Friendly competition among teammates helped make the Have a Heart for Boston-Hoffman Elementary School 5k a fast race, despite chilly temperatures and a light drizzle.

[button-red url=”http://www.safetyandhealthfoundation.org/20130223.html” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]The Georgetown Running Club came out en force for the second straight year, sweeping the top five men’s spots and five of the six top women’s spots, including the top three. They showed up to support teammate and race director Samantha “Kirby” Cole, a teacher at the school. Cole credited Suzanne Paul with bringing the race together.


At risk of romanticizing the past, but in George Washington’s day, he likely had too much to worry about — building a nation — to be concerned with politics. He surely wasn’t worried which way the wind was blowing. [button-red url=”http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-2556″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]The runners who gathered in Alexandria for the George Washington Birthday 10k classic, on the other hand, had no choice but to worry. The first 5k led straight into some wild gusts, including up a hill before the turnaround. That gave runners an extra boost and led to a lot of negative splits. Arlington resident Jillian Pollack guessed she ran about 45 seconds faster on the way back.

“It was definitely a lot easier on the way back, but I guess we were earning it on the way out,” she said, noting her legs were numb five minutes after finishing the race.


In 1980, Dave Tripp, then Howard County Striders’ president, was out for a Sunday morning run near the Howard Community College when he spotted dozens of runners. Shocked to see a race he didn’t know about on Howard County Strider turf, Tripp went to investigate. It turned out that the Baltimore Road Runners Club and DC Road Runners Club were competing in a challenge race [button-red url=”http://www.striders.net/races/rrca/2013″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]located halfway between Baltimore and Washington.

“I went up to the president and said, ‘look, if you’re going to come out here and run, you have to let us run,’” Tripp said.


Winds up to 30 miles per hour, snow flurries in 30 degrees, rolling hills and plenty of warm chili — it’s all in preparation for springtime races and a long-time tradition for the DC Road Runners Club. At the 52nd annual Washington’s Birthday Marathon and Relay, the club brought in more than 500 runners to race on some of Greenbelt’s most challenging roads in an effort to get the athletes primed for the season ahead.

“You don’t get the intensity if you train on your own that you do in a race,” said overall marathon winner Miles Aitken, 29, of Washington D.C.


The bibs tried, but they couldn’t tell the complete story.

They were color coded, trying to signal people’s relationship status- available(green), in flux (yellow) or taken (red) at the Love the Run You’re With 5k Sunday morning in Arlington.


Northern Virginia is littered with high schools, and most are gigantic. George Mason High School is not. With fewer than 650 students in four grades, it is dwarfed by nearby George Marshall, McLean, Falls Church and Yorktown high schools.

But like a sapling under a forest canopy, the Mustang cross country teams have thrived, stretching their roots far away to find the competition that matches their size. Even if that means racking up miles on the bus.


The race began at noon in Rosslyn’s Gateway Park, following the Mount Vernon trail, and giving full view to the monuments and landmarks that define Washington DC. It’s an optimal choice and healthy alternative for DC area residents looking to continue an intense training regimen or work off holiday impropriety.

“Its very accessible,” said race director Ben Richter, “It starts late, so people have an opportunity to sleep off last night’s indiscretions. We don’t check for BAC. In the past some people have been on the verge of spontaneous human combustion.”


Whether or not they noticed the symbolism on the starting line, more than a thousand runners sprinted into the darkness at the Fairfax Four Miler, a scant six hours before the new year began.

[button-red url=”http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-626″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Results[/button-red]The circumnavigated the George Mason University campus and headed back to the finish line in old town Fairfax. The latest-scheduled of the many New Year’s Eve races, it gave runner a chance to take a stab and a rarely-run distance and a chance for a PR before they went about celebrating the new year however they chose.


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