Hello Saturday Long Runners!
Bundle up! It's frigid out there this week and the wind is only making that situation a whole lot worse. On the bright side, a large part of this route (Custis/W&OD) is blocked from the wind, but prepare for a chilly one in the morning. Now let's get into it:
The Route: This week we're romping around Arlington for a classic Arlington Loop (strava, gps, pdf). We'll head down the 110 trail to the Mount Vernon Trail, head past the airport and turn onto the Four Mile Run Trail, continue onto the W&OD, and then hang right at Custis and head back to the park. All in all this will be 16 miles with very few street crossings all on separate bike and running infrastructure. It's routes like this that always make me feel really lucky to live in an area like this, even if they lock their bathrooms half the year and their water fountains are questionably functional.
Want Something Shorter? For around 14.5 miles, instead of coming back along Custis take the Bluemont Connector trail (which is a different bike trail about a mile before the turn for Custis). This will take you to Wilson Boulevard, which you can take into Court House and hop down to the park from there! Otherwise there are some options for more complex loops, but the least mentally taxing will definitely be an out and back. Turning around at the turn onto the Four Mile run will get you 10 miles and getting to the W&OD will run you 14.
Need a Longer Route? My personal favorite way to add onto the loop is to add an extra out and back along the W&OD before turning onto Custis, which allows you to get any number of extra miles. If you're in the mood to make it "real" Arlington Loop you can continue down the Rosslyn Hill past Roosevelt Island and return by coming up the same way you go out by the cemetery for an 18 miler.
Thirsty? The green freeze-proof fountains along the W&OD and Custis are mostly working. The one at the corner was having issues with the top fountain earlier this week (when we really stress-tested the term "freeze proof"), but the bottom fountain was working. Pretty sure the fountain by the airport will be turned off, along with any of the non-freeze proof fountains around the loop.
Need a Bathroom? There aren't a ton of options for those in the winter. One set near Bluemont park may be open, but the one we use before the start of the WDF and Bluemont 5K is definitely closed. The W&L track bathrooms are also closed for the season (which is news to me), so those are also out of commission.
Good luck to everyone running the Club Challenge 10 Miler on Sunday! Rep your club with pride and remember none of the hills on that course are even close to as bad as the Rosslyn hill. The Annual Meeting and Banquet is scheduled for Sunday March 2nd! Sign up, come see everyone when we aren't all sweaty in running clothes, and listen to MCM director Alex Hetherington give our keynote!
Happy Running!
Anna
