Feature

New stay-at-home orders in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. carve out exceptions for outdoor exercise, which includes running. I’m sure I’m not the only person breathing a sigh of relief.

It’s up to runners to be responsible with this. In the grand scheme of things, running in a group isn’t as likely as most social activities to promote transmission of the coronavirus, but considering the ground runners cover, it’s a high profile activity that I worry could easily be seen as nonessential. It’s low-hanging fruit. And frankly, you should be doing everything you can to limit your exposure to other people.

No running group is good right now. Run alone for a while.

Most of the paved paths around here are barely six feet wide anyway.

The first time Tony Valenti got into a wheelchair meant to be pushed in races, he loved it so much that it took four people to get him out of the chair.

In October 2015, Valenti became the first rider in the National Capital Region ambassadorship of Ainsley’s Angels, a nonprofit group of volunteers that push those who can’t run in races. Valenti has cerebral palsy, a motor disability that prevents him from bearing weight on his legs, so can’t run races on his own. But with the help of a volunteer, Valenti gets to be part of two or three races a month, feeling the wind on his face as he tackles distances ranging from 5ks up to marathons.

At long last, data from the 2019 runner rankings is complete. You have until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, March 19 to review your data and make sure the races you ran are reflected. If you see a discrepency, contact [email protected]. This is the only email address that will accept flagged discrepencies.

These races were ranked