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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 |
| 12/7 | 14 | Festivus Route | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 12/14 | 10 | Christmas Tree Run | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 12/21 | 15 | Holiday Card Lane | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 12/28 | 14 | Capital Crescent | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 1/4 | 12 | Pentagon Army Navy | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 1/11 | 14 | Ross Drive | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 1/18 | 16 | Arlington Loop | Cue Sheet & GPS | |
| 1/25 | 16 | Battery Kemble Loops | Cue Sheet & GPS |
SLR: 14 Miles Ross Drive **6AM Start**
Hello Saturday Long Runners!
The weather tomorrow looks toasty, with lows in the upper 70s and high humidity. As I mentioned earlier this week,ÂÂÂ SLR will be starting at 6 AM due to the heat. I'd also like to take this opportunity to remind about the warning signs of heat related illnesses in advance of this weekend:
Heat Exhaustion Signs: Dizziness, Thirst, Heavy Perspiration, Cold or Clammy Skin, Nausea or Vomiting, Weakness/Exhaustion, Cramping, Headache.
- Solutions: stop physical activity, move to a cooler area if possible, remove clothing, spray with water when it's an option, and drink water and electrolytes.
- Next Steps: seek medical attention if symptoms do not improve within an hour
Heat Stroke Signs: Confusion, Dizziness, Perspiration, No Perspiration but Hot to the Touch, Loss of Consciousness
- Solutions: stop physical activity and CALL 911 (heat stroke is deadly!)
- Next Steps:submerge in cool water up to shoulders if possible to do so safely, or move to a cooler place
- What Not to Do: DO NOT give someone suffering from heatstroke anything to drink. They can vomit, pass out, and aspirate.
- HEAT STROKE IS DEADLY If your fellow runner is disoriented, please call 911 immediately (and shoot me or one of the coahes an e-mail or text letting us know what has happened).
With all that being said: take it easy tomorrow, it's going to be hot and safety is important! Run in a group and keep talking to eachother, when someone shuts up or starts babbling incoherently, it's time to assess the situation. Talking is a very useful and easy indicator. Now let's get into it:
The Route: The good news is we'll have plenty of shade on tomorrow's route! Ross Drive (strava, gps, pdf) is a fan favorite and a fabulous introduction to Rock Creek Park if you haven't run there before. Beach Drive is still closed to vehicle traffic (and will be for the foreseeable future!), however Ross Drive has reopened to cars so stay alert when running there (though I've never seen more than a few vehicles on the road at any given time). If you haven't run in Rock Creek before, it can get confusing and I'll do my best to explain some of the weird turns and nuances tomorrow morning but in general: Keep Beach Drive to your Right on the way out and Left on the way back and when in doubt follow signs for Pierce Mill!
Want Something Shorter? The easiest way to get in less mileage is to do an out and back in Rock Creek Park. If you want to switch it up a bit more, on the way back run through Georgetown along the waterfront instead of along the trail.
Need a Longer Route? The Ross-Ridge-Beach Loop we'll be doing is a little over three miles and makes adding on a multiple of 3 easy! As an added bonus, you'll also pass the mid-run drinks station on each loop for some extra hydration. Which leads us into...
Thirsty? Huzzah! The wonderful Alan Dixon will be supplying mid-run drinks and in honor of the duathlon he'll be doing on Sunday, we'll pass him twice! He'll be at the parking lot where the Western Ridge Trail meets Beach Drive. Thank you so much also to Gregory Smith for picking up pre and post run drinks. especially on short notice! Other than these two planned stops, there is very little opportunity for water (though there are fountains at Pierce Mill, it's also where mid-run drinks are which cancels it out a bit). Please bring water tomorrow!I don't know how many different times I can mention the heat, but water and electrolytes are essential to combating heat-related illnessess. Sweat isn't just water, it's also salt and electolytes and on hot days it's easy to drink a lot of water, but easy to forget electolytes! Bringing nuun/liquidIV/salt tablets tomorrow is a smart idea!
Need a Bathroom? Pierce Mill has multiple bathroom options availabe at miles 5 and 9. Other than that there aren't many options, so plan accordingly!
The next club race is the Steve Thompson 8K on Sunday August 6th at Belle Haven Park in Alexandria! This is a wonderful out and back on the Mount Vernon Trail! If you can't run, please volunteer!
Stay safe tomorrow everyone and see you all bright and early!
Anna
SLR: Start Time 6 AM July 29th
Hey folks!
Just giving a heads up that the temperature for this Saturday looks toasty! Current forecast is a low of 78 and creeping up towards 90 by 9:30 AM. As such, SLR will be starting at 6 AM this Saturday. We'll go back to our normal 7 AM start time in future weeks, however!
Unfortunately with the new start time, we no longer have any volunteers for post-run drinks. If anyone is willing to pick up this week shoot me an e-mail and we will all be very thankful!
See you bright and early on Saturday!
Anna
SLR: 12 Miles C&O Canal
Hello Saturday Long Runners!
First off thank you so much to everyone who sent messages, heckled at SLR, or just generally said something regarding moving the start time. Seems like we as a whole lean towards 7 AM so that'll be staying (except for those 1-2 extreme heat days we get every year, next weekend looking like one of them). I've got some ideas on how to help folks out who hate the heat, more on those later and maybe a trial run in a month or so! Weather for tomorrow luckily looks mild (in comparison to what we're dealing with this summer)! Also Jack may be kicking it off in place of me in the morning, I got stung in the back of the throat by a yellowjacket during my run today (which is exactly as nightmarish as you'd imagine), so TBD on whether I'll be talking much! Now let's get into it:
The Route: Some people love it, some people hate it, everyone runs it! That's right, it's C&O week at SLR. This 184.5 mile long behemoth runs from Georgetown all the way to Cumberland, Maryland and provides shade and rocky gravel to run on. This week the recommended mileage is 12 (strava, pdf, gpx) which puts the turnaround right at Snake Island near the Little Falls Overlook (alternatively, just wait til your GPS watch says 6 then head back).
Want Something Longer or Shorter? The only real way to get a different distance is to turnaround earlier or later. For shorter runs, turning around at Fletcher's Boathouse will get you close to 6.5 and the Chain Bridge is at 8.5. For longer, the Pedestrian Bridge south of Glen Echo will run you 14 miles and Lock 8 will get you 17!
Thirsty?First off correction from last week: Thank you so much to Kate Scott for post run drinks, sorry again for mixing up the names! This week we've got Steven P. to thank for the post-run refreshments! Out on the canal, Fletcher's is a key stop for water, otherwise be wary, I haven't seen many other places that have it.
Need a Bathroom? Fletcher's also has you covered there! There are also some portopotties just past the Maryland border that are hopefully still open!
The next club race is the Bluemont 5K on Wednesday the 26th, hosted on the wonderfully fast course out in Bluemont park near Ballston. We still need some volunteers as well if anyone's available. Orders for the fancy red singlets have also been extended to Sunday! Rep your favorite club and get some PRs in style!
Happy Running!
Anna
More Articles...
- SLR: 14 Miles **New Route** Hains with a Capitol H
- SLR - 12 Miles - Pentagon Army-Navy
- SLR: Chain Bridge Loop 10 Miles
- SLR: **New Route** Battery Garesché 14 Miles
- SLR - 14 Miles - Cleveland Park Cathedral Clintons
- SLR - 10 Miles - Cemetery Loop **New Route**
- SLR - 15 Miles - Battery Kemble Park
- SLR - 12 Miles - Cathedral Clintons (Alt Route)
Upcoming Events
| DCRRC Belle Haven 8K Sun, Jan 26th, 2025, @7:00am |
| Book Club Sun, Mar 16th, 2025, @4:00pm |
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The DC Road Runners Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America and is also affiliated with USA Track & Field. We provide a year-round schedule of running events that offer everyone a chance to participate regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability. |