Hello Saturday Long Runners!
Winter is coming, and by coming I mean arriving tomorrow. With our first below freezing SLR on deck that also means it's getting to be the season for our holiday runs. The website is updated, but in general we'll have Festivus on 12/6, The Christmas Tree Run on 12/14, and Holiday Card Lane on 12/21. Now let's get into it:
The Route: Do you like the Metropolitan Branch Trail and Rock Creek Park and everything in between?Well Catholic MBT (strava, gps, pdf) is the route for you! We'll head east along the Mall to the Capitol where we'll take a trek up the MBT before crossing the city and heading down Rock Creek Park to make a nice big loop. Check out the largest Catholic Church in North America while you're up there and enjoy the last of the fall foliage in RCP.
Want Something Shorter? The MBT makes for an easy out and back from 10 to 12 miles depending on where you turn around. Alternatively, looping the Capitol instead of going towards Union Station will give you a nice 9 mile route.
Need a Longer Route? For some extra hills and another big church, combine this route with Cathedral Clintons for a nearly exactly 18 miler (continue straight on Calvert Street and pick up Cathedral Clintons from there). I like to call that one Catholic Cathedral Clintons which is also a fun tongue twister. If you've had enough hills for one day, going north on the Rock Creek Trail instead of south gives you an easy way to add any number of miles (though go too far and you'll hit the hills you were trying to avoid).
Thirsty? The water fountains on the Mall were somehow still turned on the last time I ran through, but I'm not holding my breath for tomorrow. The MBT also has water fountains at Eckington Dog Park at mile 5.8 and at mile 6.5 near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station. After the MBT there are limited water opportunities, so bring your own for the second half of the run!
Need a Bathroom? There are bathrooms at the Washington Monument and Union Station, as well as a few Starbucks and CVSs across the city that make for good options in a pinch.
The next club race is the Founders Half Marathon (formerly Gar Williams) this Sunday, December 1st (yeah it snuck up on me as well). This will kick off our Snowball Series and we still need a few volunteers for the event. Come get your credit out of the way early! DCRR Memberships expire on November 30th (that's tomorrow)! Renew yours today, tell your friends to renew theirs, and have them tell their friends to renew theirs! The Book Club meets on December 8th and we're reading one of my favorite books of all time, Bravey by Alexi Pappas! It's readable in a week, but better start soon.
Happy Running!
Anna
