Author Archives: Kit Wells

SDR Time Change, or Race, and Party

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Sunday Distance Run Time Change to 8:00 a.m.

Sunday is going to be a perfect day, so to embrace the moment we will start our Sunday Distance Run an hour later, effective Sunday, September 8, 2013. The 8 a.m. start time will be in effect through spring of 2014, as reflected on WRC’s calendar. Watch out for triathlon-related traffic.

Good luck to Parks Half Marathon racers

Julia Taylor is captain of the squad headed up to Rockville to squiggle their way down to Bethesda. Some of the marathoners rehearsed the final two miles of this course last weekend. This race is part of WRC’s 2013 Grand Prix series. Good luck to them all!

Don’t miss the Cookout and Pool Party!

If you haven’t already done so, let Carla know you’re coming to the Cookout and Pool Party! You didn’t think we’d let the remaining good weather go to waste, did you?

Morning Becomes Elliptic

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A crescent moon winked above a slumbering campus. Fever dreams brewed about new classes, past fun warmed by summertime sun, or perhaps about roaming free as black bears do. The savory bouquet of velvety catmint along the tended footpaths grew heady in the moist air, almost but not quite still. Even in the longest darkness, something westerly stirred.

We were not the first, or even the second, persons to use Greenberg Track this morning. Some phantoms commenced their running without even inviting their shadows (the sheltered track and infield are unlit). Closer to the edge of twilight, Jerry and Carla arrived together, so I joined them for a couple miles of chatty warm-up and helped to pace the first two of their 800m intervals.

As we did this, Paul and Jesse filtered onto the scene, now illuminated by Carla’s leggings, and made their own preparations. For Paul, this meant shaking off the rust from Sunday’s successful 20-plus miles, shucking his shirt, and waiting for me to slip into my Jurassic-period cross country waffles. As for Jesse, preparation required a bit more guts. Continue reading →

Node to Self

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Official Course Marker

Runners often consider race courses to be gem-like objects of perfection, possessing a logic to their geometry’s purpose.

However, out in the real world and away from the track, we have to cope with what we’ve got, often with components that can be charitably called “chunky.” Sure, your map might promise you taut curves and pert points. But where the road happens to zig, the racers must zag.

Those lat-lon nodes you used to mark the start, finish, and the intermediate kilometers? They manifest as strips of day-glo duct tape, annotated, plastered atop an epoxy stripe, roughly down the middle of the waffling macadam.

For the purpose at hand, it’s usually good enough. And sometimes there’s a Rothko-esque beauty to be found underfoot. It helps to know where to look.

Mr. BlurryCam took some pictures at the 2.5K turnaround point of this evening’s Roosevelt Run 5K.

Thanks go to Fiona and Paul Karlsen, el Prez Kirk Masterson, Treasurer James Scarborough, and Jay Wind for contributing both their time and effort, to pull off a thrifty and competently executed mid-week race.

Volunteer at the Roosevelt Run 5K

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Let’s once again lend a hand next Wednesday evening, August 28th, at a low-key summertime race held on our stomping grounds.

Meet just before 6 p.m. at the trailhead of Mt Vernon Trail near the Key Bridge, across from Arlington Gateway Park in Rosslyn. This is also the eastern terminus of the Custis Trail. The race itself goes along the Potomac River.

Club treasurer James Scarborough needs volunteers from WRC for the following positions:

  • one or two people to help with registration
  • one or two people to run a water stop at the south end of Roosevelt Island
  • one person where the runners pass UNDER Memorial Bridge
  • one person at the turnaround
  • can also use a person at the finish line (actually, it will take two, one pulling tags and one recording numbers on Time Machine)
  • help with carrying and setting up things and helping clean up are also very much appreciated!

If you can lend a hand, please let James know in advance. And for more information, please see the event’s website.

WRC-map. Calendar. Course Map.

Race Opportunity: Summer Strides 5K

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This comes from the weekend desk of club member and racePacket guru, Bob Platt:

Thank you for allowing me to announce the Summer Strides 5K at today’s run. Any member of WRC can get a $5 discount when entering the race by typing in “WRC” as the coupon code on the online entry form. Again, the race will be held on Sunday, Aug 4 at 8 a.m. at Bluemont Park in Arlington. I hope to see many of my WRC friends there.

For those keeping score, Bluemont Park is a destination along our Tour D’Arlington (16.7 miles) training route. So, you see, membership has its privileges.

Clattenburg and A Unicorn Go Forth and Win at Go Fourth 8K

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Six WRCers and two compadres gathered early on Independence Day, at the historic Vienna Town Green. Hosted by our friends of the PVTC, together we sweetly sang the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner to the accompaniment of an MP3 file played back on a BlackBerry held up to a P.A. mic.

In fact, we sang a little too fast for the frugivorous gizmo that symbolizes this Washingtonian life. Were we perhaps nudged out of meter by some magnetic inducement flowing from the extra high voltage 230 kV transmission lines looming above us?

Whatever the case, it was marvelous to watch the B.A.A.’s Jonathan Baker zoom off in a flurry, followed brightly by newcomer Daisuke Ogata, dressed in day-glo orange hat and shirt and mistaken more than once for a distant traffic cone. Rachel Clattenburg in red paced herself wisely, climbing up the ranks throughout the race. We slapped low-fives as we passed along the out-and-back course.

Everyone left the race with some quarry of Stars and Stripes, whether in the form of a beach towel, embroidered flags (both in original and Vermont antiqued flavors), or just the shorts they wore to the race. I offered my own flag to Daisuke as a gift, and he immediately requested to have his picture taken with it in the now-standard USATF display. What a great country, that even our silliest of motifs are accessible to all.

Full results are available here; WRC (& friends) results are below.

Potomac Valley Track Club Go Fourth 8K
W&OD Trail, Vienna VA
Thursday, July 4, 2013

5K  Name               G Age Time    M  F    Award
-- --------------------- --- ------  -  -   --------
1  Jonathan Baker      M  29 27:15   1      M20-29 1 B.A.A #Unicorns
5  Rachel Clattenburg  F  29 33:16      1   F20-29 1
6  Kit Wells           M  36 33:35   5      M30-39 3
7  Daisuke Ogata       M  38 33:51   6
12 Jay Jacob Wind      M  63 36:09   9      M60-69 1
18 Jerold Paulson      M  54 38:23  14      M50-59 2
33 James Scarborough   M  55 43:34  24
41 Benjamin Stutts     M  24 45:47 28:47*  27      M20-29 2
91 finishers
* late start, due to confusing pre-race instructions

UPDATE: A race report by Maggie Lloyd was published on RunWashington.com, here.