When you meet your friends for a run, do you make an outline of things you want to discuss? Of course not, so why should the hosts of a running podcast do it?

That’s the approach Joanna E. Russo,  William E. Docs (that’s not his name) and Chris Farley have taken with Pace the Nation, the weekly podcast they’ve been doing out of Docs’ Clarendon home since April 2015.


Washington, D.C.’s David McKay and Montgomery Village, Md.’s Beth Conlon led local finishers Monday at the Boston Marathon. A total of 610 runners who registered with local addresses finished the race.

Conlon, 24, ran at Watkins Mill High School in Maryland and competed at Georgetown University as a senior walk-on. She finished fourth at the 2015 Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Marathon. McKay ran for Luther College and is am avid trail racer.


Reset the counter on that “years since Cherry Blossom had an American winner” sign. 

[button-red url=”http://results.xacte.com/?kw=cucb” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red] Sam Chelanga’s one-second victory over Silas Kipruto gave him that distinction, which had been out of use since Chris Fox won in 1990. His time of 48:25.1 was slowed considerably by winds gusting to 40 miles per hour, as recorded at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which forced race organizers to make several changes to race infrastructure and routine, including forgoing the traditional advanced start for elite women.


I wasn’t approaching a normal running club.

That much was clear as I cautiously approached a group of runners convening near a D.C.-area metro station. No one glared down at a Garmin, willing it to load data. I saw no race t-shirts and no new shoes (sporting either is a punishable offense with this group). And instead of a 40-person group stretch, a chorus of raucous voices sang an unprintable song while doing what might be  considered, generously, a silly dance.


Our Lady of Good Counsel was 1,000 meters from glory. This was all that separated the Falcons from beating rival Bishop O’Connell for the first time in seven years to win the 2014 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference cross country crown.

But then the squad’s best runner, 16-year-old junior Megan Crilly, started to fade, developing a glassy look in her eyes that had become eerily prevalent throughout her fall workouts. Crilly crashed and ended up collapsing across the finish line. She finished 16th — almost two minutes slower than her individual winning time the year before — and Our Lady of Good Counsel wound up second.


Vote now through March 31 for the Best of Washington Running 2016! The finalists included received the most nominations during the two-month nomination period at the end of 2015.

The winners will be announced in the Summer issue of RunWashington in early May.


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