Hello Saturday Long Runners!
News flash: it's still summer out there somehow! Temperatures tomorrow will be steamy and please please please be safe out there! Bring water, use one of the (many!) ways to shorten this route, and take care of yourselves and those around you. Now let's get into it:
The Route: This week, we'll be venturing east of the river to what I always call the most underrated place to run in DC: The Anacostia Riverwalk Loop (strava, gps, pdf) -- this time with a bit of a twist. This route will take us down through the wharf, up the west side of the trail by the Congressional Cemetery, across the Bladensburg Bridge, and down the east side of the Anacostia River to the wonderful Frederick Douglass Bridge and back to Virginia! If you've been to this one in the past and hated bushwhacking through Heritage Island, fear not. The route this time DOES NOT go around the island, instead we're tweaking how we get to the wharf a bit to add that extra little bit of mileage, so don't worry about bringing your tick repellent and hiking boots for tomorrow morning.
Want Something Longer? The farther north you run on the west side of the Anacostia trail, the more magical it becomes! The Kenliworth Aquatic Gardens are especially wonderful in the summer if anyone's in need of 22 miles (2 out, 2 back).
Need a Shorter Route? A nice way to cut this route down to around 12 is to make a modified Southeast DC Loop (basically don't cross any bridges, just follow the route until the turn off for Pennsylvania Avenue). Otherwise taking a turn at RFK and following East Capitol Street back to the Mall will get you around 14.5 miles!
Thirsty? We don't have any volunteers currently for post run drinks (but YOU, yes you! could change that). We've also got mid run drinks courtesy of Dara Schulman near the Pirate Ship Playground at mile 11.5! Other than that, Anacostia is fairly bare for water, so please bring some as it will be hot tomorrow. There are also fountains along the Mall near Lincoln at mile 1.7 and 16.2 in a pinch!
Need a Bathroom? There are plenty of businesses along the wharf that are good in a pinch, including a couple of CVSes around the 5K point. There are also bathrooms at the pirate ship playground at mile 11 that have been lifesavers for me in the past.
The Bunion Derby wrapped up two weeks ago, but there's still one more race this summer: the National Capital 20 Miler and Janet Braunstein's 5 Miler! This is also your last chance to get volunteer credit for the Bunion Derby, and we still need some folks out there on Sunday!
Happy Running!
Anna
