Cross country racing can be like living in a jungle, and nowhere is that more true than the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg.
Along with the crowd of runners trying to get one foot in front of their competitors to make a slight but significant difference in team standings, those team races play out in several layers.
Finishers of the 10th running of MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital’s (NRH) Super H 5k had more than one reason to celebrate on Sunday. Their participation and fundraising contributions will benefit MedStar NRH’s community-based athletic programs for disabled adults and children.
The race kicked off at 8 a.m. outside of Tysons Sport & Health in McLean, Va. in perfect low-60 degree temperatures. Winding around Tysons Corner, the course eventually looped onto a rolling route 684 and finished back in front of the sports complex.
Young kids in race bibs laughing and playing games as they followed “Larry the Lion” around a park is not the typical road race finish line. But the Kensington 8k, a race that donated its proceeds to three local public schools, attracted competitors of all ages.
In its 20th year, the Kensington 8k race brought more than 500 runners—for just one distance. In addition to the 8K competitors, the Two-Mile Challenge was made up of 400 participants along with the 1k Fun Run that turned out 300 runners. With over 40 local sponsors, the event proceeds went to supporting Kensington Parkwood Elementary, North Bethesda Middle and Walter Johnson High Schools.
In the grand scheme of things, runners feeling misunderstood by friends and family members – -because they run for fun, go out in blizzards and rainstorms, etc. — isn’t the end of the world. They came together Sunday afternoon to help raise money to help another, more tragically misunderstood population — veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Run for Recovering Heros races Sunday afternoon in Carderock raised money for the Patton Veterans Project, an organization managed by the grandson of Gen. George S. Patton that helps veterans produce short films to better communication their mental and emotional struggles after returning from combat.
Sarah Biss knew little about Saturday’s Navy-Air Force Half Marathon before embarking on a vacation to the United States. She certainly didn’t plan on winning the race.
But that’s just what Biss, 36, did, taking the women’s half marathon title in 1:23:18 Saturday.
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.”
The debut of a grand pianist in a full tuxedo complete with tails at mile six was not the only new tradition that the Montgomery County Road Runner Club’s Parks Half Marathon started in its eighth year. The runners themselves were determined to mark new ground by crushing the old course record by more than a minute.
Filled with hills, scenic parks and trails, the race included an elite class of runners, many from the local area.
Runners hoping to make it to the Paul Thurston 4.5 Miler Tuesday night found themselves stuck between the clock and a hot race.
The race served as the final leg of the DC Road Runners Bunion Derby series for the summer, but holding it at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax Station was balancing act. If the club held it on a weekend, runners would have to pay $8 to enter the park. If it was on a weekday, evenings would be limited by the park’s closing time at sundown, roughly 8:00 p.m. With a 6:45 starting time, it was up to the runners as to how they would manage the end of their workday and fight rush hour traffic to get to the race.
Any runner who understands the basics of delayed gratification — a principal so central to this sport — could appreciate the Leesburg 20k’s new course, now in its second year. The rolling hills on Dry Mill Road are gone, replaced by a long, grinding grade on the W&OD Trail, one that snuck up on South Riding’s Tatiana Sheptock.
“My eyes wouldn’t see it, but my legs felt it,” she said. “It definitely felt a lot better on the way back.”
Water stops are largely a luxury at most 5k races. For the canine competitors at the Lost Dog 5k Friday night, they were a necessity.
When the evening weather Friday was markedly warmer than a week before, runners — with two legs or four legs — knew they’d have to adjust their expectations and race strategies. The second of the four-race series in August benefiting the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation saw 115 repeat runners from the first week. The out-and-back course on the Four Mile Run and W&OD trails included strips of natural surface along the paved trail, perfect for paws. This week, 60 dogs raced.