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As a gregarious extrovert, Roman Gurule met a number of his friends through happy hours and dinners during his time as a federal government employee. He joined his colleagues whenever they drank alcohol and Gurule went out about five times a week to relieve stress from work. It felt like a normal thing to do, even if he would wake up the next morning with a pounding headache and a scant memory of what happened the previous night.

He repeatedly told his friends he would cut back on his self-proclaimed “rockstar lifestyle” that he started after college, but then it would happen again the following weekend. And the next. “I think that nobody took me seriously,” Gurule says. 


Off the Beaten Path

Putting on a race is no small task.

Race directing usually involves hours (and hours) of prep work to scout course routes, secure permits, find and order materials on time, and coordinate an army of volunteers. Not to mention scrambling to make last-minute adjustments for terrible weather or missing volunteers.


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Covering 18 miles at once may not sound difficult to many runners, but it becomes far more difficult when those 18 miles are split up over the course of the three separate runs without proper recovery time in between, lack of sleep or square meals. Plus at least one of those legs takes place in the middle of the night.

Road relays like Ragnar or American Odyssey have become popular staples in the running world. These 24-hour, 12-person races involve runners taking turns running three legs of various lengths across 100+ mile distances across either road or trails. Some teams run short-handed for an extra challenge.


DCXC

RunWashington, along with Pacers Running and New Balance, will be celebrating the start of the 2019 cross country season Aug. 25 by recognizing 62 of the most promising young cross country runners in the D.C. area.

A preseason pep rally, held at the Pacers Running pop-up at 600 H Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, will open at 5:30 p.m. and start up at 6 p.m.


Photos

The Bowie State football team, following its first CIAA title last fall, took a break from preseason practice for its inaugural 5k. Senior safety John Johnson IV, 21, demonstrated that he hadn’t been slacking off on days he hadn’t made practice by winning the race around the campus in 19:49. Reston’s Robyn Kenul, 32, a recent transplant from Long Island, won the women’s race in 21:08.

Check out photos from the race here