RunWashington Magazine Fall 2015

COVER: Patriot junior RACHEL MCARTHUR, Virginia 6A cross country state meet and Nike Cross Southeast champion, runs at Bull Run Regional Park, where she caught her first big win — the Glory Days Invitational. RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL Photographer Ed Lull has been shooting Northern Virginia races for six years, while his daughters competed on Chantilly’s track and cross country teams.

You can see several years’ worth of his photos on his Facebook page “Ed Lull - Track & XC Pictures - Northern Region.”

EDITOR’S NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OFF THE BEATEN PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MILITARY RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THE ALL RUNWASHINGTON TEAM . . . . . . . . . .

DREW HUNTER: HOMEMADE CHAMPION . . . .

BUILDING A CROSS COUNTRY COURSE. . . . . .

MOCO RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

UPCOMING RACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DON’T YOU JUST HATE RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . .

GEARING UP FOR 26.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CELEBRATE RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

............2 ............4 ............7 . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . .12 . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . 40 . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . . . 48

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PHOTO BY POTOMAC RIVER RUNNING

I looked around and realized the cross country season was a few months away. And it was time to catch up with the All-RunWashington preseason team of top runners (page 12) Assembling the coaches and picking the team was the easy part — in spite of the tough calls that had to be made. The really rough part was working around family vacations, college tours and postseason track meets to meet and photograph each of the top 10 boys and girls in the local cross country scene. Sorry, Dan Horoho, we’ll get you someday.

Actual do-nothing, laze around summer free time was fleeting for runners and coaches from many of the roughly 150 schools in the D.C. area that boast cross country and track teams. Postseason track races continue even into August — as I write this, Lake Braddock’s Kate Murphy just closed out her track season with a 1,500 meter title at the Pan American Junior Championships. That will mean a late start for some of our top athletes, but if they keep up what they started, runners like Murphy, Rachel McArthur, Weini Kelati, Bethlehem Taye, Bobby Lockwood, Rohan Asfaw and Heather Holt, among many others, will make their races worth the wait.

This is RunWashington’s third year of covering high school cross country, and it’s natural to ask why a guy who does this part-time with a staff of part-time writers tries to fit in an information market that includes statistical behemoth Milestat and MoCo Running (featured on page 35), which covers a local area as well as I’ve seen anyone do so. Why write for an audience that is mostly professional and more likely than not doesn’t have a connection to the local high school scene, either through their own children or by virtue of having gone to a local high school?

It’s exactly because those readers don’t have an interest that I want to bring the achievements and athletic culture of approximately 7,000 runners to their attention.

The local cross country scene is amazing, both because we have a lot of kids that are very fast — Hunter, Murphy, Kelati and McArthur are serious threats to win the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship — but because runners who aren’t breaking the tape are learning to love a sport we all embrace, and people like former Bullis coach Mike Stubbs (page 30) are willing to put their time and effort into making cross country a memorable experience, in hopes of making them life-long runners, like Kirk Masterson and Ryan Mammen (page 48).

And what about those people who don’t, like us, love running? There’s something for them, too. We talked to people who run but don’t want to be considered runners (page 40) to see how they tick and what ticks them off about the sport.

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We are not made to stop. We are made to keep going. To relentlessly pursue new levels of fast. To go beyond what has been done before.

By always pushing. And always evolving. We are Always in Beta.

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FALL 2015

PUBLISHER Kathy Dalby RunWashington Media LLC EDITOR IN CHIEF Charlie Ban charlie@runwashington.com SENIOR EDITOR Dickson Mercer dickson@runwashington.com CREATIVE / PRODUCTION AZER CREATIVE www.azercreative.com SALES DIRECTOR Denise Farley denise@runwashington.com 703-855-8145

LETTER TO THE EDITOR How About the Rest of Us? I am not sure I have the opportunity to read every issue, but I read each one that I come into contact with. I was struck, in the summer issue, when you asked what made the DC region so great to be a runner in... and not a single person you quoted said, because it is back of the pack friendly. It got me thinking about your magazine. They are full of stories of the cream of the crop, the best of the best runners of the area. Yet what was best for ME in this region is that there are groups like BGR who embrace the slow runners, the walkers, and those in between. That I can go out on the Mall and trudge along at turtle pace, and someone will wave, nod, or tell me “good work” no matter how slow I am going. That there are races, like the Pacers ones, that are fun as well as BOTP friendly, and the Abebe Bikila, Potomac River Run, and Dean Schulmann races that allow early starts. That we don’t have to run a 10 minute mile in order to feel like we belong and are welcomed as part of the running community. Not everywhere is like that, and not everyone (even here) is like that. But the majority is, and it’s awesome.

How about an issue dedicated to the rest of us? Those of us struggling, the back of the pack, those coming back from injury or just starting out, the woggers, the walkers, the Galloway types.

Resources for us - where we can go for group runs, coaching, acceptance even if we run a 14, 15, 18 or 20 minute mile. Our struggles, our outlets, our resources, where we are and how we are working and trying to improve. Just because we’re slow doesn’t mean we aren’t making progress or don’t care. How about a focus in on how we - the ordinary, the slow - define success and progress. Just because we’re slow doesn’t mean we aren’t just as deserving of respect and focus as the rest.

Valerie Silensky

CUSTOMER SERVICE office@runwashington.com BRANDING ORANGEHAT LLC

Valerie, Thanks for writing and bringing that to my attention. We put a focus on top runners because people express interest in the people they see running so fast, but I feel like many our stories don’t even take we’ve done more than give lip service to the rest of the pack. Virtually every story that omits particularly fast times or accolades was included because it added a

The entire contents of RunWashington are copyright ©2014 by RunWashington Media, LLC. All rights reserved, and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, results, or other materials are welcome but are not returnable and are preferred via electronic communication to charlie@ runwashington.com.

Please inform yourself of applicable copyright and privacy laws before submitting for publication; if we decide to publish your submitted material we conduct no such checks and you alone will ultimately be responsible for any violations of any laws including infringement and copyright.

Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher, advertiser, or sponsors.

I’ll also refer you to “Ted Last,” in our July/August 2014 issue (available online at www.runwashington. com), a story written specifically about a man who routinely finishes last in races, to the point where his nickname in the running community is “Dead Last Monkey.” But, you are correct that we have not examined the overall culture of back-of-the-pack runners. I will change that.

Back issues are available for $5.00 for each copy to cover postage and handling. RunWashington is published four times yearly by RunWashington Media LLC, 4544 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22304. Complimentary copies are mailed to subscribers, area businesses and events.

Thanks Charlie!

Be advised that running is a strenuous sport and you should seek the guidance of a medical professional before beginning an exercise regimen.

Dear Mr. Charlie Ban, I love your magazine. So many things I appreciate about it: I love that you interview local high school CC coaches like Greg Dunston (teachers deserve credit!).

I love that your magazine is witty and I can relate to the content (no gait talk, or supplement junk). I love the inspirational stories (vets and quitting smoking). I LOVE THAT ITS FREE (I dunno how you do that). I love the design, very clever and artistic. Awesome photographs. It’s better than a Nylon magazine (so many pretty people). I love that I see RunW writers and people who are featured in RunW running around Rock Creek (no posers!)I love your Instagram(not a big tweeter).

Just wanted to mention your little magazine brings my little heart lots of joy, and I look forward to grabbing it at Pacers on the reg.

Yours, Deb Marcus Deb, Thank you! We avoid the technical stuff so we can spend more space focused on the truly local stories and let people go to any of our countless great local coaches for individualized guidance, rather than trying to prescribe solutions sight unseen. We’re free thanks to our advertisers (so take a good look at the ads!). Our photographers and designers are indeed awesome! And I’ve gotten some help with Instaslamming (a term coined by Dickson Mercer) from a talented and patient artist who was willing to weather my skepticism about actually editing the photos and convince me to be more thoughtful with my selections.

Keep the feedback coming! Charlie@runwashington.com.

/runwashington @runwashington

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CONTRIBUTORS MARLEEN VAN DEN NESTE (The House that Stubbs Built, High School Running Won’t Cover Itself) is a photojournalist with a keen interest in road races and track and field. She loves the discipline, sportsmanship and positive environment and feels a bond with the athletes: she’s “talking” to them through their camera and they’re responding.

100% OF NET PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE OUTER BANKS RELIEF FOUNDATION AND THE DARE EDUCATION FOUNDATION. THANK YOU FOR HELPING US HELP OTHERS.

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BY ASHLEY RO DRIGUEZ

For many, hiking the Appalachian Trail is a rite of passage. Spanning 2,180 miles from Georgia’s Springer Mountain to Katahdin, Maine, the “A.T.” challenges even the most seasoned athletes with its untamable terrain and unpredictable elements.

Just 64 miles northwest of Washington lies Harpers Ferry, W.V., a small, historic town nestled in the Shenandoah Valley where West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia converge.

It’s one of the few towns through which the Appalachian Trail runs directly. Just a few weeks ago, Dustin Meeker, of Baltimore, and Gaithersburg resident Conrad Laskowski descended upon Harpers Ferry for the second time that day, this time to celebrate completing the Appalachian Trail Four-State Challenge — a 42.9-mile trek traveling across the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.

That moment was over two years in the making. Meeker, a lifelong runner and lover of the outdoors, had just finished reading the books A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson’s tale about walking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, and The Longest Race, Ed Ayres’s exploration of ultramarathoning.

Then, an idea sparked. He decided to merge his two passions and run a portion of the A.T.

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After some research, Meeker set his sights on the Four State Challenge. Laskowski agreed to join him.

Months passed and goal races kept the two competitive runners from fully committing to tackling the trail. But finally, on Sunday, June 28, the time came. At approximately 8:15 a.m., Laskowski and Meeker took off from Pen Mar Road in southern Pennsylvania. A wrong turn in the first few minutes set them a mile off course, but they quickly recovered and soon the pair crossed the Mason-Dixon Line into Maryland. It would be another 40 miles along the backbone of South Mountain until they reached another state line.

The first four miles were business as usual for Meeker and Laskowski, who have each been running for two decades, but then the trail abruptly ended and they came faceto-face with a boulder field.

“It was no longer a distinguishable trail.

You just came out to an open space where the ground was just rocks on rocks on rocks,” he explained. “You’d scan the horizon to see a tree with white glaze on it to see where you were supposed to be going.”

Reluctantly slowing their pace to 14-minute miles, they crawled forward, carefully stepping from boulder to boulder, making sure each foot landed on something stable. One wrong move could be detrimental and force them to pack up and head home barely a tenth of the way into their planned route.

By A.T. standards, the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail is easy and serves as a gut check to see if hikers are ready for more rugged areas. During training, Laskowski said, simulating the trail’s rockiness wasn’t accomplished other than during a 20-miler — 10 out, 10 back — they ran on a segment of the trail. But significant rainfall the previous day now had slickened the already challenging technical terrain. Quiet streams now rushed.

Once-dry rocks became miniature waterfalls.

But throughout their journey, difficult, unrunnable areas quickly transformed into blossoming meadows and scenic overlooks, allowing the runners brief moments of euphoria. The A.T. wrapped through lush state parks crawling with wildlife as Laskowski and Meeker continued southbound through Maryland, feeling strong. Both were marathoners, so despite the stark difference in terrain from their typical road races, the amount of time on their feet was old hat. But beyond that, it was uncharted territory.

Just shy of the 50k mark, both Meeker and Laskowski hit a wall — hard — as they began an estimated one-mile climb up the side of a ridge.

“I went into a dark place,” Laskowski explained. “I convinced myself I was going to have to pull the plug.”

They agreed that once they reached Gathland State Park, roughly 10 miles short of their goal, they’d call it quits.

“Psychologically, I was broken down,” Meeker said.

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HAGERSTOWN

FREDERICK

Meeker’s girlfriend, Melissa, was waiting for them at Harpers Ferry. He reached into his pack for his phone to let her know to pick them up within the hour. But his phone was wet and he couldn’t send the text. Frustrated, they continued their climb. When they reached the crest, they were relieved to have a long, gradual descent over a much more forgiving portion of the A.T. That was the second wind they needed. “[The feeling] is common among ultrarunners, but something we hadn’t experienced,” Meeker explained.

“It’s common for people to go through very dark patches and suddenly come out of it and feel rejuvenated.”

They continued to run due south through Gathland State Park with their sights set on reaching Harpers Ferry. As Laskowski and Meeker approached the footbridge stretching across the Potomac, they paused to take in the view. They had finally reached West Virginia.

Only about four miles of the A.T. runs through West Virginia proper and the elevation remains relatively flat. As the pair exited Harpers Ferry and crossed over the Shenandoah River, they knew they were only a few miles from achieving their goal.

But just before mile 41, the trail turned sharply upward, ascending nearly 875 feet in less than a mile and a half. Meeker and Laskowski battled exhausted legs up the seemingly never-ending side of the mountain in desperate search of the Virginia state line — their finish line. It was their most grueling climb of the day, after running nearly eight hours. They began asking hikers heading north how far they were from Virginia. Some estimated a mile. Others replied, “It’s not much farther.”

In the final stretch of the Four State Challenge, the trail runs parallel to the border with Virginia, almost taunting runners looking for the proverbial finish line. It was just within reach through the trees, but where exactly?

They pushed on.

Finally, after eight hours and five minutes, Meeker and Laskowski stepped into Virginia.

After pausing to cherish their accomplishment, sweaty and muddied from 42.9 miles of trail running, the pair turned around and descended down the mountain back toward Harpers Ferry. They had covered more miles in a single day than many runners do in a week’s time. And they’re already started talking about a second go at the Four-State Challenge, this time in pursuit of the fastest known time of 7:29:51, set by ultrarunner Ian Ridgway earlier this year.

For Laskowski and Meeker, completing the challenge was a joyful moment together and a significant personal achievement for each. There were no spectators cheering them on in the last 100 meters or medals placed around their necks. Despite the lack of fanfare, it was pure bliss.

“It’s one of the greatest feelings I’ve had as a runner,” Meeker said.

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BY ERIN MASTERSON Located near the Fort Belvoir Army base in Virginia, Lake Braddock Secondary School has plenty of students from military families. Of 142 runners on the cross country team this year, approximately 50 hail from military families.

Senior Colin Shafer transferred in 2014, after spending his first two years of high school in a small town outside Las Vegas.

“He was far and away the best member of the team there,” head coach Mike Mangan said.

He arrived in July and began running with the team and when the season started in August, he established himself as the third man on the team and helped the team to win the 6A state championship.

“He was a huge piece of that,” Mangan said. “We still had a chance without him, but it was a lot easier with him.” Shafer is now ranked as the third fastest boy in Lake Braddock history, running alongside numbers one and two.

When Shafer’s parents transferred to their next assignment, he chose to remain in the area and live with his older sister to finish up his senior year. With Shafer’s leadership, Mangan hopes the team will repeat its success.

“Our goal is to repeat as state champions, and I think we have a legitimate shot at that,” Mangan said. Shafer will likely compete for the top slot along with Ben Fogg. The two often traded places last year, each race alternating as the third man on the team.

Of the top seven men, the likely first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth runners all have parents in the armed forces, and four of the top seven women do as well. Some kids have moved together several times, one group coming most recently from Fort Campbell, Ky., when their parents all happened to be transferred to the Pentagon.

“We’re putting the band back together, essentially,” Mangan said.

Students from military families don’t necessarily seek out other runners from military families, but they all tend to associate with each other as a reflection of their shared experiences, he said.

“It can be pretty hard on the kids, having to jump into a new program. Some do really well and step up, but for others it doesn’t suit them.”

One athlete has been living with extended family in the area since her

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parents have been deployed the past year. Another student recently celebrated her dad’s return home after two years in Kuwait. “He missed a lot of special moments,” Mangan said.

The coach views it as his duty to step up for these runners in particular. “We’re trying to take care of them,” he said, “since their parents are taking care of all of us. As a coach, you try to take care of these kids, since they do have special needs. It’s definitely stressful, so we try to do all we can to help.”

Other students struggle to make the transition to a large program such as Lake Braddock. With 4,000 students in the combined middle school and high school, “it is very easy to get overwhelmed,” said Mangan. He recently spoke with one incoming student who will soon be moving from a small school in Manhattan, Kan. with her Army family. She was a top runner on her high school team, according to Mangan, but as she looks to join Lake Braddock’s squad of 71 female runners, she can expect to be their 18th runner based on her current 5k time.

Anne Northrup competed for Thomas Edison High School last year after moving to Alexandria last summer with her parents and brother. Upon arriving at Edison, Northrup, a rising junior, “stepped right in and was a varsity runner for us — very tenacious,” head cross country coach Berni Flynn said.

Northrup is no stranger to moving, having spent the previous year at Ramstein Air Base in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Northrup was born in Florida and has moved approximately every two years, living in Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Louisiana, Alabama, and Korea.

Her mom, Carol Northrup, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was selected to be the senior defense attaché to the Embassy of the Ukraine and spent this past year taking diplomacy and language training to prepare.

Northrup’s father, Col (Ret.) Parker Northrup, flew B52s as a pilot for the U.S. Air Force and now serves as a flight instructor.

The family moved to the Ukraine in late July and plans to be there for two years.

While Northrup is a little worried about the transition, never having visited Eastern Europe and not speaking Ukrainian, she

Lake Braddock senior COLIN SHAFER. RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY DUSTIN WHITLOW/D.WHIT PHOTOGRAPHY

takes a long view of the change, saying “I’m pretty used to the whole starting over thing.”

Northrup comes from a running family.

Both parents run marathons, and her older sister, Meg Northrup, ran for Edison several years ago. Meg is now a junior at Cornell University, in the Air Force ROTC. Younger brother Jack will be a freshman this fall, and is also a strong runner, having won several middle school miles at the local high school invitational meets this past spring.

Northrup plans to run cross country at the Kiev International School, though she has little information about the program or her new teammates. Her last high school before coming to Edison was Ramstein High School in Germany, where her team won the regional championships. Northrup observes a number of differences between that cross country program and Edison’s. “I remember being amazed at how many people were there [at Edison cross country meets],” she said.

Edison’s focus on comprehensive training and conditioning was also different.

“Coach Flynn really focuses on all the aspects of training,” including core work and strides, Northrup said. Not only does this extra time help the athletes with their total training, it creates additional time for them to hang out. “It’s a great way to bond, as we talk and stretch afterward, since I can’t really talk while I’m running.”

Though she has two years to decide, Northrup is looking at University of Chicago and Tufts University, but is also considering following in her parents’ footsteps and applying to the Air Force Academy. “It’s a cool idea to get paid to go to school and have a guaranteed job after college, but I don’t know if I can do it,” she said.

Mangan has seen the same dynamic among his student athletes. While some of his runners plan to join the military after college, for most, “the last thing they’re looking for is either ROTC or a service academy,” Mangan said. “They just like to be in one place.”

From her perspective, though she may not choose a military career for herself, Northrup does feel the military is part of her identity. “Without a military life, I wouldn’t have had the chances to do all the things I’ve done, and I wouldn’t trade the example my parents set for me as military officers for anything.”

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BY CHARLIE BAN

Georgetown Day School senior TRISTAN COLAIZZI leads a group of All-RunWashington preseason team members through Wakefield Park in Annandale.

ALL RUNWASHINGTON PHOTOS BY DUSTIN WHITLOW/ D. WHIT PHOTOGRAPHY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

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Oakton junior CASEY KENDALL

With remarkable depth and outright speed, Virginia’s harriers will be the toast of the D.C. area this cross country season, with several primed for big races on the national level. Of the 20 runners selected by the RunWashington coaches panel, 14 run for Virginia schools and another, a D.C. private school athlete, lives in Alexandria.

Maryland lost a few heavy hitters to graduation — Evan Woods, Diego Zarate, Nora McUmber, Kiernan Keller and Lucy Srour — but the state has rapidly-developing young talent moving up.

Things already looked good after Loudon Valley’s Andrew Hunter (page 25) and Heritage’s Weini Kelati made the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego as underclassmen, with Hunter finishing fourth and Kelati 20th. Up the West Coast, Lake Braddock’s Kate Murphy and Patriot’s Rachel McArthur finished 24th and 25th at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland.

They were just a handful of the highachieving runners to make the team. It also included state champions in cross country and track, vital members of successful teams and raw talent just waiting for the opportunity to show itself.

RunWashington’s panel of area high school coaches met after the state track championships and chose the 10 boys and 10 girls who they think would best represent the D.C. area’s cross country prowess. They compose the All-RunWashington team. The seven boys and seven girls in D.C., Maryland and Virginia who were not on the All-RunWashington team make their state teams. Sometimes intuition won out over pure numbers. To runners who didn’t make it, our coaches welcome being proved wrong!

The Class of the Field Virginia’s class of 2017 claimed four of the top six spots in the girls’ 6A division and seems primed to dominate for two more years. As excellent as the group as a whole has been, Murphy and McArthur have stolen the show with their rapid improvement toward the end of the last cross country season and memorable track seasons.

Those two sophomores admittedly took the Nike Cross Nationals meet less seriously than most, partially because of their

Patriot junior RACHEL MCARTHUR RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL

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Lake Braddock junior KATE MURPHY

confidence that such an opportunity would not be their last.

“We both just wanted to make it to nationals,” Murphy said. “We knew we didn’t have a shot at winning, so we tried to enjoy the experience. I’m sure we would have finished a little higher with a different mentality.”

McArthur looked at the race in context of their careers.

“We were just sophomores,” she said. “There will be plenty of chances to be competitive.”

She’s had plenty of chances already. While a third grader at the Linton Hall School, she was trampled at the start of a mile race for older elementary school students. Once the pack had cleared, she got to her feet and chased down all but the first two boys to finish the race.

“I really like winning,” she said.

She got her first real taste of that on the high school level at the Glory Days Invitational, beating eventual-Foot Locker finalist Ciara Donohue and reconciling her ability with her confidence.

“She was both fearless and intimidated,” Pioneers coach Adam Daniels said. “She’d tell me about how some girl was running the same race, but I had to explain to her that you can’t shy away from challenges like that.”

That also led to a few misfires, McArthur taking races out too hard, but she settled down.

“Rachel figured out pretty quickly what consequences different racing strategies had,” he said.

Though she later lost to Heritage’s Weini Kelati in a midseason invitational, for the rest of her races in the American Southeast, she was unbeatable.

She and Murphy roomed together in Portland and struck up a friendship that has complemented their athletic rivalry.

“We got to meet people from different parts of the country and see that we can compete with them,” she said. “We have good runners in Northern Virginia, but we have to get better if we want to be able to compete with some of the girls from California.”

They both excelled at the mile, with McArthur running 4:46.20 for 1600 meters and Murphy running 4:16.98 to win the 1,500 meters at the USATF junior championships, then then won the event at the Pan American Junior Championships in August.

Murphy also won the state 1,600 meters after McArthur edged her for the 3,200 meters

James Madison junior DEVON WILLIAMS

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Centreville senior BRENT BAILEY RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL

in a photo finish. She also won the 3,000 meters at the Penn Relays, while McArthur’s 4:50 mile leg of the distance medley relay at the meet carried Patriot’s team to victory.

“We have to hold her back,” coach Mike Mangan said of Murphy. “She wants to do everything, but I want her to be good years from now.”

Both Murphy and McArthur point to running as being large parts of their life, but for the better.

“It makes me feel alive,” Murphy said. “It’s my favorite part of the day” Murphy’s Lake Braddock team returns six of seven state championship team members that finished a close second to Oakton, where Casey Kendall will be taking the reins this year.

She followed her older sister, Kira, onto the team, forsaking lacrosse, basketball and soccer, and being rewarded heartily. She was fourth at last year’s state meet, right behind Allie Klimkiewicz, who graduated.

Kendall sees running as a sport that gives you a chance to see your efforts add up to something. As the team captain, that’s what she’d tell someone considering joining the team.

“Running’s a hard sport, mentally and physically,” she said. “If you’re willing to put in a good effort and put your heart into it, you’ll have a good outcome.”

Her coach, Alisa Byers, doesn’t put any limits on what Kendall could do this year.

“I expect everything from her,” she said.

“She’s a fierce competitor, but she’s also super disciplined. She can pace herself in workouts in a way most sophomores can’t. She understands running and what goes into success.”

Two spots behind Kendall at the 6A meet, James Madison’s Devon Williams was still getting the hang of cross country, having been more of a track-focused runner before. She overtook her teammate Amanda Swaak in the last mile and paced the Warhawks to a third-place finish.

As an 800 meter runner, she just tried to stay calm early on in races and push the middles until she could kick her way home.

“I just have to stay with the pack,” she said.

“The middle is the hard part, but I feel like with a full summer of training, I’ll be a lot stronger.”

The Centreville duo Brent Baily and Dan Horoho are pulling

W.T. Woodson senior BOBBY LOCKWOOD

16 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

George C. Marshall sophomore HEATHER HOLT

each other, and the Centreville team, higher and higher in the results. They missed the state meet by two points, but with two front runners, they have less to worry about while trying to get to the Plains for this year’s championship meet.

An arm injury as a freshman convinced baseball player Bailey, now a senior, to give track a try. After a 4:45 mile, he felt like he found a new home. But like a fixer-upper, that home needed work, and it wasn’t just painting shutters.

“The practices are rough,” he said. “You get home and want to just lie down for a half an hour before you can do anything else.”

Horoho, a junior, has been running a little longer, since he was a kid, jogging up the block when his father did PT work for the Army. He looked into running as he approached high school and picked up where he left off, and then some.

The pair is pretty close, and though they had teammates to keep them company while each of them was sidelined with an injury last spring, it wasn’t quite the same.

“I can tell if he’s behind me in a race because I know what his breathing sounds like,” Bailey said. “You could go out and run, but it just wasn’t as enjoyable (without him).”

Freshmen sensations Heather Holt started off running at George Marshall to meet new people. Coming for the International Baccalaureate program meant she was going to be mixed in with a lot of classmates she didn’t know from middle school, but luckily several friends from her soccer team decided to run and with a little prompting from her twin sister Ashley, she became a runner.

The pair got their start running at the Braddock Relays before they were unleashed at the Oatlands Invitational, where they finished together in eighth and ninth, a second ahead of Walter Johnson freshman Abbey Green, another All-RunWashington honoree.

The twins broke the tape together at the Oktoberfest Invitational at Great Meadows, and then Heather started to pull away from Ashley at the 5A North Regional meet. At the state championships, the pair pulled away from two pursuers until Ashley was overcome by the heat and did not finish. Heather went on to win by more than 20 seconds.

Walter Johnson sophomore ABBEY GREEN RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY CHARLIE BAN

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 17

Robinson senior HUNTER JUTRAS

Coming back with a year of experience will allow Holt to approach races more authoritatively.

“I’ll have more confidence and I’ll go into races knowing more about what I want to do, instead of just running and seeing how things turn out,” she said.

Coach Darrell General helped her refine her form, shifting her away from a heel strike that caused persistent tendonitis.

Last year, Marshall’s girls team made the state meet for the first time, and with six of seven from the state team returning from a sixth place finish, they have their eyes on the Nike Cross National meet.

Meanwhile, Green, who finished right behind the Holts at Oatlands, came into a different team situation. The Wildcats won the Maryland 4A team title over Bethesda-Chevy Chase and seemed strong enough on their own, but Green’s emergence, typically as the team’s second finisher, helped put them over the top while the repeated as state champions, with her in the lead in fourth place.

She knew she was a decent runner, finishing first at gym class miles throughout elementary school, but there was still a little doubt as she started ninth grade.

“I was terrified,” she said, leading up to Walter Johnson’s first dual meet. By the end of October, though, she was the 4A regional champion.

Swimming, once her bread and butter, was going stale, and running would take precedence.

“I like the hills,” she said. “My worst races come on flat courses.”

Holding the Old Line Rohann Asfaw was the only Maryland boy to make the All-RunWashington team, but he does so behind a tenacious sophomore year that saw him make tremendous gains not only in his performances, but the evolution of his motivation to run.

He started running as an eighth grader to lose weight.

“It was my 2013 New Year’s resolution,” he said. “I ran for 10 minutes a day, that’s all I could do then.”

But as the weight came off, he found his love for running had evolved.

“I started enjoying it,” he said. “I wanted

Paint Branch senior BETHLEHEM TAYE RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY CHARLIE BAN

18 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

Lake Braddock senior BEN FOGG

to get better.”

Asfaw has done pretty well, winning the DCXC sophomore race, and placing third at the county championships.

He wants to improve his finish at the state meet, where he was eighth in 4A last year, the third underclassman. He earned it.

“I thought I was going to pass out,” he said, still a little shell shocked from his first race at Hereford.

A 25th place finish at the 4A meet would seem inauspicious for Paint Branch senior Bethlehem Taye, certainly now that she’s the defending 3,200 meter champion.

“She’s an incredible rhythm runner,” coach Mark Anderson said. “She can just tear off some intervals so smoothly.”

The Burke Bunch Lake Braddock won last year’s 6A title with 1-2 finishes from now-graduated Alex Corbett and Kevin Monogue, but the Bruins have a pair of seniors ready to take over where the team left off last fall.

It’s that attitude, Mangan said, that will draw senior Ben Fogg, a 1:54 half miler, into the fray.

“If you ask him, he’d rather run an 800, but he’ll be willing to do a little more to make up for Alex and Kevin graduating,” he said. “He’s got the chops to run whatever distance we need.”

He demonstrated that with an 18th place finish at the state meet.

“Yeah, I’d rather run the 800 instead of the 5k, but you get a sense of the team in cross country in a way you don’t in track,” Fogg said.

Colin Schaefer, who ran 15:00 at Burke Lake’s 2.98 mile course last year before finishing seventh at the 6A state meet, has recovered from a stress fracture in his foot that took him out of the end of the track season.

He moved last year from Nevada (see Military Running, page 10) and is getting his first full cross country offseason with his teammates.

“I’m getting used to the humidity,” he said. “I can handle the heat.”

At nearby Robinson, senior Hunter Jutras is a product of his family’s penchant for running. They all participated in the Army Ten-Miler last year, and older brother Justin blazed a path through the Rams program ahead of Hunter.

“He’s got more of a kick in his legs than

Richard Montgomery junior ROHANN ASFAW

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 19

Heritage senior WEINI KELATI RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL

he realizes,” said coach Nils Lindenblad.

He’ll be kicking without his graduated teammate Patrick Meyers, who lead his and Jutras’ 14-15 finish in the 6A meet last November.

Who was that?

Spectators asked two questions when Heritage’s Weini Kelati tore around the Oatlands Invitational with ease, stopping to tie her shoe. How fast is she going to run, and who is this girl?

Getting answers wasn’t easy for the Eritrean emigre who arrived in Leesburg shortly after the season started. She of the 9:02 3000 meter the prior summer was only beginning to learn English but almost a year in, she has a better grasp of the language and culture, thanks in large part to her teammates.

Her cousin and guardian Amlesom Telaki knew his way around Northern Virginia’s cross country courses, himself a Foot Locker Cross Country finalist while at West Springfield. She started out as a freshman academically, but her age gives her one more year of athletic eligibility.

She has taken an interest in history since arriving at Heritage.

“I know there are times what the history book says isn’t the truth,” she said. “I think there’s a lot to learn from history.”

She’d prefer to dispense with the mile and two mile and move up immediately to the half marathon, on her way to her dream.

“I want to be the Olympic champion in the marathon,” she said.

She met her match late in the season in E.C. Glass sophomore Libby Davidson, who stymied her for the 4A title, but Kelati made the Foot Locker national meet, where she finished 20th.

Though the spring track season wasn’t great, she has thrived on the hot, muggy days during her base training, which reminds her of home.

“I like the heat,” she said. “I run faster when it’s hot.”

Lanky Guys Long limbs help runners cover ground with fewer strides, and Stone Bridge’s Jack Morton and Georgetown day School’s Tristan Colazzi both take advantage of that.

Morton lives a world apart from most Northern Virginia runners. When the

Stone Bridge senior JACK MORTON

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postseason begins, he’s off in the 5A division, where he finished fifth last year.

Morton, a senior, trains with classmate Andrew Matson, and the two led their team to a third place finish.

The opportunity to run presented itself when Morton decided to join a team in ninth grade but realized he was missing some important equipment — hand-eye coordination.

“It turned out running was right for me,” he said with a laugh.

He applied his passion for running to his Eagle Scout project — organizing the Divine Mercy 5k.

Colazzi, winner of the junior race at the inaugural DCXC Invitational, was injured for more than a month in the winter, and spent that time stewing on a stationary bike. While he didn’t make the cut in the Penn Relays mile, he did run 4:16.22 in mid-June. He then quadrupled at his conference track meet, keeping Georgetown Day School ahead of the Potomac School.

The lone D.C. school honoree on the preseason All-RunWashington team spent his summer working at Pacers Running Store in Clarendon.

“I like running so much, I figured I’d spend even more time around it,” he said.

Making his name in Virginia running He’s not the second coming of Bobby Lockhart, the 2001 Foot Locker runner-up, he’s Bobby Lockwood, a senior from W.T. Woodson The mile to me feels like a sprint, you’re just trying to gut it out” he said. “The two mile and cross country give you more time to work with.”

He finished 19th in Virginia’s 6A meet, and new coach Dave O’Hara has high hopes for Lockwood’s improvement.

“It will all come down to that first race, really,” he said. “If he believes in our approach and runs that race he’s capable of and buys in, there’s no telling what he could do.

He was a football player that thenWoodson coach Kelly Davidson convinced him he had a future in running. He couldn’t be fattened up for the gridiron, and his mom agreed, happy she didn’t have to try.

Part-timers Page Lester and Taylor Knibb look to

All-RunWashington

Abigail Green Heather Holt Weini Kelati Casey Kendall Taylor Knibb Page Lester Rachel McArthur Kate Murphy Bethlehem Taye Devon Williams Rohann Asfaw Brent Bailey Tristan Colaizzi Ben Fogg Dan Horoho Hunter Jutras Andrew Hunter Robert Lockwood Jackson Morton Colin Schaefer

So. Walter Johnson So. George Marshall Sr. Heritage Jr. Oakton Sr. Sidwell Friends School So. National Cathedral School Jr. Patriot Jr. Lake Braddock Sr. Paint Branch Jr. James Madison Jr. Richard Montgomery Sr. Centreville Sr. Georgetown Day School Sr. Lake Braddock Sr. Centreville Sr. Robinson Sr. Loudoun Valley Sr. WT Woodson Sr. Stone Bridge Sr. Lake Braddock

All-D.C.

A’Ishah Bakayoko Sr. Georgetown Day School Erin Bell Sr. National Cathedral School Michaela Kirvan So. Georgetown Visitation Ellie Leape Jr. Sidwell Friends Mayim Lehrich Jr. Wilson Arrington Peterson Jr. Wilson Katherine Treanor Sr. Georgetown Day School Sam Blazes Sr. Sidwell John Colucci So. Gonzaga Jacob Floam Sr. Gonzaga Drew Glick Sr. Wilson Tyreece Huff Sr. Phelps Harry Monroe Jr. Gonzaga Christian Roberts Jr. Sidwell

All-Maryland

Grace Dellapa Sr. Wootton Amanda Hayes-Puttfarcken Sr. Sherwood Katriane Kirsch Jr. Walter Johnson Sami King Sr. Whitman Emily Murphy Sr. Walter Johnson Claudia Wendt So. Good Counsel Olivia Woods Jr. Whitman Michael Abebe Sr. Northwood Ben Gersch Sr. Whitman Dylan Kannapell Sr. BCC Kevin McGivern Sr. Good Counsel Colin Sybing Sr. Wootton Liam Walsh Sr. Quince Orchard Jack Wavering Sr. Good Counsel

All-Virginia

Jeana Bogdon Jill Bracaglia Sarah Daniels Sophia Divone Daly Ferguson Sara Freix Morgan Wittrock Max Carpenter Bryce Catlett Nate Foss Andrew Lackey Brandon McGorty Zach Lindsey Saurav Velleleth

Sr. James Madison Sr. Oakton So. Lake Braddock So. Langley Sr. Lake Braddock Sr. Westfield Sr. James Madison Sr. George Marshall Sr. Osbourn Park Sr. Thomas Jefferson S&T Sr. West Springfield Jr. Chantilly Jr. West Potomac Jr. Thomas Jefferson S&T

COACHES PANEL

John Ausema Gonzaga Gaby Grebski Sidwell Friends Steve Hays Walt Whitman Kevin Hughes Georgetown Visitation Mike Mangan Lake Braddock Chris Pellegrini West Springfield Kellie Redmond T.S. Wootton Scott Silverstein Winston Churchill Cindy Walls Bishop O’Connell

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 21

Sidwell Friends School senior TAYLOR KNIBB

be the top D.C. runners, both finishing high during invitationals and championships races — Knibb won both the D.C. state meet and the D.C. and Maryland Private Schools Championship.

“It’s all good cross training,” she said. “I have little things, here and there — a sore hip — but I haven’t been injured. I’m only running about three or four days a week.”

Already family friends, Knibb influenced Lester, whose mother is an accomplished triathlete, in giving the sport a shot. Now the two travel all over the country, and the world, competing in triathlons. Lester looks at Knibb as a role model, in addition to being a good friend. But Knibb knows that friendship means nothing when they leave the starting line.

“Last year at the Maryland and D.C. Private Schools Championship, I started running hard three-quarters of a mile in, because I was worried about Page’s kick,” Knibb said. “I never knew how close everyone else was until I saw photos of the race. I didn’t have as much of a lead as I thought.”

That’s her style, though. In running or bicycling, he likes to take control and influence the race.

“When people are drafting on their bikes, I like to go ahead and see how much time I can put on them,” she said.

Lester is spending most of her time in the pool — roughly 10 or 12 hours a week, and keeps her mileage “really low.”

“Swimming is where I have to put most of my time to be a good triathlete,” she said. “I also like to sleep a lot.”

Here We Go The cross country season starts in earnest Sept. 12, at the Monroe Parker Invitational at Burke Lake, almost entirely Virginia teams.

Then runners start crossing the rivers at the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg (Sept. 19), the DCXC Invitational in Washington, D.C. (Sept.

26), the Glory Days Invitational in Centreville, Va. (Oct. 10), D.C. Championships (Oct. 31), Maryland public schools state meet and D.C. –Maryland Private Schools Championship (Nov. 6), Virginia state meet (Nov. 13-14), the Foot Locker South and Nike Cross Southeast Regional meets (Nov. 27) and the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships and Nike Cross Nationals (Dec. 12).

RunWashington will track the progress of the All-RunWashington preseason team members week by week and, in addition to weekly race coverage, will call attention to significant team and individual performances.

Stay tuned to www.runwashington.com, where you can see stories about cross country under the DCXC tab.

National Cathedral School sophomore PAGE LESTER

22 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

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Marc and Joan Hunter, the head coaches at South Lakes High School, knew they had a superstar.

They marveled as this kid finished second in the state in cross country. They watched in awe as the freshman — a freshman — went on to win the two mile in the spring.

Marc and Joan had met through coaching.

Marc was then in his 10th year at South Lakes and Joan had joined him there after getting her own start at James Madison High School.

Marc had been an All-American who had discovered a passion for coaching after being sidelined by injuries. Joan had been a successful middle distance runner with a background in exercise physiology who came to enjoy coaching more than her own running.

This is to say that the Hunters were pretty pumped to have a kid, like Alan Webb, who was “off the charts,” said Marc. “We were just going [crazy]” thinking about his potential.

The thing was, the Hunters had other kids, too: three of them, all toddlers. Thus, their dilemma.

“There was just no way to be good parents with three toddlers and be good year-round coaches,” Joan said, reflecting on their decision to retire from coaching after Webb’s freshman year.

“Everyone was telling me I was nuts,” Marc said, who helped hire Scott Raczko, his and Joan’s replacement. “I thought I was nuts. But family comes first.”

In his senior season Webb would become the fourth American high-schooler to break four minutes in the mile and the fastest prep miler of all time. His run of 3:53.43 at that year’s Prefontaine Classic shattered a record, then held by Jim Ryun, that had stood for 36 years.

The Hunters had missed their shot.

Or maybe they hadn’t.

If you had gone to a South Lakes practice in 1997 or 1998 you certainly would have seen a freshman-year Webb zipping through a workout. You also might have seen, somewhere on the periphery of it all, a kid playing in a sandbox.

This was Drew Hunter, Joan’s and Marc’s second child. And Drew is now a rising senior at Loudoun Valley High School. And Joan and Marc are now Loudoun Valley’s cross country and track coaches; they’re heading into the third year of their second coaching career.

And Drew, as it turns out, is now something of a superstar himself.

This year he might even become the eighth American high schooler to break four minutes in the mile. Or the first boy from Northern Virginia to win the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship.

Discovering the point

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTOS BY ED LULL

Marc and Joan Hunter have nine children, including five whom they adopted. They’ve encouraged their children to play a sport to stay active, Joan said, and all of them have done at least some running, but none of have

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 25

taken to it like Drew.

But he didn’t take to the sport right away.

Or at least he did not like it right away.

When he was 9 or 10, Drew participated in youth track. He broke three minutes for 800 meters, which was pretty impressive, except he hated every step of it.

“I remember him coming up to us one time after winning some races and saying, ‘Can I talk to you guys?’” Marc said. “[Drew said] ‘I really don’t like running. I know I’m good, but I don’t like it. It’s too hard. I don’t want to do this anymore.’”

Marc continued: “We just went, ‘Oh, gosh, we don’t want you to run if you don’t like it.

That’s why we coach. We love the sport. It doesn’t mean you have to love the sport.’”

So Drew quit.

“We just didn’t make him run ever again,” Joan said. “He was such a good athlete there was no reason to make him run track, just to be active. He was playing basketball and football and baseball and he was good at those things. We just said: ‘you do what you want to do.’”

He did, however, have to run a mile in gym class. But even after clocking around 5:20 as an eighth grader, Drew still wasn’t digging it.

At that time, he said, “I just kind of assumed if you were good at it you had to do it, and that’s kind of why I did it.” Running for Drew was like a Plan C, “something for people who could not do another sport,” Joan said.

His parents were surprised, then, when Drew told them he was going out for cross country. This news broke about a month before the start of cross country season, after which “I trained like three days a week, running 30 minutes just like every other day, jogging,” Drew said.

His attitude, his parents said, was not impressing them much, either.

“We actually kind of tried to talk him out of doing [cross country] before ninth grade … because we love the sport [and] we kind of got tired of hearing him put the sport down,” Joan said. “We were like, if you think it’s so stupid, don’t do it.”

Marc, on the other hand, was “ecstatic” when Drew placed seventh in Loudoun Valley’s time trial, positioning himself to make varsity.

The team had not exactly been a powerhouse in recent years, but Marc still found the result to be encouraging. “Obviously, little did I know what was about to happen,” he said.

In the first meet, Drew was Loudoun’s number three. By the fourth meet he was the best on the team. He might have even qualified for the state meet had he not gotten sick the week of regionals.

When basketball season rolled around, and Drew rolled his ankle, the family saw how his priorities had rapidly turned. His dad met him in the locker room to help him tape the ankle and heard the words, “I’m quitting.”

Marc recalled: “And I said, ‘No, you can’t quit; it’s the middle of the season!’ He said, ‘No, I mean after this basketball season, I’m done with other sports; I’m just going to

26 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

concentrate on cross country and track.’”

“I felt like,” Drew said, “if I started training more seriously, especially ran every day and started actually putting forth the effort that I put into other sports, then I could probably be decent at it. And I think that the next summer” — after making all-state in the outdoor two mile — “was when I took off because that was when I really caught the running bug.”

In the fall, Marc and Joan, seeing their son transformed and wanting to make sure he got good coaching, took over Loudoun Valley’s cross country and track programs.

Drew, meanwhile, won his first cross country state championship.

Penn Relays 3,000m High School Championship, 2014 It was a huge field and the start was hectic. The boys shot out, lurching. Drew Hunter, on the rail, seeded 14th facing the best high schoolers in the country, reached out and put his hand on the back in front of him to stay balanced. The kids behind him did the same to him.

The announcers on Flotrack, during the first lap, said he was from “Luden” Valley.

They said this as you saw him shoot out to the second lane and squeeze past two guys to stay in the middle of the pack.

Early in the race there were times he would fall out of the picture. Lap by lap,

though, he moved up a little more through the pack — his form more athletic than classic; his posture very upright; his head bobbing a bit. (Was he hurting or not hurting at all?)

At the bell lap Hunter was there at the front. With 300 to go, he made his move, kicking into the lead.

It looked like he had it won, too. But then Justyn Knight, of Toronto, threw in a big surge and pulled up next to him and it looked like Knight might roll him.

As soon as Knight pulled up next to him, though, Hunter responded with a savage surge and rocketed ahead in the final straight.

Oh my gosh - what? WHAT? Hello! Those were the words from the FloTrack broadcast announcing that Hunter had run 8:16.31, a new sophomore class record, and had won with a ridiculous kick.

“That was the first time I ever had a kick, ever — and after that it’s what I can trust and rely on,” Hunter said.

In one race he had established himself as one of the top high school runners in the country and had dialed in on a very simple race strategy going forward.

“Going into races my mindset is to win,” he said. “And if I win, then a good time, good result will come… It’s not complicated. It’s not try to run this split and this split on the second lap. It’s really just put yourself in a position to win on bell lap.”

Hunter, in his sophomore season, won state mile and two mile titles and was runnerup in the two mile at the New Balance

JOAN, DREW and MARC HUNTER. RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 27

National Outdoors meet. He also ran 4:09 for 1,600 meters.

The Drew Project Marc and Joan Hunter had last coached during an era in American distance running that valued low-mileage, high-intensity training.

There is a reason that the United States squads for the 2000 Olympic marathon were each teams of one. “We just did not have good distance runners for the most part,” said Joan, who writes Drew’s workouts.

Joan’s own philosophy about training changed when she turned to Tom Schwartz, perhaps better known in the LetsRun.com world as “Tinman,” for advice on competing in masters track.

Joan, as it turned out, liked nothing more than doing a dozen really-fast 200s.

Schwartz had other ideas, like running more miles, doing longer intervals with shorter rest periods, and doing tempo runs. Joan, in turn, started running some of the best masters times in the country at everything from 400 meters to 5k. And Schwartz now helps write Drew’s training, as well.

Drew ran about 65 miles per week last year, rarely resting before races. This year he aims to run about 70 miles per week.

“It’s not what I would call high mileage,” Joan said, “but it is certainly more than I ran in high school.”

Meanwhile, for someone who begrudgingly took up cross country, Drew has been quick to his adjust his lifestyle. He credited his leap in his performances during his sophomore year to consistent training, eating better, and sleeping more. “I think when you are training at a high level you have to do the little things,” he said.

For Drew, doing things right also can mean training alone, though he noted that some of his best friends are his cross country teammates.

Doing things right also meant staying in Loudoun County recently while the rest of the Hunters went on a vacation to the beach. First, he isn’t a fan of running on the beach. Second, he had just started his summer training and was eager to get back into his routine.

“I wanted to keep the ball rolling,” he said. “I kind of wanted to focus and make training the priority.”

Part of what has Drew so focused is the realization, really, that if his parents can do it, he probably can, too.

When he was growing up, he would watch his mom compete and see how good she was. His dad, who could not run after 23, only had stories and times, but eventually it all clicked.

“I mean, if you tell an 8-year-old your 5k PR is 13:36, you’re not going to have any idea what that is,” Drew said. “Once I started running freshman and sophomore year, I realized how good my dad was. That also kind of gave me more motivation to go after his

28 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

prs and try to be as good as him.”

Brooks PR Invitational 2 mile, 2015 In his junior year appearance at the Penn Relays Drew Hunter won the mile in 4:07, becoming the first prep runner since Matthew Centrowitz to win both of the event’s individual distance races.

Prior to the Brooks PR Invitational he had lowered his mile best to 4:02.36. This is in addition to winning everything in Virginia there was to win, including running 14:36 to set a meet and course record in the state cross country meet.

Frankly though, heading into June’s Brooks PR Invitational, in Seattle, some thought Grant Fisher, from Michigan, was unbeatable. Fisher had recently become the seventh high school runner to break four minutes in the mile. He had not lost to another high school runner in years. That included a healthy margin over Hunter, who was fourth at last year’s Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, one of the deepest high school championships in history.

It looked at times like Fisher was just cruising along, floating behind Mikey Brannigan through the mile in 4:24. He is a lean yet powerful runner with seemingly perfect arm swings.

The last time they had raced, Hunter was with right with him with 200 meters to go. Fifty meters later, though, he got tripped up and couldn’t make up the gap. It was disappointing for Hunter but also instilled in him the belief that he could be the one to break Fisher’s winning streak. This time, he would use the same race strategy: kick with 400 to go; try to accelerate every 100 meters; in the stretch “just outrun him.”

With 600 to go, Fisher moved into a clear lane and seemed to be biding his time.

Hunter’s game was cat and mouse: he was out in lane two off Fisher’s shoulder. At the bell he popped out a little further into lane two to get some space and then he went, bolting, Fisher closing right with him. The rest of the field disappeared. It was Fisher and Hunter, hammering, strides overlapping in a way that conjured that mystical Tergat-Gebreselassie moment. This was anyone’s race. And there was 100 to go. There was 50 to go … and Hunter, like at Penn, found that gear and blasted ahead, winning in 8:42.51, by a second.

“Grant’s one of my good friends,” Hunter said. “He’s a great guy, and he’s one of the guy’s I’ve looked up to.”

Which is nice sportsmanship. But Hunter, too, is a sportsman. Competing is what makes him tick.

He then said: “But I think it’s necessary.

Track and field needs rivalries. I am excited to race him again in college. It should be a blast.”

Hunter might end up being number eight.

But it also seems like he’ll need a race to win to do it. And that’s a good thing.

MIKE STUBBS tours his creation—the Bullis School’s cross country course.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTOS

BY MARLEEN VAN DEN NESTE

30 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

BY JACQUELINE KLIMAS Around the athletic fields, through the woods, up and down rolling hills then a wide-open 50 meter uphill sprint to the finish.

“I can go through every inch of it,” said Mike Stubbs, the former cross country coach at Bullis School in Potomac, Md. Stubbs may no longer work at Bullis, but he can still walk you through a step-by-step tour of the cross country course he built there — some parts with his bare hands — in Summer 2011.

“My now-wife felt she was the mistress, and the cross country course was the fiance at the time. There were a lot of days sun up to sun down,” he said. “To run on something that you built like that is one of the coolest things ever. I don’t think a lot of people will get that experience of putting a lot of energy into building something like that and then be able to run on it.”

Stubbs, who ran in high school and college, taught at Bullis for three years in addition to coaching the cross country team, as well as the track and baseball teams. He said he believes being 100 percent involved in a school lets teachers have “more of an impact” on students’ lives and a “more holistic view of a child’s education.”

Given his interest in getting more involved in the school, Stubbs took the opportunity to plan out and create a new, more challenging cross country course on 24 acres of land next to the campus that the school purchased in 2011.

“I love solving problems, so I thought this was an unbelievable opportunity to build something that would be awesome for school and an incredible challenge for me,” he said.

“We had an old cross country course, it was fine, but I wanted to build something that was truly an awesome course.”

First, Stubbs had to get detailed blueprints of the new land and map out a course that was exactly 5000 meters, despite streams, trees, county conservation rules and other obstacles along the way. The process involved a lot of “trial and error,” he said.

Once he had a definite route, Stubbs got to work actually clearing the course. While some of the grounds staff at Bullis assisted with parts of the trail clearing, Stubbs often worked alone throughout the summer to be prepared for the school’s first meet in the beginning of September.

“Cutting through the woods with an ax, that was pretty much all me,” he said. “That involved clearing the trail and making sure it was wide enough for people to run fast through.”

Another challenge was flattening out much of the mile and a quarter of the course that ran through grasslands, which wasn’t level enough to be safe for running, especially for

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 31

32 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

a large group to run fast across, Stubbs said.

“We had to basically try lots of different techniques to flatten out the ground, turning it up, rolling through it with some device to tear the ground up, then flattening the ground,” he said. “The last thing I want is kids breaking their ankles. That was a serious concern of mine, because the ground was not completely flat and stable.”

His intimate knowledge of the course gave his athletes a home field advantage — like being prepared for the short uphill finish that may have caught visiting students by surprise.

“I would know it was coming,” said Brooke Gutschick, who ran on Stubbs’ cross country team and graduated from Bullis in 2013. “That part was my favorite just because I knew I was almost done and I knew how to successfully finish and pass people.”

In addition to helping his athletes be prepared by knowing where they should push it and where they should hold back, Stubbs said the team saw how much time he put into building the course. That commitment, he said, showed them how much their coach cared about them and inspired them to succeed.

“I didn’t get paid to build it, I could’ve easily not done that,” he said. “Seeing that passion really rubbed off on them.”

Gutschick said running the course knowing that her coach was willing to put in that much effort really inspired her to do her best.

“It motivates us as runners to want to perform better and put more effort in because we know he’s put the effort in to design a new course,” said Gutschick, who is going into her junior year at Gettysburg College. “Realizing that he put a lot of time into planning the course made it that much more fun to run for me.”

She said the course designed by Stubbs is one of the more challenging she ever ran in high school, which both left her more prepared for difficult, hilly races on other courses and made other schools take Bullis’ running program more seriously.

“Having a more challenging course made the schools think twice about how good we were, but it also helped us improve as athletes and helped us improve in terms of how competitive we were in our respective league,” she said.

The hard work paid off: Bullis held the Montgomery County Independent School Championship meet in 2012 on the course Stubbs designed and built, a point Stubbs still takes pride in.

“Other coaches say it’s the best course in the county,” he said. “A coach at a nearby school said he felt it was the smoothest course his kids would ever run on.”

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 33

Sunday, October 4, 2015 TM

R U N N I N G F E S T I VA L 2 0 1 6

MAY 8

Rockville, MD

RUN DELAWARE

the First State’s

10K, 5K, 1 Mile, and Fun Run

MARATHON

For registration and information

www.smithlifecommunities.org

Sponsored by:

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Join the Fleet Feet training program.

Information at fleetfeetgaithersburg.com

Wilmington, Delaware

Marathon • Half Marathon • Relay Marathons

Race proceeds benefit Charles E. Smith Life Communities, the largest senior services provider in our region for more than 105 years.

Enter at www.delawaremarathon.org PO Box 24, Montchanin, DE 19710 • 302-654-6400 TITLE SPONSOR

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Become more than a runner.

Become a St. Jude Hero and run for a reason.

Experience an act greater than finishing a race; become a hero for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.® St. Jude is working towards a day when no child dies in the dawn of life. You can help us close the distance.

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October 17, 2015 Baltimore, MD

October 25, 2015 Arlington, VA No federal or Marine Corps endorsement is implied.

December 5, 2015 Memphis, TN

BY DUSTIN RENWICK

KEVIN MILSTED chats with Albert Einstein coach ERIC DASILVA during a Spring 2015 track meet.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTOS BY MARLEEN VAN DEN NESTE

For three months in 2012, a small corner of the Internet — the world for high school runners in Montgomery County — went dark. Kevin Milsted, the man behind MoCo Running, took his website offline. He thought he’d had enough.

Burned out and having lost his full-time job, Milsted decided it was time to give up the website that been consuming so much of his time, energy and soul. He spent entire weekends going to races, writing articles, producing videos. Sundays were spent upgrading the website.

“That was a big moment,” he said.

But three months later, he was back online.

“I guess I missed it,” he said. “When I started this new job, I knew I couldn’t do it like I used to do it. My feeling was, I don’t want to do it if I can’t give it my all,” as he had for seven years.

Milsted started MoCo Running in college and said he initially predicted it would last about 10 days. “I thought it was going to fail,” he said. “I thought I was going to get eaten alive — the culture of message boards.”

Now MoCo Running is the go-to resource for news about all things running in the county.

“It’s a huge database and a huge resource for any track coach,” said Davy Rogers, head cross country and track coach at Richard Montgomery High School.

Rogers returned to coaching at the school in 2008 and found his athletes talking about the site.

“I was amazed with how much stuff he’d already gotten on there,” Rogers said.

“It was a great thing to see for the running community. We’d never had that before.”

Milsted ran in high school in Gaithersburg, and stayed in the D.C. area to run at Catholic University. Those roots simultaneously kept him grounded in the region’s running history and provided perspective for what was missing. He noticed that results from the gobs of dual track meets in the area weren’t available online.

“I really liked following the high school scene,” Milsted said. “Nobody knew who was winning. Early on I knew that was something I wanted to do to distinguish myself.”

He emailed coaches and met them at meets. Like a politician shaking hands, Milsted built trust with county coaches and convinced them that taking a few minutes to submit results for the website would benefit

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 35

their programs.

“All the kids in MoCo flocked to it,” said Herb Tolbert, head cross country coach at Gaithersburg High School. “That’s where you went. There wasn’t a whole lot out there where you could find information.”

Tolbert coached Milsted in high school. He said his former athlete created a resource that provided benefits for area athletes and coaches.

“You could go and find out who you had to beat,” Tolbert said. “You could come back and tell your kids: this is how far behind [you are], or this is what you need to do. It was a great tool.”

Although Milsted has run four marathons, he doesn’t run much anymore. The website has become his direct connection to the running world. For a few years, though, the digital side of running consumed him.

He worked full time and put in 35 hours a week on MoCoRunning. In the spring, for instance, he’d leave work at 3 p.m. and drive to track meets two days each week, and then spend Saturday at another meet.

Even labors of love can lose the love.

“The amount of time,” he said, “I don’t even want to think about it. I was admittedly pretty burned out toward the end of that.”

36 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

So when he resumed the site in 2012, he refocused with a goal of sustainability.

“I want to keep doing it as long as I can,” he said. “That means not killing myself over it.”

He now picks a Saturday meet with the most county schools represented to maximize his impact.

“Kevin brought something to the local area that really changed the way kids viewed racing and training,” Rogers said.

The site no longer emphasizes the intricate details of week-to-week running performances. Instead, Milsted adds the context to those fall cross country outings and spring runs, jumps, and throws.

“The engineer part of me – I really like the stats,” Milsted said. “You have all these events and the stopwatch and the measuring tape.

You can compare that universally across the state, across the country, across all of time.”

Like the distance runner who trades speed for longevity, the website has transformed to provide value in new ways.

“There’s no place that gives you the backstory and the follow-up on all the athletes,” Tolbert said. “Kevin does that better than anybody. We’d miss it if it were not around.”

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PHOTO BY KYLE GUSTAFSON/SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY

9/19/2015 8/18/2015

5K/10K ON THE RUNWAY DULLES AIRPORT, VA.

PAUL THURSTON 4.5 MILER

9/12/2015

FAIRFAX STATION, VA.

RECTIFY: THE RACE 5K

9/19/2015

8/22/2015

GREENBELT, MD.

CURE SMA 5K LORTON, VA.

EASTERN COUNTY 8K

9/12/2015

SILVER SPRING, MD.

911 HEROES RUN

9/20/2015

8/23/2015

ALEXANDRIA, VA.

39TH METRIC RUNNING FESTIVAL COLUMBIA, MD.

FREE THE CAPTIVE,

9/12/2015

FIGHT THE TRAFFICKER 5K

ARLINGTON 9/11 MEMORIAL 5K

9/20/2015

SILVER SPRING, MD.

ARLINGTON, VA.

NAVY-AIR FORCE HALF MARATHON/

8/23/2015

9/12/2015

BIGFOOT TRAIL RUN

6K FOR WATER

MCLEAN, VA.

MANASSAS, VA.

8/23/2015

9/13/2015

SOUTH LAKES 10K

REVENGE OF THE PENGUINS

RESTON , VA.

10 MILE/20 MILE

9/25/2015

9/5/2015

CARDEROCK, MD.

REV3GLOW RUN

NAVY 5 MILER WASHINGTON, D.C.

9/20/2015 FOOD FOR OTHERS TYSONS 5K MCLEAN, VA.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

ELLICOTT CITY LABOR DAY

9/13/2015

RUNNING CLASSIC 5K/10K

DAMASCUS FREEDOM 5K

9/26/2015

ELLICOTT CITY, MD.

DAMASCUS, MD.

DCXC OPEN YOUTH RACE

9/5/2015

9/13/2015

KENTLANDS/LAKELANDS 5K

PARKS HALF MARATHON

9/26/2015

GAITHERSBURG, MD.

ROCKVILLE, MD.

OKTOBERFEST 5K

9/5/2015

9/13/2015

RUN FOR HOPE

FALL BACKYARD BURN TRAIL

9/26/2015

ARLINGTON, VA.

RUNNING SERIES - RACE #1

CLARENDON DAY 5K/10K

9/5/2015

ANNANDALE, VA.

ARLINGTON, VA.

WOMEN OF NOBLE CHARACTER 5K

9/13/2015

9/26/2015

ALEXANDRIA, VA.

LATINAS LEADING TOMORROW 5K

5K FOR QUINCY

9/6/2015

ARLINGTON, VA.

WOODBRIDGE, VA.

LARRY NOEL GREENBELT 15K

9/13/2015

9/26/2015

GREENBELT, MD.

PVI RUNFEST 5K

FREEDOM 5K

9/6/2015

FAIRFAX, VA.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

GREAT AMERICAN LABOR DAY 5K

9/19/2015

9/26/2015

FAIRFAX , VA.

KENSINGTON 8K

DASH INTO THE 80S 5K/10K TRAIL RUN

9/12/2015

KENSINGTON, MD.

CLIFTON, VA.

ABEBE BIKILA DAY INTERNATIONAL PEACE

9/19/2015

9/27/2014

MARATHON & HALF

SUSCO 8K

ROCK THE CREEK RELAY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

RESTON, VA.

DERWOOD, MD.

38 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C.

POTOMAC, MD.

10/4/2015 HOME RUN 5K/10K ROCKVILLE, MD.

10/18/2015

9/27/2015

10/4/2015

RACE FOR EDUCATION 5K

BOO! RUN FOR LIFE 10K

RUNNING SERIES - RACE #3

WASHINGTON, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

RESTON, VA.

9/27/2015

10/4/2015

10/24/2015

ELLEN’S RUN 5K

4.01K RACE FOR RETIREMENT

RAFAEL’S RACE

CHEVY CHASE, MD.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

GREENBELT, MD.

9/27/2015

10/10/2015

10/24/2015

NATIONAL CAPITAL 20 MILER/5 MILER

FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER IN AMERICA

GREASY-GOONEY 10K

POTOMAC, MD.

WASHINGTON , D.C.

BROWNTOWN, VA.

9/27/2015

10/10/2015

10/24/2015

RUN! GEEK! RUN! 5K

LAW ENFORCEMENT

WALK FOR AUTISM - VIRGINIA: 5K

FAIRFAX, VA.

RUN TO REMEMBER

MANASSAS, VA.

9/27/2015

WASHINGTON, D.C.

10/24/2015

FALL BACKYARD BURN TRAIL

FALL BACKYARD BURN TRAIL

10/10/2015

RUNNING SERIES - RACE #2

BEST OF THE BEST 5K

ARLINGTON, VA.

GREAT FALLS, VA.

SILVER SPRING, MD.

9/27/2015

10/10/2015

10/25/2015

PERFECT 10 MILE/10K

GLORY DAYS GRILL 5K

FAIRFAX, VA.

RESTON , VA.

CENTREVILLE, VA.

9/27/2015

10/10/2015

10/25/2015

STRIDE FORWARD 5K

MATTHEW HENSON TRAIL 5K

ASHBURN, VA.

RESTON, VA.

SILVER SPRING, MD.

10/3/2015

10/11/2015

10/25/2015

DEAD MAN’S RUN 5K

RESTON PUMPKIN 5K

DERWOOD, MD.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

RESTON, VA.

10/3/2015

10/17/2015

10/25/2015

FALL IN LOVE 5K/10K

STONE RIDGE 5K

WASHINGTON, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

ALDIE, VA.

10/3/2015

10/17/2015

10/25/2015

COLLEGE PARK CARES 5K

DMV RUN FOR THE WARRIORS

MCLEAN , VA.

COLLEGE PARK , MD.

LORTON, VA.

10/3/2015

10/17/2015

10/31/2015

DIRTY DAMSEL WOMEN’S TRAIL RACE

BLACK HILL 10K

NATIONAL BANK MONSTER MILE

ROSARYVILLE, MD.

BOYDS, MD.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA.

10/3/2015

10/17/2015

10/31/2015

MCLEAN 5K

BALTIMORE RUNNING FESTIVAL

GHOST, GOBLINS & GHOULS

MCLEAN, VA.

BALTIMORE, MD.

SPOOKTACULAR 5K

10/4/2015

10/18/2015

ASHBURN, VA.

WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE

FALLEN HEROES MARATHON/

10/31/2015

HALF MARATHON

HALF MARATHON

FAIRFAX 5K

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD.

MANASSAS, VA.

FAIRFAX, VA.

PAWS 2 CARE 5K

GOBLIN GALLOP 5K

SPROUT 5K

CROSS COUNTRY ON THE FARM

WALK TO END HIV 5K

MONSTER MASH 5K

ANTHEM WICKED 10K/ OLD POINT

Upcoming races is not a comprehensive listing of road races, but are chosen for their proximity to the Washington, D.C. area. Listings are based largely on information provided by race directors on the free online race calendar at www. runwashington.com. It is wise to confirm event details with organizers before registering for an event. Date and times are subject to change.

The next issue, printing in midOctober, will include races from November 2015 to March 2016.

If you wish for your local race to be included, please add it to the online calendar by Sept. 28.

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 39

As two runners pass on an early morning shakeout, they nod and imagine saying to each other, “If nothing good happens today, at least we ran.”

Not Marla Westervelt.

“When someone waves to me, I wonder why,” she said. “I’m just thinking about how much I hate it.”

Though the love of running binds thousands of strangers in the D.C. area, some engage in it without pleasure. Why, then, are they doing it to themselves? Some want the exercise, some are triathletes and will have to run eventually, and some just don’t know.

Count Nida Ahmad among them.

“I find it boring,” she said. “I’ve tried listening to music, I’ve tried running with people, I’ve tried speed workouts, trails, everything. It just isn’t fun.”

Yet she still signs up for races and runs anyway when November Project friends pitch them. Why? “I feel accomplished after I’m finished,” she said.

She’s the outlier to the maxim “If you don’t like the journey, you’re not going to like the destination.”

Running is a big part of the journey for triathletes. If they want to get to the finish line, they’ll have to get through it. And sometimes it crushes their dreams.

“Having running at the end of a triathlon is a cruel joke,” said Mike Hughes, a D.C. resident in his first year of training. “You can cruise on a bike and coast for a little in the water, but when you’re running, you have to be ‘on’ the whole time or you won’t go anywhere.”

“In my first triathlon, I was first out of the water and held my own on the bike,” said David Kraft, of D.C. “When I got to running, everyone passed me.”

Kraft swam from the age of four until he graduated from Penn State, with a trip to the 2008 Olympic Trials along the way. He was already starting to get tired of “staring at a black line” at the bottom of the pool.

“I thought the word ‘Ironman’ sounded cool, so I bought a bike my junior year of college,” he said. But then he was confronted with a dramatic imbalance between the legs of the race, and even though he’s an elite swimmer, his prospects were grim.

In the eight years since he started, he’s filled out a Bingo card of injuries: shin splits, knee stuff, IT band. He’s been analyzing his struggle, and sees where things can go wrong but he can’t quite make them right. He bounds along, preferably on grass for a softer landing, and doesn’t seem to travel forward too much. And he’s learned the limits for how hard he can try.

“With the swimming and biking you can push yourself really hard and there’s no impact, but you can’t do that with running,” Kraft said. “If I try to apply the same effort to running, it is a disaster.”

Over the last two years, he’s had his best success running very easy. If he does any hard running, it’s on a track and he focuses entirely

40 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

on his mechanics. Afterward he spends about a half hour stretching, using a foam roller and “the stick.” And then Kraft has to do it the next day, too, lest he tighten up dramatically.

“I love that I can jump on the bike, ride 60 miles, roll for five minutes and I’m good to go,” he said. “The time and effort I have to put into running and staying healthy is getting to be a bit much.”

To the point where he is considering leaving the sport.

“I just don’t really enjoy running that much,” he said. “But I also don’t have anything left to prove to myself or others. I just dread going for a run.”

The closest he comes to enjoying his runs are a few miles in, when he has warmed up and his heart rate lowers.

“There’s not a whole lot of enjoyment when I’m out there, even for the easy days. I’m not looking around at the birds or the scenery. I just don’t know what it’s like to want to go for a run.”

Jessica Wyndham is taking the opposite approach and running directly at her weak point. She has signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon, but it’s a practical matter for her.

“If at any point I want to do an Ironman, I’ll have to run a marathon, so I’d better be able to do one,” she said.

She was on her secondary school cross country team in her native Australia, but participation was compulsory. She was much more interested in using running as a method to get up and down the netball court.

“It was running with a goal — getting to the ball,” she said. “I didn’t think about it as a sport.”

She had a backhanded compliment for it.

“I recognized that it was a good weight management tool,” she said, scraping the bottom of the barrel for kind words to pay running.

It’s easy for her to boil down her distaste.

“I wasn’t good at it, it hurt and it wasn’t fun,” she said.

Now she is in year three of triathlon training.

“It’s hard to stop in the middle of a bike ride or when you’re swimming, but it’s easy to stop running and walk,” she rationalized.

She also doesn’t have a family disposition toward running. Her father didn’t run marathons and didn’t have advice to hand down to her. In fact, her partial Cuban heritage would discourage it. “Cuban women don’t do things to make themselves sweat,” she said.

“They play leisurely games of tennis.”

“Maybe if I force myself to train, I’ll get better and enjoy it,” she said. “But I could also imagine finishing the marathon, feeling proud of myself and then not running for a long time.”

Kevin Mallon understands the frustrations that come with running.

To the athletes he coaches through Endorphin Fitness’ Fairfax location, he stresses goal setting and variety.

“It’s important to set goals, not just overall but in each workout,” he said. “It helps keep things interesting. And you can break the monotony by running trails or hills and doing track workouts.”

BY CHARLIE BAN

MARLA WESTERVELT glowers at the shoes that are the instruments of her torment.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY SARA ALEPIN/ PHOTOS FROM THE HARTY

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 41

Joining a group to be surrounded by likeminded athletes who can support a would-be runner may help.

That works for Erin Glavich, a D.C. member of the YTri triathlon club that also counts Westervelt, Hughes and Wyndham among its members.

“I need a team or a goal to keep me running,” she said. “I’ve never experienced what they call the Runner’s High,” she said.

“I’ve reached that Zen moment swimming, so I know it’s possible.”

Courtney Drake was motivated to run by abject and irrational terror.

“I started seeing all of these zombie movies and I realized I couldn’t run more than a mile if there was an apocalypse,” she said.

“Then I realized there were other practical reasons I should be able to run.”

Like Ahmad, she left few stones unturned.

“I tried intense pump up playlists, workouts, everything, but it wasn’t enjoyable,” she said. “I enjoy it more when it’s over than when I’m actually running.”

She’s had some help from the November Project with that last part. The accountability that other participants adds helps her keep going and gets her out of her own head.

“Usually I’m thinking ‘This hurts, that hurts, I should stop,’” she said. “I’ll look for any reason to stop: ‘I need to smell that flower.’

Now I see people at my own level. I know if they could run, I could run.

She’ll also do some running with her collie, Lunchbox, but she’s outmatched and resorts to some gamesmanship to tire her dog out.

“We’ll run for a mile, but then I’ll take her to a dog park,” she said.

Westervelt, also a triathlete who used to be a swimmer, doesn’t feel like she’s good at running, but she has diagnosed the problem.

“The form doesn’t come naturally to me,” she said. “Swimmers tend to have weak glutes and legs, and that makes it hard to run. Being someone who is good at other sports, it’s not appealing to do something I’m not good at.”

She also doesn’t have the same base of knowledge with the sport.

“I know how to train myself to swim and bike, but I have no idea how to run. That’s why I like the YTri atmosphere — there are people there to train me.”

She ran by herself for the first time in mid-July.

“I ran extremely slow, but it wasn’t the worst time I ever had,” she said.

She actually ran three miles instead of the planned two.

“I was listening to my headphones and all of a sudden, they said I had done a mile. I was shocked. I just kept going and it wasn’t painful.”

42 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | FALL 2015

DAVID KRAFT grimaces through strides at Meridan Hill Park.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY SARA ALEPIN/ PHOTOS FROM THE HARTY

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 43

A fundraising walk and 5K timed run benefiting the HIV and AIDS services and programs of

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY WWW.WALKTOENDHIV.ORG

BY EMILY RABBITT

WILL ETTI stretches in Long Bridge Park in Arlington.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY DUSTIN WHITLOW

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 45

The second act of Will Etti’s running life started with a bang, and it wasn’t a starter’s pistol. It was a drunk driver rear ending his car in 2009, leaving him unable to walk or speak without pain.

His painful recovery and inactivity brought his 5’7” frame up to 217 pounds.

His doctor recommended he focus on his cardiovascular health when he was well enough to run again.

In 2012, he started running with a fun run group near his home in Silver Spring. It was unstructured and offered a mix of different paces. More than anything it was fun, and he began to enjoy the camaraderie. These days even when Etti is out on the trails by himself, he enjoys the fellowship of runners, high-fiving strangers on the trails, gleaning inspiration from their miles.

The road back from the accident and its aftermath made Etti “a lot more appreciative” of being able to simply run. Winning and being the fastest are not his goals. He originally joined the Montgomery Country Road Runners with the idea that he might do a 5k or two. At the time, it seemed to be the right distance for him.

“I would never do a marathon,” he said of his early plans. “Why would you put yourself through that?”

Etti didn’t figure to be a marathoner when he first raced. Training year-round at Parkdale High School helped him get below five minutes for the mile. But Etti said he burnt out after years of training seven days a week, doing two-a-days, doing things like tying tires and parachutes to his waist. He competed in the 4x400, 4x800, mile and two-mile during indoor and outdoor track. He also ran cross country, ran with summer teams, and did additional morning runs on his own. He ran at University of Maryland but only briefly, finding it difficult to balance the demands of school and social life Life without running went on. Recalling the inspiration he felt during a high school field trip to National Institutes of Health (NIH), Etti wanted to go back, this time permanently, realizing, he said, that “there are all sorts of ways to help people without being a doctor.” After what felt like 100 applications, he volunteered to work for free to gain experience, went back to school to get a masters, and continues to work at NIH. He also started a family.

Sometime after his accident, Etti ran a gateway race, a 5k. That led to a 10k, then a half. Eventually he signed up for the Montgomery County Road Runners Club’s First Time Marathoners program and the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon.

Marine Corps ended up being a chance for Etti to learn from some mistakes. His 4:45 goal ended with a mile 16 cramp that left him walking toward the end.

Even in pain, he was able to find inspiration around him — from the spectators, the other runners, the stories on the course.

Now he’s signed up for the Baltimore

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Marathon this year. The lifelong Marylander (and Ravens fan) said he wants to support his home state.

Etti notices that his sons have taken in the idea of persistence by observing him doing his training runs, working through injury, and making it through his first marathon even though it didn’t go as planned. He had a bout with IT band syndrome last season that took a lot of foam rolling and some limping through races to come back from. After seeing him hobble through the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon, his sons asked him why he did it. He sat down with them and they watched videos of people running, including athletes with prosthetics. He told them that the important thing wasn’t to win, it was to try.

“Running doesn’t mean that you have it all or you’re perfect, just that you push yourself,” he said. “You can always challenge yourself.”

Etti’s hope is that his running can add value to other people’s lives. He’s been known to high five strangers on the trails on his regular runs and offer encouragement to his fellow runners in training. “I meet so many people through running. Even when I just see other people out on the trails it inspires me, just the love of running,” he said.

He said he’ll be happy just to finish without injury, but he also has in mind that a sub fivehour finish is within reach. He’s working on using different fuel to prevent cramping, including a camel pack full of coconut water on his long runs, and various types of gel and other fuel. FTM Coach Conroy Zien thinks Etti has the chance to see a great improvement over last year’s marathon, but shares the primary goal for him of finishing without injury.

In the meantime, he sees Etti as a runner his peers can rally around. Even in a group fairly glowing with positive vibes, Etti stands out.

“He’s always smiling, even at 6:30 in the morning,” said pace coach Kristen McElroy.

When asked how he stays positive all the time, Etti demurred, saying, “I don’t always feel that way. The rest of the group gives me encouragement. I just smile a lot, and then after three miles or so I get it together.”

After a hilly 14 miler in July with the FTM group, he reported feeling great, sweaty and smiling from the effort. “Feeling good at the end is very important,” he said. The group had gotten silent around mile 10, he said, so he started up a military-style, ‘I don’t know but I’ve been told’ chant that touted the 11:30 pace group as the best of the rest. His teammates appreciate his energy on the runs with equal generosity to friends and strangers.

Etti shuffled things around in his pack and moved his inhaler from one pocket to the other. “Hey,” one of the coaches said, “you have to let us know about that.” He shrugged it off — he’s had asthma since his days running track and he would just take his inhaler before he started out. “The more I ran the stronger I got,” Etti said. Now he keeps the inhaler around as a precautionary measure.

Of all he’s overcome, childhood asthma barely ranks.

RunWashington is profiling five marathoners online as they prepare for their Fall marathons.

Check in weekly to see updates from Etti and: Joe Divel Joe Divel wanted to run his first marathon at 50, but was not enamored with the online training program he picked. Now he’s flourishing with the Montgomery County Road Runners Club’s First Time Marathoners program and on course for the Marine Corps Marathon.

Meghan Ridgley After qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at the Philadelphia Marathon more than a decade ago, Ridgley, who lives in Reston and works and coaches for Potomac River Running, is heading back to take another swing at it. Cathy Pugsley, her longtime coach, and her team of physical therapists will keep her running and improving for her comeback race after a few years of nagging injuries.

Matt Deters The Arlington resident resumed running competitively three years ago and has watched his times plummet while training under George Buckheit and the Capital Area Runners. He would have liked to have taken his one good shot at the marathon, but a mishap at the Glass City Marathon has him pumped for revenge on the distance at the Philadelphia Marathon.

Amelia McKeithen Peer pressure and a sense of adventure convinced this Shaw resident to sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon, but her commitment to raise money for the Children’s Inn at NIH will keep her training and reaching for the finish line.

FALL 2015 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 47

Garfield teammates KIRK MASTERSON (left) and RYAN MAMMEN line up for their 1993 district track meet.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KIRK MASTERSON

BY KATIE BOLTON

On May 20, 1993, Garfield High School runners Ryan Mammen and Kirk Masterson lined up on the James Wood High School track for their first race of the district meet. As they waited, someone snapped a picture that tells the story of some of the earliest days of two accomplished local runners.

“We were pretty good guys, pretty nice, pretty honest people,” Mammen said of their younger selves. “Both good at school back then, just normal kids for this area.” As two of the fastest long-distance runners on their small team, they quickly bonded while training.

Around them, the other runners look down at their toes, while Mammen and Masterson gaze piercingly forward, telegraphing their coming victories. In a few minutes, Mammen will win his first district title, in the mile. Later that day, he will beat Masterson again in the two mile race. Masterson will retaliate by winning at regionals the following week. “The team knew we would win [districts] because we were pretty good. I think Kirk and I knew we would go 1-2 in that race,” Mammen said. “It was really just racing against each other, which we did in practice every day. ...For me, I guess it was very comfortable. I wasn’t always the best racer, so by having him there at the race and it being like a normal practice, I’m sure [it] helped.”

But in that moment, there was only potential.

Competition didn’t hinder the boys’

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friendship as much as the natural course of time. After Masterson went on to the Naval Academy, the two stayed friendly. They would hang out with teammates during school breaks.

This continued when Mammen left for James Madison University, but they gradually drifted apart. “I probably haven’t seen him since 1997, ‘98, I think at all until like two or three years ago ... It was great to see him,” Mammen says.

A few years after college, in 2003, Mammen re-entered the running scene, racking up overall and age-group awards through the 10k and twice qualifying for Boston. He was running full-time and “full bore”, 70 to 80 miles each week, while also working at Metro Run/Walk in Springfield and managing VA Runner in Woodbridge. Though an arthritic knee keeps him from running these days, he’s still in touch with several teammates from college and works a few days a week at VA Runner.

Masterson has run hard over the last decade too, leading most recently to a stint as president of the Washington Running Club.

Mammen isn’t nostalgic for his skinny teenage years, but that’s partly because he’s still involved in the running community and because he still feels a lot like the boy in the photo, just more mature and experienced.

“Looking at that picture, it’s pretty dorky, but a lot of that’s just changing styles,” he said.

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2015 CLARENDON DAY What better way to celebrate Clarendon than a run down it’s most storied boulevard? Join us for the Clarendon Day 10K/5K & Kids Dash, the official kick off to the popular Clarendon Day Festival presented by the Clarendon Alliance. Easily one of the area’s fastest courses, this course takes runners along a foot tour of the eclectic neighborhoods along the orange line. Top off the race with a post-race party at Clarendon’s hometown watering hole, Whitlow’s on Wilson, and other great restaurants, pubs, and vendors.

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