Dickson Mercer

Jingle All the Way Gets Too Big for the Park and Moves Downtown

Published December 11, 2011 at 1:48PM | Updated September 17, 2013 at 2:33PM

It only took the Jingle All the Way 10K six years to outgrow its out-and-back course in Washington, DC’s West Potomac Park. This year, with more than 6,000 registered runners, Capital Running Company moved the race downtown to the same venue that hosts its annual St. Patrick’s Day 8K. The new 8K, which starts on Pennsylvania Avenue and, as with Occupy DC, is staged at Freedom Plaza, was held in cold, yet calm conditions that probably seemed perfect to those who braved last year’s cold drizzle.

If you are wondering how a road race typically held on a frigid day has become such a popular race, look no further than the costumes. At the Jingle All the Way 8K, Santa got the top-seeded number and knee-high candy cane socks paired with elf caps were the opposite of an exception. Today’s oddballs were ever-serious front-runners wearing their usual racing kits.

News

12th Annual Veterans Day 10K

By Dickson Mercer

Published November 13, 2011 at 2:32PM | Updated September 17, 2013 at 2:25PM

Frank Devar and Serena Burla each won $500 for winning today’s Veterans Day 10K on a cool, blustery morning in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park. Early on, though, the men’s winner was a tad confused.

“Where are the Ethiopians?” Pacers Racing Team member Bert Rodriguez said to his teammate, Devar, on the starting line of this always competitive race. The question set Devar to wondering: Was the 12^th annual Veterans Day 10K – contested on an out-and-back, flat-and-fast course starting on Ohio Drive – not offering its generous 10-deep prize purse?

News

Events Records Smashed in Second Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon

By Dickson Mercer

Published October 2, 2011 at 2:50PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:13PM

Ten kilometers into last year’s New York City Marathon, Kenyan Moses Kigen Kipkosgei made what proved to be a smart move. He let the lead pack go. “The pace was high, so I set my own,” Kipkosgei recalled today after winning the 2^nd annual Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon in 1 hour 2 two minutes 37 seconds.

In New York, the strategy worked, as a game Kipkosgei went on to seize third place. His best ever result, he said. But today, as Kipkosgei passed 10K along the rolling George Washington Memorial Parkway, the 28-year-old professional had the opposite feeling: the pace was too slow. He already had command of the race; still, he pushed.

News

Let Freedom Run 5K Explodes onto the Racing Scene

By Dickson Mercer

Published July 4, 2011 at 4:40PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:18PM

In the Lea Gallardo photo above, Laura O’Hara powers to the win with top 40-44 winner Matteo Mainetti on her shoulder and racing legend Alisa Harvey a few strides behind.

Runners in this region say the best way to prepare mentally for a summer race is to expect the absolute worst. In that event, more than 1,500 runners who participated in Capital Running Company’s inaugural Let Freedom Run 5K only had to deal with conditions that were roughly par for a rolling course: Independence Day morning offered overcast skies, temperatures below 80 degrees, and a humidity level which – around here, anyway – would only qualify for the not-so-bad category.

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Outtakes: an interview with Christo Landry

By Dickson Mercer

Published February 9, 1875 at 1:45PM | Updated February 9, 2015 at 6:30PM

Christo Landry in the lead pack at the 2014 Cherry Blossom Ten Mile. Photo: Charlie Ban

Editor’s note: These are outtakes from our profile of Christo Landry that appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of RunWashington.

On choosing golf over cross country as a high school freshman: “It was my grandpa. I just played golf with him whenever I saw him growing up. I still have fun playing when it’s warm outside. I’m not necessarily very good, but I’m also not a complete disaster on the course.”