Hello Saturday Long Runners!
Fall hasn't quite left us yet and we're looking at a nice morning tomorrow for a long run! Good luck to everyone racing Richmond (or anywhere else) this weekend! It's also that time of year where I start planning the next few months worth of long runs for the schedule, have a route you really want to see? Absolutely hate every time we run on that one part of the Mount Vernon trail near Roosevelt Island with the shakey bridges and want to avoid it at all cost? Want some more hills on our runs because gosh we just never do enough? Shoot me an email, find me before or after SLR, stalk me home to my apartment and nail a sign to my door with your 96 theses, and let me know what you want to run! Now let's get into it:
The Route: This week we'll be treated to a nice tour of the Wharf and the southern portion of the Anacostia Riverwalk as we take on Southeast DC (strava, gps, pdf). We'll head into the city via the Memorial Bridge, head down L'Enfant Plaza and through the Wharf to get to the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge (new and improved as of a few years ago), make our way up the Anacostia Riverwalk and across the Sousa Bridge, before heading to the Capitol via Pennsylvania and back to North Meade Park via the Mall. Pennsylvania Ave is also along the southern corner of Eastern Market, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this weekend!
Want Something Shorter? Coming back across the 11th Street Bridge and heading back via M Street will get you around 12.5 miles instead of the normal 14. There's also the option to take the metro back ($2 on weekends!) from a number of stations including Potomac Ave, Eastern Market, Capitol South, and Smithsonian!
Need a Longer Route? The Anacostia Riverwalk is great for adding additional mileage (and is super flat too if you need a workout)! For 18 miles, consider doing the full Anacostia Riverwalk Loop. Another option for around 16 miles is to take the East Capitol Street Bridge back across the river and continue down East Capitol Street all the way to the Capitol to head back.
Thirsty? Thanks to Steven Wido for post run drinks this week! We don't have any volunteers coming up (insert Bernie Sanders "I am once again asking" meme here). As far as drinks along the route go, the water fountains along the Mall are still turned on as of this week, but no guarantees that'll stay through the weekend. Other than that there is a fairly dependable fountain near the pirate ship playground at mile 7.7 that is a good bet!
Need a Bathroom? Along the Mall you'll find the usual selection at the Washington Monument. There are also some very well-positioned ones also at 7.7 near the playground. Otherwise along Pennsylvania Ave. there are a lot of restaurants and shops that generally will let you use their restrooms if you ask nicely. My personal favorite restrooms are the ones in Captiol Hill Books in the foreign language section.
The next club race is the Alexandria Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning! This one of my favorite races in the region (and not just because they let me in the elite field)! We also need a tremendous amount of volunteers to keep this race running smoothly, so please consider helping out either race morning or the week before with packet pickup if you're in the area for the holiday! DCRR Memberships expire on November 30th! Your contributions pay for things like happy hours, low-key low-cost races, SLR drinks, and so much more to keep the club running smoothly.
Happy Running!
Anna
