run: Because it’s fun, duh!
As you may have noticed, we don’t have many races happening for a while.
For the rest of 2020, RunWashington’s rankings are going to change to the next best thing – Strava segments. Since we can’t all get together in one place and go shoulder-to-shoulder, the next best thing will be to compare performances on the same turf at the DMV Distance Derby.
Name: Laurence J Clark MD FACP
Self-described age group: Masters Senior
Residence: Mount Vernon, Va.
Occupation: Physician, Medicare Medical Director, Noridian Healthcare Solutions (13 states including West Coast), Volunteer Medical Director, Carpenters Shelter Clinic
Volunteer roles in the running world: Organizer for the Run for Shelter to support local homelessness initiatives
How has your running changed in the last few weeks: I have been running by myself around the Chinquapin Park oval to maintain social distancing at the usual time I would be running with NOVA
I’m a road guy.
I’ll get on trails pretty regularly, but I have the most fun when I can just run and not focus as much on where I am stepping or thinking about the last time I tripped and bruised my ribs. Once I realized just how many people were exploring narrow trails when they started getting out of the house more, the roads, particularly in residential neighborhoods became more and more my bread and butter.
When the National Park Service granted Mayor Bower’s request to close Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park for more than half of April, I was thrilled, and I decided I was going to make the most of it.
- The 14th Street Washington, D.C. Pacers store was burglarized the morning of April 25.
- Oakton/American alumna Keira Carlstrom D’Amato was a guest on the I’ll Have Another podcast.
- Georgetown alumna Kate Landau’s work as a physician’s assistant was featured in Dyestat.
- Former George Mason Head Track Coach Dalton Ebanks died April 25 from complications from Covid-19.
- Dustin Whitlow, a RunWashington contributing photographer, will be featured on an Potomac River Running Instagram live session Wednesday, April 29 from 8 p.m. – 9 p.m.
- Conroy Zien, the 2015 Best of Washington Running coach of the year and subject of a recent RunWashington story, was a guest on the Run Farther and Faster podcast.
Name: Rebecca Middleton
Self-described age group: 40-49
Residence: Arlington
Occupation: Anti-hunger leader – executive director of Alliance to End Hunger
How has your running changed in the last four weeks: I was signed up for a number of spring races that were cancelled/postponed so it’s been a big mindshift. I’m most disciplined when I have a race on the calendar, so not knowing when the next in-person race will be is a challenge. A friend in Boulder sent me information about the Un-Cancelled Project virtual race series by Run the Edge – it has been a fun way to stay motivated. Another big change has been planning routes to maximize social distancing. For me this means avoiding trails and hitting quieter streets. The upside has been having a bit more flexibility with my schedule overall so easier to stick to a running routine. I’m grateful to still be able to run and try to be mindful of what a gift it is.
Volunteer roles in the running world: I’d signed up to volunteer for the first time at this year’s Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile. I was really looking forward to it, but clearly it wasn’t meant to be. I look forward to volunteering just as soon as races start back up.
Ben Beach was actually happy for the reprieve.
The Bethesda man, who holds the record for most consecutive Boston Marathon finishes with 52, had every intention of running his 53rd, but with the race’s delay, he’s happy to sleep in on Patriots’ Day for the first time since he was in high school.
“I was relieved when they postponed it,” he said. “I’ve been fighting a bad knee, my mileage was more pathetic than usual. Having a few more months to get ready is a break for me.”
Alexis Fairbanks, of D.C. also would have pushed through some discomfort to race, but has taken the break to recuperate.
“So no fun Boston challenges for me, but the Olympic Channel (paying the past six marathon broadcasts) has been all day to relive the glory,” she said.
Beach and Fairbanks were two of 606 local runners registered for the race, many of whom are still signed up for the Sept. 14 makeup date, one that is obviously still in question. Many observed the day in one form or another.
Name: Taylor Williamson
Self-described age group: 35-39
Residence: Silver Spring
Occupation: Global Health Systems Manager at RTI International
Volunteer roles in the running world: I have been a pacer for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile for years, and I volunteer for MCRRC races as I am able. Pikes Peek is one of my favorites!
Why you run: I‘ve run for so long that my motivations change about every couple of years. I run now because it keeps me sane by burning off excess energy and letting my mind shut down. I also really appreciate the running community in Montgomery County. It’s a dedicated and engaged group of people.
How has your running changed in the last four weeks: I was training for Pikes Peek in April; aiming to better a very slow 10K PR. Since that race and all the others have been shut down, I’m taking time off to heal from a bad hamstring strain.
- The National Park Service has extended the usual weekend closure of most of Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park to traffic throughout the rest of April. Roads in Anacostia Park and Fort Dupont Park will be closed to traffic from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. every day until April 30.
- Montgomery Parks is closing Little Falls Parkway between, Massachusetts Avenue and Arlington Road (River Road will be open midway), and Beach Drive, between Knowles Avenue and Connecticut Avenue (Cedar Lane is open midway) to traffic between Fridays at 9 am to Sundays at 6 p.m. Sligo Creek Parkway is closed on the same schedule between University Boulevard and Fores Glen Road (with Dennis Avenue open midway) and Piney Branch Road to Old Carroll Avenue (with Maple Avenue open midway).
- A variety of local runners were guests on podcasts recently:
- Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Caitlyn Tateishi was on Ali on the Run
- Mike Wardian was on Citius and Run Farther and Faster
- Tom Brumlik was on Running Through It
- T.S. Wootton Coach Kellie Redmond was on Run Farther and Faster
- Loudon Valley alumnus Drew Hunter was on Final Surge
Running again took a lot of faith for Vicki McGorty.
Despite a running career that went back 44 years and took her to the high school cross country championship and a collegiate career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as she launched herself in the air April 4, she wasn’t sure what would happen when she came back down.
“I was so excited but a little nervous,” she said. “When I go up in the air, is my leg going to catch me?”
It did.
She was nine months removed from a double knee replacement which repaired about seven years of damage that she pushed herself through.
