News - RunWashington

Still business in the back

Published January 23, 2017 at 9:26AM

Steve Ferguson runs with his MCRRC Back of the Pack gang. Photo: Marleen van den Neste

Most runners will never win a race. They’ll never make the front page of the results; they’ll never qualify for Boston. Sometimes they’re last, or close to it. But they run, and they keep showing up.

They’re “back-of-the-packers,” meaning simply, “whatever distance, or whatever race you’re running, you’re at the very end.” As the volume of runners has almost doubled over the past 10 years, the number of back-of-the-packers has followed. The increase in charity running, local running clubs, and surge in “X Weeks to a Marathon” training plans has fueled this growth.

Runners on a Roll – Every Single Day

By Andrew Gates

Published January 23, 2017 at 9:16AM | Updated February 1, 2017 at 4:30PM

Laura Jack updates her running log. Photo: Rich Woods

Laura Jack remembers what she wasn’t doing on Aug. 29, 2011.

She wasn’t running.

When 26.2 isn’t enough – Ultrarunning around D.C.

By Katie Bolton

Published January 23, 2017 at 8:43AM | Updated January 23, 2017 at 9:37AM

Local ultrarunner Patrick Vaughn. Photo: Kirk Masterson

You probably know an ultrarunner, and not just the ones you read about in Born to Run. The sport has grown significantly in recent years as more marathoners ask what’s beyond 26.2 miles. In D.C., ultrarunners hide in plain sight, working for the government, opening donut shops, or practicing law. They infiltrate your road marathons, casually enjoying a bagel while you’re trying to stomach another gel. They’re your colleagues, your neighbors, your friends. And if you’ve been thinking about taking on these more extreme distances and conditions, they’re your best resource for getting into the sport.

Best of Washington Running nominations!

By Charlie Ban

Published January 9, 2017 at 10:21AM | Updated January 12, 2017 at 4:26PM

We’re taking nominations for the Best of Washington Running 2017 through Jan. 31! The six nominees with the most votes will go on to final voting from Feb. 1-March 31.

Nominations must be cast using this form. Comments on this web page will not be counted or approved.

Don’t underestimate a runner with a stroller

By Ashley Davidson

Published January 9, 2017 at 9:42AM | Updated March 27, 2018 at 11:31AM

Adam Schwaber pushes his daughter Julia up Wilson Boulevard at the end of the Four Courts Four Miler. “Julia kept asking me why I was slow and told me to go faster,” he said. “I don't usually take her out on training runs, but for races that my wife and I both want to run, I usually bring Julia along in the stroller.” Photo by Brian W. Knight/Swim Bike Run Photography

Let’s get something out of the way early: There’s nothing wrong with people passed by a running pushing a stroller.

When Alexandria’s Matias Palavecino breezes by with Leo or Chloe in their BOB, know its an Ironman world championships qualifier getting in a little resistance work. He and young Leo trounced the competition several times at the Patent and Trademark Office Society Innovation 5k.

All-RunWashington Postseason Team 2016

By Charlie Ban

Published December 13, 2016 at 4:08PM | Updated June 25, 2018 at 4:43PM

Following a cross country season that saw one local team and two individuals make the Nike Cross Nationals meet and three qualify for Foot Locker, RunWashington’s coaches panel gathered to select the All-RunWashington Postseason teams. Here are some, but not all, of their highlights. If someone has committed to run in college and we haven’t noted it here, please comment or email at [email protected].

The coaches panel includes Steve Hays, Walt Whitman; Cindy Walls, Bishop O’Connell; John Ausema, Gonzaga; Mike Mangan, Lake Braddock; Scott Silverstein, Winston Churchill; Anthony Belber, Georgetown Day; Kevin Hughes, Georgetown Visitation; Chris Pellegrini, West Springfield and Kellie Redmond, T.S. Wootton.

D.C Postseason team 2016

By Charlie Ban

Published December 13, 2016 at 3:08PM | Updated June 25, 2018 at 4:43PM

D.C. cross country runners got to enjoy a new state meet course, Kenilworth Park, which gave them more sure footing and visibility for their championship meet, on which most of the selections were based.

Timmy Bitsberger finished seventh at the D.C.-Maryland Private Schools Championships, after winning the MAC Championships and finishing second at the Georgetown Prep Invitational. Philip Wright made up for a 17th place finish at the private schools championship by notching 45th place at the Nike Cross Southeast meet.

Virginia postseason team 2016

By Charlie Ban

Published December 13, 2016 at 3:08PM | Updated June 25, 2018 at 4:43PM

Many of Virginia’s top runners were younger, lots of juniors, and that bodes well for an experienced group of returners in 2017.

Colton Bogucki, junior, Loudoun Valley

Maryland postseason team 2016

By Charlie Ban

Published December 13, 2016 at 3:08PM | Updated June 25, 2018 at 4:43PM

Like in Virginia, youth dominated in Maryland, where 10 of the top 15 boys and 12 of the top 15 girls at the Montgomery County Championships were underclassmen.

A pair of sophomores that both wound up in the top five among their class at the state 4A meet, Whitman’s Aaron Bratt matched strides with Wootton’s John Riker at the DCXC Invitational and separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the third mile, with Bratt getting a narrow lean over Riker. Riker got a larger edge, four seconds, at the Montgomery County Championships, before Bratt, along with teammate Josh Engels, put some distance on Riker at the 4A West regional. Though Riker had the edge at the state meet at 11th to Bratt’s 26th with a 13-second margin between the two, the 17 seconds Bratt finished ahead of Riker was worth 48 places, 77th to 125th, at the Nike Cross Southeast meet. If all of that is confusing, suffice it to say they’ll be in for two more years great races between the two, who are the fastest in their class in Montgomery County.

Murphy wins Nike Cross Southeast, Lester makes Foot Locker final in a first for D.C.

By Charlie Ban

Published November 28, 2016 at 1:44PM | Updated June 25, 2018 at 4:43PM

Six D.C.-area runners made the two national cross country championships, with Kate Murphy repeating as Nike Cross Southeast champion and leading Lake Braddock to its second straight appearance in the championship and Page Lester making history as the first female runner from Washington, D.C. to make the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships. Richard Montgomery’s Rohann Asfaw and Loudoun Valley’s Peter Morris both made the national meet on the boys’ side. A year after she missed out on the Foot Locker finals, George Marshall junior Heather Holt qualified by finishing second at the South regional. Along with Lester, from the National Cathedral School, Walter Johnson’s Abbey Green advanced from the Northeast meet.

Murphy was the first of seven local girls in the top 50 at the southeast meet in Cary, N.C., running 17:13. McLean sophomore Caroline Howley was 23rd in 18:35, with Lake Braddock senior Sam Schwers in 26th (18:39), Paint Branch junior Yasmine Kass one point and one second behind, Lake Braddock senior Taylor Kitchen another second back in 32nd place, Loudoun Valley junior Natalie Morris in 38th (18:47) and Lake Braddock junior Sarah Daniels in 18:49 for 41st place.