Welcome! This is the home of the world-famous (well, maybe locally well-known) SLR.
Our start time is at 8:00 AM until next summer! Every Saturday we meet at North Meade Street Park, a small park northwest of the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) in Rosslyn. The closest address for mapping purposes is 1300 Arlington Blvd, and street parking is available in the neighborhoods adjacent to N. Meade Street. Be mindful of parking signs, since Arlington County enforces them enthusiastically, and please do not park on Marine Memorial Circle (inside Iwo Jima), because this parking area is for memorial use only. At least one porta-john is available year-round near the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the memorial's water fountain is usually on during the summer.
We run rain or shine! In cases of extreme weather (snow, ice, thunderstorms, heat waves) we do occasionally either change our meeting time or cancel the run for safety, but the run will be held as planned unless otherwise posted via email/twitter/facebook and here on the SLR web page.
All are welcome! We're an informal group, and there are no requirements for speed, racing experience, or what distance means "long" for you, other than the suggested route that most of our group will be running each week. If you don't want to run the same distance or course as the main group, you can go out for half of your own target distance and re-trace your steps back to Iwo Jima. More specific route info and mileage options will be given in the email/post preceding each Saturday's run. SLR always features a run from our extensive Route Catalog, which gives us a wide range of options to keep things fresh for you each week. We have routes that are flat, hilly, looped, out & back, roads, sidewalks, trails, and more, reaching all around the local area of DC, VA, and MD!
For more details about Saturday Long Runs please read our Frequently Asked Questions to get a sense for what it's like to run with us, or send an email to Anna if you have any other questions that are not covered.
To receive weekly SLR updates via email, please log in and check your email subscriptions.
Schedule:
| Date | Miles | Route Map | Navigation Downloads | Post/Mid-Run Beverages |
| 4/5 | 14 | Marymount Chain Bridge | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 4/12 | 12 | Pentagon Army Navy | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 4/19 | 13 | Cathedral Clintons | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 4/26 | 18 | National Arboretum | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 5/3 | 12 | Potomac Overlook Loops | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 5/10 | 13 | Southeast DC | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 5/17 | 16 | Around the World in Fourteen Miles | Cue Sheet & GPS | 62 Embassies! New Route! |
| 5/24 | 14 | Ross Drive | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 5/31 | 15 | Long Bridge Park | Cue Sheet & GPS |
SLR October 13 - TIME CHANGE 8:00 AM - Mt. Vernon Trail
Hello Saturday Runners!
Starting this week, on October 13, our meeting time will be shifting one hour later to 8:00 am, where it will remain until next summer. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep! Right on cue, this week should bring the coolest Saturday morning of the season so far, with a chance of showers in the morning as well.
Our route this week will be out & back on the Mt. Vernon Trail (downloads: cue sheet and GPS) for a recommended distance of 14 miles, though you can easily alter this to suit your own needs. Since this is an out & back route, you can turn around at any point after reaching half of your target distance for the day. The turn-around point for 14 miles (at 7 miles out) is near the railroad crossing just before coming into the center of Old Town. If you're going for 15 miles or more, continue through Old Town on Union Street, and pick up the Mt. Vernon Trail again when the street ends just before the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Remember that we will now no longer have organized mid-run drink stations until next summer, so please be sure to carry your own water if you need it. You can look for water fountains that may be located along any week's route using its interactive map. Select the "OpenCycle" map overlay type from among the available options (map, satellite, etc.), and zoom in a few steps until you can see blue faucet icons located around the map, which are public water fountains. Not all of these are guaranteed to be functional at any given time though (particularly in winter), so do carry water if it's important to you.
Thank you Abbey Gibson for providing this week's post-run drinks! I've now posted the upcoming route and distance schedule to bridge the gap between summer and winter marathon training blocks, so five more weeks of volunteer coverage are now needed starting after next week. Please let me know if you can volunteer for any or all of these days! The weekly schedule of volunteers, routes, and distances is always kept up-to-date on the SLR web page, and you can email me any time to book your slot. For general info on how volunteering works see the SLR FAQ or send me an email if you have any other specific questions.
Happy running,
Mike
SLR October 6 - Big Loop East
Hello Saturday Runners!
This week we're going to be running an exciting new route, Big Loop East (downloads: cue sheet and GPS) that I've added to the rotation as a companion piece to the classic Big Loop route that's currently under construction. Distance for this new route is just about the same as the other Big Loop, each at 23 miles. If you'd like a shorter run, you can return via the Pennsylvania Ave bridge and the Mall for about 13 miles, or via the Benning Rd bridge and Maryland Ave for about 16 miles. We should thankfully have a break from this late-season heat on Saturday, with temperature and dew point in the low 60s giving what will feel like a nice comfortable morning for a run!
With the longest run of this MCM cycle completed and weather cooling down (hopefully?), starting next week we will be meeting one hour later, at 8:00 am. Mark your calendar and change your alarms!
Thanks this week to Coach Jonny for covering post-run drinks, and Anna Suhring for providing our last mid-run drinks of the season! Mid run beverages will be located near the parking area at Bladensburg Waterfront Park, which is on the east side of the river just before the route crosses back to the other side at mile 14. Remember that after this week we will no longer have organized mid-run drink stations until next summer, so starting next week remember to carry your own water if you need it.
The weekly schedule of volunteers, routes, and distances is always kept up-to-date on the SLR web page, and you can email me any time to book your slot. For now the next couple weeks are covered, and I will soon post the schedule through November which will open up a few more volunteer needs - feel free to sign up in advance if you'd like! For general info on how volunteering works see the SLR FAQ or send me an email if you have any other specific questions.
Happy running,
Mike
SLR September 29 - Arlington Triangle
Hello Saturday Runners!
Tomorrow's route will be a 16 mile loop of Arlington Triangle (downloads: cue sheet and GPS). For a shorter run, probably your best bet to do so simply while starting out with everyone else is to just run out & back. It looks like fall might finally be on its way soon, with some excellent running weather in the forecast for Saturday morning!
Thank you Mike McCarthy for post-run drinks, and Andrew Mulrean for mid-run drinks! Mid run beverages will be located at the W&OD trailhead near Shirlington Rd, which is just after mile 7 on the route.
We do not currently have either mid-run or post-run drink volunteers scheduled for next week, so please let me know ASAP if you can help with either of these. The weekly schedule of volunteers, routes, and distances is always kept up-to-date on the SLR web page, and you can email me any time to book your slot. For general info on how volunteering works see the SLR FAQ or send me an email if you have any other specific questions.
In other news, coming up in two weeks on 10/13 we will be switching back to 8:00 am meeting time. I'll send futher announcements over the next couple weeks to remind everyone of the shift.
Happy running,
Mike