DCRCC Track Coach Edward Grant

The Club's Wednesday Night Track Workouts have been coached since 1994 by Edward R. Grant, who by day is a Member of the Board of Immigration Appeals in the Department of Justice. Mr. Grant is a Level I Certified Coach by USA Track and Field, and also a USATF certified official. He has previously served as Vice President-Races for the DC Road Runners Club and was awarded the RRCA/DCRRC Volunteer of the Year Award in April 2002.

Mr. Grant ran for a championship cross-country team at New Providence (N.J.) High School, and later ran cross-country and track at Georgetown University, where he trained with such athletes as 1976 Boston Marathon winner Jack Fultz. After a long hiatus, he returned to competitive running in 1992, qualified for the Boston Marathon in 1994, and at age 41 achieved a personal best at the 1997 Philadelphia Marathon of 2:51:47.

The Wednesday Night Track Program is designed for the committed runner who wants to improve racing performance. We run as close as possible to 52 weeks per year. Due to conflicting events at the Washington and Lee HS stadium, we are sometimes pre-empted and move our workouts to the nearby Custis and Washington & Old Dominion Trails.

When Mr. Grant started with the program, at that time held at Georgetown University, a typical summer workout had 10-12 runners, with as few as 5 during the winter months. Today, workouts average well over 50 per week, with as many as 80 during the summer. Many athletes have achieved their personal goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon by regular attendance at the Wednesday Night workouts, together the Club's Saturday Long Run, another Club program that has burgeoned in recent years.

The Track Workout philosophy is simple: Work hard, rest an appropriate amount between repetitions and sets, and (this is up to you) take the proper measures of recovery and rest in the day or two following. Also, we follow a regular program of training cycles, emphasizing tempo-pace and long interval training in the fall and winter, with shorter and faster workouts from April through July.

A word for beginners: You are welcome! As with any new situation, the Workouts may seem intimidating at first. But there is plenty of advice available, both from the Coach and from other runners. You'll want to keep coming back.

Generally, we recommend that you be running about 20 miles per week (or equivalents in aerobic cross-training) before attempting our workouts. This should include a long run of an hour. But if you are not quite at that level, and want to get there, please join us. You can do a modified workout, meet and train with other novice runners, and start gaining more fitness.

We look forward to seeing you at the track!