Hello Saturday Long Runners!
Good luck to everyone running the Club Challenge 10 Miler tomorrow! Remember, the hills come at the end of the race, so make it a strategic positive split and save something for miles 6 and 8. If you are running the Club Challenge and don't want to run 22 miles the day before, fear not, we've got options! Now let's get into it:
The Route: Tomorrow brings us the longest of the long runs along the North Anacostia (strava, pdf, gpx). This will take us to new and exciting parts of the city (hello Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens) and along old familiar areas (did someone say MBT part two?!). We'll begin our journey across the Mall via the Memorial bridge before continuing past the Capitol and up North Carolina Ave and C Street until we cross the Benning Road bridge. From here, we'll snake our way all the way up the Anacostia Riverwalk to Bladensburg, Maryland before crossing Cottage City via Bunker Hill Road, Rhode Island Ave, and Monroe Street. This will lead us to the ever-familiar Metropolitan Branch Trail and we'll follow that down to the Mall and back to the park for a nice 22 miles.
Want Something Shorter? My favorite way to cut this route to an easy 14 miles is to hop on the metro at Brookland - CUA and ride down the MBT and across the city on WMATA. If you want a couple more miles there are plenty other metro stops along the way that can get you pretty much anything from 14-18 miles!
Want Something Even Shorter? We've got a Club Challenge Shakeout route for anyone racing Sunday! Join us for 6 miles as we stratagize on how to most effectively split the race, figure out which other clubs we really need to keep an eye out for, and select the perfect pump up playlist for the bus ride up in the morning.
Thirsty? There are a few water fountains along the MBT that are generally safe bets, but as usual in the winter those are few and far between. It's a long route tomorrow and staying hydrated is imperative for staying fresh and strong through those last miles!
Need a Bathroom? The ones at Bladensburg were open the last time I ran by, but that's not to say they will be tomorrow. Other options include Union Station and The Washington Monument, both of which are pretty consistent!
The next club race is the Burke Lake 12K on March 3rd! We're still in need of volunteers for the event as well, so sign up and get those snowball series credits out of the way early! Signups for the Banquet on March 10th are also open! Come out and hang out with your best running friends, eat some delicious Italian food, and still get back in time for an early night before work on Monday.
Happy Running!
Anna
