23rd September 2017 - Saturday

Saturday morning usually means one thing, parkrun!  Here is a report that a filed with the parkrun team at Roosevelt Island DC parkrun HQ. You can read that below (with photos!).

Once I got back from a very hot and sweaty run across The Mall. We got ready and decided to head out to Georgetown before our walking tour there in the afternoon. As I mention below, the temperature was very hot today, without any clouds in the sky. 

We got the bus over to Georgetown as the subway doesn't go there. Typically the bus route was diverted so we had a bit of trouble finding the right stop to get on. There were some English tourists boarding the bus at the same time without the correct money, which provided some entertainment.

Once we got over the Georgetown, we sat in the shade and had a sandwich for lunch. We looked at the views across the harbour, ironically including where the parkrun was in the morning! We walked up to the nearby high street to get some respite in some air conditioned shops. By this point, we decided there was no way we could do a walking tour in this heat. So I contacted the tour company to cancel our spots and we caught the bus back downtown.

We decided to go back to the sports bar we had visited earlier in the week. It was quite busy and lively with plenty of people watching the american football on the screens. I had noticed some Caps fans (Washington Capitals, there ice hockey team) too. And after a quick google search discovered that there pre-season and started already and you could get tickets fairly cheaply to a game tonight.

So we bought those and headed over a couple of blocks to the Verizon centre where the arena is. The game was actually not bad, better than any standard back home in the UK. The arena was about half full, maybe about 5 to 10 thousand in attendance. There was some notable decent players playing on both teams, including Alexenda Ovechkin for Washington who is one of the best active players at the moment and a personal favourite of Vladimir Putin. This was a nice way to spend the even as it was fairly cold in the arena. It was then only a short walk back to the hotel

Roosevelt Island parkrun Run Report #49 23^rd September 2017

Stephen’s home parkrun is Woodhouse Moor in Leeds., UK. He reached 50 parkruns last weekend and is also a member of the volunteer 25 club.

Similar to Laura, I too was embarking on my first parkrun tourism overseas. What better way to plan your holiday to the US east coast than with a parkrun in the middle? A bit of a disclaimer up front, I am terrible with names so I’m sorry if I can’t remember who was who, I’ll have to blame it on the heat!

First off, getting up on a Saturday morning is even easier when still slightly jet lagged and on some remnant of GMT (EST +5). It was a beautiful sunny day, without a cloud in the sky and the temperature was already rising. We were staying nearby at Union Station and I had contemplated a “warm-up” jog over to Roosevelt Island. However, I opted for the safest option of the subway, as I didn’t want to be late. Can you imagine travelling 3500 miles for a parkrun and being late?!

To my good fortune, I spotted a group of youngsters (later to discover they were a running club from American University), some of whom were clutching printed barcodes. (…a sure giveaway of a fellow parkrunner!). Not wanting to seem like a stalker, I asked them if they’d show me the way from Rosslyn subway station to the start. They met up with some fellow club members and ran off to the start, however I opted to take a stroll over the bridge and take in the magnificent views of the river and island. That’s when it occurred to me, I’ve done over 30 different events and none of them are on their own island!

The start was easy to find, thanks to some good signage and a lovely parkrun banner at the start line. The trails had a lovely canopy over them provided by the trees and vegetaion. There was a cool breeze too, a great morning for parkrun. I went off for a few stretches, a warm-up and of course to grab a selfie with Teddie. The runners briefing was nice and informal, including a lovely presentation for their volunteer of the season. We had tourists too; from Poland, Australia and the UK.

Soon, we were off. I’d admit, I’m a decent runner, sub 20 minutes usually, but I was relieved to be overtaken by Daniel. I’m more of a social runners so I don’t know if I was imposing but I checked he knew the way and that’d I’d try to stay the same pace. However, Daniel casually says, “I’ll be doing 6 minutes, then steadily increasing from there.” There’s no way I’ll be able to keep up I think!

We take the sharp left by the road bridge down onto the boardwalk, the springy boards I think are helping me keep up. I take a moment to again, take in the beautiful scenery as it feels as though you’re running over the water and amongst the trees and plants. There are some people sitting on a bench and for a fraction of a second I think it looks nicer than running in this heat!

We return to solid ground, Daniel is moving a bit further ahead, and we reach a short uphill section and he easily goes another 10 yards ahead, I’ll be on my own from here on! There was no need to worry though as the route was really well signposted.  There was also a very cheerful marshal and a few spectators to see as we approach the monument, zigzag around it and complete the lasso-loop.

By the time we were past halfway, the sweltering heat was beginning to take its toll. I have no idea how other runners keep this going for 30 minutes or more. I appreciate we have it easy at the front, being able to finish relatively quickly. There was a steady string of runners to pass on the way back with gentle words of encouragement exchanged.

There was also a big group of college athletes circling the island that needed careful manoeuvring to get past, but they did move over on the boardwalk, as well as some dog walkers who I thanked as I ran past, by now a sweaty mess for sure. The final 1km was a bit hard going after a week of walking around DC seeing the sights. Although there was a downhill finish (which I’m always a fan of!)., and soon I was clocked over the line at 19:33.

After taking a moment to compose myself, and re-hydrate! There was a nice group of finishers to chat to whilst we waiting for everyone to finish. This was supposed to by a definitive trip to DC for me, however I just got more travel advise and suggestions of even more places to visit. I guess we’ll be coming back again! At least I can sell that to my wife, when really I know it’ll be to come and visit Roosevelt Island again!