It started as a game — run a mile a day until things went back to normal.
For Pat Early and his children, it was a way to keep their heads up as the world reacted to the novel coronavirus, as they adjusted to school at home and a suddenly changed world. Then things didn’t go back to normal.
Enjoy spring at the U.S. National Arboretum during the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) Flowering 5K. This run or walk will take you past garden collections brightly colored with spring flowers, over tree-lined rolling hills, and along streams winding their way to the Anacostia River. Enjoy cherry blossoms, magnolias, and so much more!
This race is not only scenic but also safe and secure. All roads are closed to cars during this race so you can safely enjoy running or walking through this 451-acre urban green space. A professional race announcer will call out runners as they cross the finish line and music will get you in the groove before and after the event.
Celebrate Memorial Day and honor our past and present military heroes! Join your friends and neighbors on May 25, 2026 in Ashburn, VA for RINGING IN HOPE: A SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS (5K, 10K & 1-Mile Freedom Fun Run) and make this Memorial Day a truly memorable one. Run, Walk or Jog and celebrate with us as we honor and recognize the men and women who serve our country!
MCM registration opens tomorrow, International Womxn’s Day panel, Rock Creek Park path meeting, NCAA XC qualifiers, Olympic Trials track qualifiers, local Virginia state indoor champs and podcast guests.
In any other year, a chilly Thursday morning would see a group of D.C. Road Runners gather in the pre-dawn hours at the Yorktown High School track. Paul Ryan would show up clad in his decades-old puffy U.S. Naval Academy warmup suit.
“Everyone else would be wearing tights, but Paul has this almost-plastic coat,” Rich Mendelowitz said. “It works for him, it’s all kind of old school and it fits his personality.”
Name: Omar Ali
Self-described age group: 50-55 (but I’m on the very low end of this age group)
Opportunities abound to comment on pedestrian paths, a bevy of podcasts and a GDS alumna hits it big.