It’s not unusual for Carolyn Ruth Carlson, of Chantilly, to be found grinding away on her stationary bike with science textbooks open or while looking at a PowerPoint presentation.
Choosing between a degree in biology and the triathlon team at James Madison University simply wasn’t an option.
The DCXC Invitational gave Maryland, D.C. and Virginia runners a chance to face off, though the grade-level race format precluded a showdown between Heritage junior Weini Kelati and Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior Nora McUmber, both strong contenders for their respective state individual titles in Virginia and Maryland, it didn’t keep anyone from running a fast time, with 14 boys breaking 16 minutes on a course that while not as hilly as others, still retained some challenge, with turns and uneven footing.
Walter Johnson’s girls took a look at the Maryland state meet course, which will return to Hereford, and came away with a win in the elite race, capturing three of the top four places with Kiernan Keller winning, and Abbey Green and Emily Murphy following in third and fourth.
While many coaches are worried about their team bringing home championships, Desmond Dunham his eye on a bigger prize.
The cross country coach at Wilson High School in Washington D.C. (now at St. John’s College High School, also in D.C.), who has been coaching for 17 years, said he measures his accomplishments by the success his athletes have later in life, once they’ve put their running shoes away.
More than 1,900 high school cross country runners christened the inaugural DCXC Invitational at Kenilworth Park in Northeast D.C. Saturday afternoon. They came from Virginia, Maryland, D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania and North Carolina and battled for five hours on a warm fall afternoon.
[button-red url=”http://dcxc.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/#/team_totals” target=”_self” position=”left”] Team scores [/button-red] The meet split up varsity teams among classes, giving spectators eight chances to watch runners race against their peers. The format also switched up the invitational style in the middle of the season. Each race scored three runners, and the results compiled for all races led to Virginia’s James Madison winning the girls’ races over Lake Braddock, Ocean Lakes, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Winston Churchill; Lake Braddock won the boys’ team title over Pennsylvania’s Cardinal O’Hara, Winston Churchill, James Madison and Gonzaga. Lake Braddock also won the combined boys’ and girls’ team title, over James Madison, Winston Churchill, James F. Robinson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
Run and repeat.
That’s what 286 runners opted to do at the Clarendon Day 5k and 10k, both of which started with a more-than-one-mile drop down Clarendon Boulevard into Rosslyn. The brave 5k runners were on the clock to get back to the top of the hill by 9:05 at the latest to start the 10k.
Working out the logistics for a 50-state marathon goal is almost just as difficult as completing 50 marathons. The list begins to add up quickly: race registration fees, cost for travel and accommodations, maneuvering time off of work, and the list goes on.
Race series have sprung up to give traveling runners a chance to knock out several states in one trip, often with races five days in a row. One such company, Altis Endurance Sports, based in Annapolis, brought that approach to the Potomac River, with five back-to-back trail marathons, in Meyersdale, Pa.; Keyser, W.V.; Frostburg, Md.; Annandale, Va. and Washington, D.C.
Thirty-three of the 62 All-RunWashington preseason runners competed at the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg, with teams from Maryland and D.C. making it the first of the big opportunities this season for harriers to race their contemporaries from across the river.
It served as a debut for Weini Kelati, a recent transfer to Heritage, who moved to Virginia from her native Eritrea. She won the race in 18:12, just off the course record, despite stopping twice to tie her shoes. Loudoun Valley junior Andrew Hunter easily won in 15:21 over Walt Whitman senior Evan Woods, who ran 15:55.
In 2013, runners from the D.C. region traveled more than 37,000 miles to finish marathons as near as Baltimore and as far as Honolulu, and that’s before we count trips to marathons on other continents. This region may play host to the venerable Marine Corps Marathon and the fresh-faced Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon among more than a dozen others, but it’s safe to say that runners here have shoes, will travel.
What’s not to love about a destination race? You can choose a course that plays to your strengths, take a 26.2-mile tour of another city, or visit friends and family. Sure, you might struggle with jet lag, toss and turn all night in an unfamiliar bed, or realize that you left one of your shoes back in Bethesda. But you’re also about to share an experience with hundreds or thousands of fellow marathoners who know all the highs and lows of a training cycle and who want you to succeed only slightly less than they want to beat you across the finish line.
Cue an early scene from “Karate Kid.”
The kid himself walks into Cobra Kai dojo and discovers that his nemesis is the top student. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, the kid also encounters a meathead instructor, or sensei, as he’s laying out some raw facts.
Loudoun County’s cross country teams were gracious hosts at the Oatlands Invitational, but not pushovers.
Last year’s 3A state champion Andrew Hunter of Loudoun Valley continued to exhibit his dominance that has been budding since last spring to win in 15:21, and Heritage newcomer and Eritrean native Weini Kelati surprised the field with an early lead that was never threatened, despite a loose shoelace that forced her to stop twice. She won in 18:12.