News - RunWashington

Run to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer Race Report

Published September 14, 2011 at 1:04PM | Updated September 23, 2013 at 1:10PM

The Reston Town Center is a great spot to hold an event. The Run/Walk to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer starts with a 5K and is followed by an untimed 1 mile. Long before the race got underway hundreds of participants gathered. Many wore special-colored shirt proclaiming that they were survivors. Groups of people formed almost spontaneously for photo opportunities. Nobody seemed to notice that it looked as if it were going to rain.

At the start, it was announced somewhat apologetically that the course was hilly. Not so! It really seemed as if the course spent all together too much time going down hill to really be a basically out and back course. There were cones all along the way so even with all the turns nobody was going to get lost. In the final mile many of the 5K runners were met head on by the walkers. It was only for one short block and the walkers, who far outnumbered the racers, parted along the side of the road to let them pass.

Barus and Miyauchi Win Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon

By Brenda Barrera

Published September 4, 2011 at 4:10PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:17PM

Yoko Miyauchi wins in 1:11:49, three seconds off the state record.

Labor Day weekend may signal the ‘official’ end of summer; but for the 11,219 runners who toed the start line at today’s Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon, it was the start of a festive race featuring live bands at every mile and a fun-filled weekend of activities that included a post-race party on the beach and free pass to the American Music Festival. Two new champions were crowned: Benson Barus, 31, from Kenya won the overall title in 1:02:22 and Japan’s Yoko Miyauchi, 28, led the women’s field in 1:11:49.

Early Morning Rain Cannot Dampen Spirits at the Leesburg 20K/10K

By James Moreland

Published August 12, 2011 at 4:16PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:17PM

As Michael Wardian was finishing his preparations he had a big grin on his face. He noted that he had just won a 10K but the race was “almost too short.” This year would be his fifth time racing the 20K and he had won the last three years. There were three other submasters in the elite field. Frenchman Philippe Rolly who back in 1999 had won the St. Patrick’s Day 10K in 30:27, well ahead of Wardian’s 30:55 PR. Rolly had dappled in Wardian’s forté winning a fifty miler in 2008 in just over seven hours. Wardian had won the JFK 50 Miler in 2007 in 5:50:34.

Italian Edi Turco loves to run. He told us at the DCRRC Landon Cross Country Saturday night that he looks for a race every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Like Michael he runs fifty plus races a year. Often onlookers wonder if these guys would not be faster with fewer races. Perhaps Wardian might improve on his 14:55 PR, which does seem a little out of touch with his new marathon PR of 2:17:49 set this year. And of course he always maintains, “I love to toe the line.”

Plenty to Celebrate at the Coast Guard Day 5K

By Brenda Barrera

Published August 6, 2011 at 4:25PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:17PM

It was a birthday celebration of sorts. On August 4, 1790, Congress authorized the creation of a maritime service to enforce customs laws, signed off by President George Washington. That was 221 years ago and the Revenue Cutter Service—better known today as the U.S. Coast Guard—is celebrating their birthday. On August 6, 2011 the Coast Guard Day 5K held at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, VA celebrated its 23^rd running with a record number of finishers, 308.

Two teenagers, Jack Little and Taylor Falvey, took top honors.

Crystal City Twilighter 5K: Steve Hallinan, Tezata Dengarsa Win Titles in the Heat

By James Moreland

Published July 23, 2011 at 4:33PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:18PM

A look at the start before the runners lined up.

This race is an event. Wandering around the center you could easily see this event was fully prepared with food and drink, from Budweiser to Muscle Milk with a side of ice cold water in between. Some of the other events closed up shop with the record heat wave this week but Pacers knew that runners are a tenacious bunch.

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.

Ringing in Hope Goes Summer

By James Moreland

Published June 25, 2011 at 4:47PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:18PM

Out of the heat of the late spring furnace, the first weekend of summer grew a rose of a day. Late June is certainly warm and sunny as a summer day but with a cool breeze, making the inaugural 5K and 10K races a charm. The course is flat and fast with nearly all of the final mile a gentle downhill swoop to the finish. Nestled just a few yards from busy Leesburg Pike but well off the beaten path where runners saw next to none of the motor vehicles to compete for the domination of roads.

In today’s running world, women are coming out in greater numbers, usually about 60% of the field. More and more the courses are getting tested by runners who have no plans at a glorious tape breaking at the finish. They want to try their stuff surrounded by hundreds of other similar-minded people in a controlled environment.

PRR Twilight Festival Race Report

By James Moreland

Published June 11, 2011 at 4:55PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:19PM

Virginia Pons moves past the starting line at the first loop.

The Potomac River Twilight 4 mile race has built a solid reputation as a family event. While providing some of most competitive races at this less than common distance, the well attended mile fun run and all the entertainment after the event keep the race high in recidivism. While the classic rock band Dolley Sodds was warming up, event director Ray Pugsley was scurrying around filling a kid’s pool with ice to cool off the many different kinds of liquid refreshment awaiting the returning road warriors. Everyone knows that in this region June is really summer no matter what the calendar says. Pugsley was smiling as he said, “We dodged a bullet.” Indeed, after two record setting days in the last week, this year’s temperature in the low 80s seemed almost kind.

Komen Global Race for the Cure Report

By James Moreland

Published June 4, 2011 at 5:02PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:19PM

Here it was a cacophony. It was a city of runners and walkers. The weather was glorious. “Isn’t it great to know that every year more participants of the Susan B. Komen Global Race for the Cure are wearing the [Proud Pink] of the survivor?” Everyone is touched by someone in their lives as proof of the tens of thousands of participants, nearly 7,000 who ran in the 5K event. For several hours the river of humanity streamed up and down main street Washington, DC to celebrate life, remembrance, hope, and the search for the cure.

At times the music was deafening for those closest to it but they were announcing their presence to the world. There were many testimonials and videos on the big screen. Most telling was the Komen plan to insist on even more access to have earlier screening and prevention. To let the health industry and Congress know that some awareness was not enough and that a cure for everyone would be relentlessly sought after.

Cascades Firechase 10K Race Report

By James Moreland

Published May 28, 2011 at 5:06PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:20PM

This is the weekend for the unofficial start of summer but it had cooled down greatly from Thursday’s 91 degrees. The gnats sticking on your skin told of the searing humidity that runners would soon be basting in. That does not sound for a recipe for a personal record on a two-loop course with rolling hills, long hills, and stairway hills. Before the race we caught up with consensus favorite Aaron Church, 34, of South Riding, VA. Church (in photo) had not run the course before but was in awe of Philippe Rolly’s 2005 30:40 course record. He knew all about Rolly towing to a split second photo finish C.W. Moran, who at age 19 had owned the course record set in 2004 at 32:34. Rolly, the sub masters record holder from 2008 and Ray Pugsley the masters record holder from 2009 were absent. Church smiled and noted that a course record was unlikely. This from a man coming off a 30:55 at the Kaiser Permanente Pike’s Peek 10K just a month ago and a blazing Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10M in 50:52 with a 10K equivalent of 30:36.

By then the announcer was getting runners set to dart under the traditional ladder arch made by the Sterling Fire Department. And they were underway. Church jack rabbitted around the corner quickly and was soon out of sight of the nearly seven hundred finishers. By the mile, he had a 150 meters lead and the race was for second place.