Laura O’Hara

Family, friends, teammates come together for Lauren’s Run

Published September 9, 2013 at 10:02AM | Updated June 25, 2015 at 5:11PM

Jack Woodall and Ruth Cook traveled from Knoxville to honor their daughter and cousin Lauren Woodall Roady at the Lauren's Run 5k. Photo: Charlie Ban

The inaugural Lauren’s Run was less of a race than a reunion. At 9 a.m., race time, the starting line in Rock Creek Park was clear as Jerry Alexander, the coach of GRC Racing Team, gave a short speech about Lauren Woodall Roady’s “indomitable spirit.”

That spirit powered Lauren’s fast rise from recreational to elite runner. But it wasn’t just running. It was the balanced yet tireless way Lauren lived her life, applying her talent and energy to her training and racing, her work as a lawyer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, her baking, her commitment to family and friends, and more. As one of her close friends, Jennifer Harris, who met Lauren in second grade and now lives in Connecticut, said at the event, Lauren “could multi-task like nobody’s business.”

0 Comments

News

GW Parkway Classic Provides Catharsis for many with Boston on their minds.

By Dickson Mercer

Published April 21, 2013 at 7:44PM | Updated June 25, 2015 at 5:24PM

Abigail Meyers, Samuel Kirby and Brian Harkins head down the George Washington Parkway toward Alexandria. Photo: Swim Bike Run Photography

Back on Monday, James Davis was walking towards the finish line after completing his first Boston Marathon in 3:08:32. A block away, he heard the blast.

[button-red url=”http://www.zippyreg.com/rwt/results/2013/0421gwpc/” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results[/button-red]

0 Comments

Uncategorized

George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile Race Report

By Dickson Mercer

Published April 22, 2012 at 5:05PM | Updated September 12, 2013 at 5:13PM

Sean Graham almost backed out. In the week leading up to today’s George Washington Parkway Classic, the 32-year-old Pacers athlete missed three days of training due to illness. By Friday, Graham was feeling better. By Saturday, elite athlete coordinator Jordan Zwick was urging him to give it a shot.

[button-red url=”http://www.swimbikerunphoto.com” target=”_self” position=”left”] Photos [/button-red]Good thing Graham took Zwick’s advice. Near the 7-mile mark, Graham took the lead and proceeded to put 61 seconds on runner-up Eddie Jones, 35, of Boise, ID. He won Pacers Event’s annual 10-mile race in 51:03.

0 Comments

News

Let Freedom Run 5K Explodes onto the Racing Scene

By Dickson Mercer

Published July 4, 2011 at 4:40PM | Updated September 18, 2013 at 5:18PM

In the Lea Gallardo photo above, Laura O’Hara powers to the win with top 40-44 winner Matteo Mainetti on her shoulder and racing legend Alisa Harvey a few strides behind.

Runners in this region say the best way to prepare mentally for a summer race is to expect the absolute worst. In that event, more than 1,500 runners who participated in Capital Running Company’s inaugural Let Freedom Run 5K only had to deal with conditions that were roughly par for a rolling course: Independence Day morning offered overcast skies, temperatures below 80 degrees, and a humidity level which – around here, anyway – would only qualify for the not-so-bad category.

0 Comments