Feature

Friends compete in 101-day running challenge

Published October 16, 2018 at 12:56PM

Photo: Courtesy of Gates

We all know that runners can get intense. But for most runners, there is a finish line at the end where the intensity comes to a stop. That was not the case for us. For 101 straight days in the heat of D.C. summer, my friend Brian McElhaney and I competed in a grueling run streak competition, all for the prize of a $30 dessert.

Brian and I are both Arlington residents and coworkers at Potomac River Running. One day in the early summer, Brian proposed seeing how many days we could run idea of having a run streak competition between the two of us. I thought it sounded fun, so I agreed. At the time, neither of us really understood what we were getting into.

Pace the Nation

Pace the Nation: “Survivor” Hall of Famer becomes an avid runner

By Pace the Nation

Published October 10, 2018 at 1:36PM

Our hosts are back for another episode, where we talk not politics with the presidential cell phone alert, the Clarendon day race, the Chicago marathon, bird scooters, Survivor and more. Our guest this week is Survivor Hall of Famer Jonny Fairplay, who has experienced an extreme life pivot and is now an avid runner.

News

Running Shorts

By Charlie Ban

Published October 9, 2018 at 12:42PM

Montgomery Parks opened a new six-mile natural surface multi-use trail running along Pepco’s transmission right-of-way connecting Muddy Branch Stream Valley to South Germantown Recreation Park. It is being maintained through a collaboration between Montgomery Parks, Pepco and the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts. RunWashington’s will have an Off the Beaten Path look at the trail next week.

D.C.’s Kerry Allen qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials after running 2:41:33 for seventh place at the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota Oct. 7. She was RunWashington’s top-ranked road racer in 2017 and has broken the course record at the Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon the past three years. She also won the Parks Half Marathon this Fall. She is one of eight full-time immediate D.C. area residents to qualify for the Olympic Trials, set for Feb. 29 in Atlanta, so far.

DCXC

Three-man race makes for thrilling Glory Days Invitational

By Charlie Ban

Published October 8, 2018 at 10:49PM | Updated October 10, 2018 at 5:08AM

Luke Tewalt leads Jack Leech and Max Greczyn through the third mile of the Glory Days Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

Luke Tewalt isn’t the kind of hold back, especially when he has a chance to really be part of a race.

The Washington Latin junior took that opportunity Saturday at the Glory Days Invitational at Clifton’s Bull Run Regional Park, leading W.T. Woodson’s Jack Leech and Bishop O’Connell’s Max Greczyn through the rolling course. For Tewalt, it was a Goldilocks race, not too fast, like the DCXC Invitational a week earlier when he faced off against a Lynchburg area runner with a much faster personal best; and not too slow, like many of the smaller invitationals his charter school team had been racing.

Monumental Runner

Monumental Runner – Andrea Keane-Myers

By Charlie Ban

Published October 5, 2018 at 1:17PM

Name: Andrea Keane-Myers

Self-described age group: 45-49 Female

News

Running Shorts

By Charlie Ban

Published October 2, 2018 at 12:53PM | Updated October 2, 2018 at 5:30PM

Josef Tessema (32) leads the Navy Mile pack through the first quarter mile of the race. Photo: Charlie Ban

Springfield native beats two-time Olympic medalist in D.C. road mile, Bethesdan honored for contribution to rail trails.

Pace the Nation

Kyle Northrop talks about how his film on his running and depression

By Pace the Nation

Published September 29, 2018 at 12:39PM | Updated October 2, 2018 at 12:50PM

Altra sales rep Kyle Northrop returns to talk about a film about his depression and running.

News

Looking back at 26 years of the Marine Corps Marathon with Race Director Rick Nealis

By Sarah Beth Hensley

Published September 27, 2018 at 10:56AM | Updated October 2, 2018 at 3:55PM

Marine Corps Marathon race director Rick Nealis shows off one of his favorite mugs in 2013. Photo: Rebekah Hanover Petit

This year’s Marine Corps Marathon may be just like previous years’ races. And that’s just fine with Race Director Rick Nealis.

He’s seen a lot during the quarter century he has led the October race: cheating, celebrity runners (namely, Oprah), security concerns and even a scandal in which runners were urinating dangerously close to Arlington National Cemetery graves. Now in his 26th year leading “The People’s Marathon,” things “surprisingly … look like the status quo,” he said.

News

Running Shorts

By Charlie Ban

Published September 25, 2018 at 3:29PM | Updated September 26, 2018 at 4:19PM

Klingle Valley Trail closing for most of the next three months, Montgomery County natural trails closed until Thursday, MCM deferment deadline Wednesday at 11:59 and Arlington Memorial Bridge closed this weekend.

DCXC

Javon Watt’s Prince George’s Invitational title keeps her undefeated at Fort Washington Park

By Charlie Ban

Published September 22, 2018 at 6:54PM

Brandon Lewis leads toward the end of the Prince George's County Invitational. Photo: Charlie Ban

Long, dewy grass at Fort Washington Park presented a challenge at runners at the Prince George’s County Invitational. So did “the General,” a long hill from the bank of the Potomac River.

That was alright for Eleanor Roosevelt coach Nayda Pierla, whose teams won the boys’ competition 36-90 over Parkdale and girls finished second behind Flowers 27-54. Roosevelt junior Brandon Lewis on the individual title in 17:49, while C.H. Flowers junior Javon Watts remained undefeated at Fort Washington Park for her career, winning by more than 90 seconds in 21:14. It’s a few seconds slower than her winning time last year, but the grass on the course had not been mowed.