It’s been more than two decades since Jackie Gruendel was in college, but the 44-year-old runner still competes — and excels — at college meets.
Gruendel, who lives in Clifton, is able to participate in meets as an unattached runner, and she ran 5:17.51 to place fifth in the women’s mile at the George Mason Patriot Games in January.
In 1967, college student Doug Edwards fired the gun to start a race at a track meet for the first time.
“My track coach at the time handed me a gun… and a box of shells and said you can earn $5 starting a track meet down at the local high school,” Edwards said. “And I thought that was like dying and going to heaven. And so I did. And it just sort of always stuck with me.”
Seniors Obsaa Feda and Eldad Mulugeta led their Northwood High School cross country team to a second-place finish on Saturday at the Maryland state meet. It was also a D.C.-area school’s top finish in the 4A boys’ race since Walter Johnson’s runner-up finish in 2012.
The teammates ran together toward the finish line in the 4A boys’ race, but Feda crossed first, running the hilly three-mile course at Hereford High School in 15:44.05. Less than a second later, Mulugeta finished the race, earning a time of 15:44.29.
As students at St. Albans School and National Cathedral School prepare for the cross country conference championships, many of these runners are also getting ready for the fall play.
Jim Ehrenhaft, who coaches cross country for both Washington, D.C., schools and is also the assistant track coach in charge of distance, is just one of the coaches in the region who works with students balancing other commitments outside of running and school.
Taking up marathon training often means taking time away from the family to get in the miles, the long runs, the workouts. For Joe Divel, it turned into a way to create new bonds with his daughters.
Divel, 59, of Rockville, is in his fourth year with the Montgomery County Road Runners Club First Time Marathoners program and in his second year as a coach.
On a rainy, windy day, Cindy and Katie Walls talked about all kinds of things during their 26.2-mile run.
It wasn’t just any run. It was the Boston Marathon. They had been planning to each take the race at their own pace, but the mother and daughter decided to run it together as they were walking to the start on April 16.
The Girls Gotta Run Foundation started out with an effort to get running shoes to girls in Ethiopia.
Now, more than a decade later, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit is working with 100 girls and 40 mothers in the African country.
Both men’s and women’s titles will remain in the D.C. area after a sweep last year. Andrews lives part-time in Arlington.
Andrews, 27, who lives part-time in Arlington, will aim to break the 50k world record of 2:43:38 on April 13 at a race put on by one of his sponsors, Hoka One One, in Santa Barbara, Calif. (more…)
She won races at Oakton. She was a several-time All-American at American. Now more than a decade later, Keira Carlstrom is moving up in race distances and continuing to win.
Now Keira D’Amato, 33, she won the Rock ‘n’ Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon in 1:16:31. Even though she lives near Richmond, she said she felt like a “hometown girl” running the D.C. race.
Vanessa Junkin is the marketing and public relations manager for Wicomico County, Md. Recreation, Parks and Tourism and has been writing for RunWashington since 2018. She profiled masters runner Jackie Gruendel earlier this year. Read more of her writing here.
Name: Vanessa Junkin