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Crystal City 5K Fridays Return in April

By ARLnow.com

Pay no mind to the white stuff on the ground. The start of spring is a mere four weeks away (March 20).

One annual springtime tradition that’s quickly approaching is Crystal City’s 5K Fridays.

Every Friday in April, starting on April 1, Crystal Drive and Old Jefferson Davis Highway will be shut down between 6:15 and 7:30 p.m. to allow hundreds of runners to take a jog through the heart of Crystal City.

Registration for individual races is $20, while registration for the entire series of five races is $75.

The first three races will include a tie-in with Crystal City’s upcoming FLASH photography exhibit. Runners will get free admission and a free drink at an after-party held in the exhibit space, provided they remember to hang on to their racing bib.

Pentagon City Road Closures for Valentine’s Day Race

By ARLnow.com

Police will close a number of streets in the Pentagon City area Sunday morning for the Love The Run You’re With 5K race.

The sold-out race will start and end in front of Pentagon Row. The roads affected are:

  • South Joyce St. between South 15th St. and Army Navy Dr. will be closed from 7:00 AM until 11:00 AM.
  • Army Navy Dr. between South Joyce St. and South 25th St. will be closed from 7:00 AM until 11:00 AM.

Arlington County also issued the following parking advice.

Race attendees are encouraged to use Metro however, if driving please utilize the parking garage at the Pentagon City Mall.

In addition, street parking in the area will be restricted.  Motorists should be on the lookout for temporary “No Parking” signs.  Illegally parked vehicles may be ticketed or towed.  If your vehicle is towed from a public street, call 703-228-4252.

Registration Open for Local Winter/Spring Races

By ARLnow.com

Registration opened today for the 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic, and a number of other local winter/spring races are also currently in registration mode.

The GW Parkway Classic will be held on the morning of Sunday, April 10 in Alexandria. There is a 10 mile course and a 5K course, which start at either Mt. Vernon Estates or Belle Haven Park and end at Oronoco Bay Park in Old Town.

The 2011 race calendar kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 13, with the annual Love The Run You’re With 5K, a Valentine’s Day-themed race for couples and singles alike. The run starts and ends at Pentagon Row, followed by a post-race party.

On Saturday, Feb. 19, the GW Birthday Classic will take runners on a 10K course up and down Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria.

And on Saturday, March 12, the second annual Four Courts Four Miler will invade the Courthouse and Rosslyn areas. The race sold out last year and attracted a big crowd, despite windy, rainy weather. Even if the weather is miserable again this year, there will at least be “food, friends and a bit of liquid courage at the end of the rainbow,” as organizers describe the post-race festivities.

Photo by Barry Skidmore

Road Closures Near Pentagon on Sunday for Army Ten Miler

By ARLnow.com

A number of roads near the Pentagon will be closed for Sunday morning’s Army Ten Miler race. Here’s the news release from the Arlington County Police Department:

The Arlington County Police Department will close several streets near the Pentagon on Sunday, October 24, for the 26th Annual Army 10-Miler race.  The race begins at 8 a.m. on Washington Boulevard, crosses the Potomac River into the District of Columbia, and ends in the Pentagon South Parking Lot.

The following roads in Arlington will be affected:

* Washington Boulevard (Route 27), between I-395 and Memorial Bridge, will be closed in both directions at 5:30 A.M.
* Columbia Pike, east of South Joyce Street, will be closed at 5:30 A.M.
* I-395 HOV southbound lanes will be closed at 5:30 A.M.
* South Eads Street, from Army Navy Drive into the Pentagon/northbound I-395 HOV lanes, will be closed at 4:30 A.M.

All of the roads should be reopened by noon.

In addition, access to the Pentagon Reservation will be restricted to “Authorized Vehicles Only” from 4:30 A.M. to 2 P.M. Pentagon employees must park at the North Parking Lots using the Boundary Channel Drive access points.

Runners, spectators and support personnel are encouraged to use Metro, parking is limited.  The Pentagon and Pentagon City stations on the Blue and Yellow Lines are located within walking distance of the start and finish lines.

Have Fun at Weekend Fundraisers

By ARLnow.com

Want to have fun, learn something new, get some exercise, meet cool people and raise money for a good cause? If so, there are three great events to attend this weekend, starting tonight. (Is it wishful thinking to consider Thursday night the weekend?)

Tonight, the Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation is partnering with the Colon Cancer Alliance, Harry’s Tap Room and socialite/blogger Pamela Sorensen to throw a happy hour fundraiser, part of the DC Goes Blue Week for Colon Cancer. It’s taking place from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Harry’s Tap Room (2800 Clarendon Blvd). The happy hour will include a silent auction, raffle prizes, a signature “Blue Life” cocktail specially created for DC Goes Blue week, as well as special guest celebrities. A portion of all sales from the event will go to benefit Chris4Life and the Colon Cancer Alliance.

On Saturday, the Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium will hold another “Night at the Planetarium” fundraiser, consisting of shows and outdoor stargazing. See more details from our post earlier this week.

Finally on Sunday, the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund will hold a 5K run/walk at Bluemont Park (601 North Manchester Street). All fees collected for this event will go to help prevent and treat cancer. All participants receive a race T-shirt, and children under 13 will also receive a blue ribbon. See more information here.

There’s a lot more going on this weekend. Check out our events calendar for more.

More Hardware for Prolific Arlington Runner

By ARLnow.com

Arlington marathoner Michael Wardian has a couple of new medals for his extensive collection. Wardian, 36, placed third in the 50K World Championship race in Galway, Ireland, earning a bronze medal on behalf of the USA.

Just a week later, on Sunday, Sept. 4, Wardian won the Kaua’i Marathon in Hawaii. His time of 2:30:52 just barely missed the 2:30 mark, which would have earned him a $15,000 bonus prize. Another Arlington runner, Michael Zinn, placed 17th in the race.

Finally, on Sunday, Wardian placed third in the Parks Half-Marathon in Montgomery County.

Registration Still Open for Arlington 9/11 Run

By ARLnow.com

Online registration is now closed for this year’s Arlington 9/11 Memorial 5K, but runners can still register in person over the next three days.

The race, which was started by two Arlington police officers in 2002, will be held Saturday in Pentagon City. Thousands of runners are expected to participate.

Team and online registration is closed, but anyone interested in participating can register in person today at Pacers Running Store in Clarendon (3100 Clarendon Blvd) between noon and 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday, in person registration will take place at the Pacers store in Pentagon City (1101 South Joyce Street) from noon to 9:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday it will take place at the DoubleTree Hotel in Pentagon City (300 Army Navy Drive). The cost of registration is $30 now, $35 on race day.

The race will kick off from the DoubleTree at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Fifteen minutes before the race, Del. Bob Brink (D-Arlington) will dedicate part of Washington Boulevard as “9/11 Heroes Memorial Highway.”

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Joins Region-Wide HOV Enforcement Effort Today — Today Arlington police will be joining Virginia State Police and other local law enforcement agencies in an effort to crack down on HOV violators. During the morning and evening rush hours, police will step up HOV patrols on I-66, I-395 and other local highways. More from WaPo’s Dr. Gridlock.

Injured Vets Stop at Iwo Jima Memorial on Cross-County Bike Ride — A group of 18 bicyclists, many of them wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stopped in Arlington last night on their way from San Francisco to Virginia Beach. The vets stopped at the Marine Corps Memorial to see the retiring of the colors ceremony. More from the Associated Press.

Moran’s Cash Advantage Over Murray Nearly 20:1 — Talk about an incumbent advantage. In the latest disclosure period, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) reported nearly twenty times as much cash on hand as his Republican challenger, Patrick Murray. Murray has $29,890 to Moran’s $581,829. The Sun Gazette reports that Murray’s congressional campaign also has $35,000 in unpaid debt.

Annual Twilight 5K Returns to Crystal City Saturday — Now in its third year, the Crystal City Twilighter 5K will once again wind its way through the streets of Crystal City as the sun sets Saturday night. The race will get underway around 8:00 p.m. on Crystal Drive between 20th Street and 23rd Street. The Twilighter features medals for the top three finishers in 16 age groups, cash prizes for the top five finishers, and a killer after party. Online registration for the race ends Friday.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Lost Chaplin Film Re-Debuts at Slapsticon — The Slapsticon film festival, held in Rosslyn over the weekend, debuted a silent film with a short cameo by a then-obscure comedian: Charlie Chaplin. The 1914 film was thought to have been lost to history, but was recently discovered at an antiques sale in Michigan. ABC News reported on the film’s re-debut on Sunday.

We Love DC Profile Columbia Pike — In case you missed it on Friday, We Love DC gave Columbia Pike some love in the latest installment of its periodic “Where We Live” feature.

Run for the Gulf 5K a Success — A 5K race was held at Bluemont Park Friday night to raise money for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill restoration effort. County Board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman and congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) were among those in attendance. See a photo from the event here.

Flick pool photo by Amberture.

Michael Wardian Sets World Indoor Marathon Record

By ARLnow.com

An 82-year-old world record was broken in Arlington last night.

Michael Wardian, an Arlington resident and one of the country’s premiere distance runners, crushed the world record for an indoor track marathon, completing the 26.2 miles in 2:27:21. The old record was 2:34:54, set in Boston back in 1928.

Wardian set the record at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center, which has a 200-meter soft urethane track. To complete the marathon, he had to run 211 laps.

Wardian, who works as an international shipbroker in Georgetown, is no stranger to setting records. He set the world records for fastest marathon while pushing a baby stroller and fastest marathon on a treadmill, but both of those records have since been broken (“I hope to get them back soon,” he told us).

Wardian says he enjoyed setting this record so close to home.

“It feels great and I was so happy to be able to do it at Thomas Jefferson Community Center… close to my house in front of my family and friends,” he said.

Pool photo taken last night by Chris Rief.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Real Estate Prices Rise — Real estate prices continue to rise in Arlington, reports local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk. In May, prices of townhouses and detached single-family homes rose 4 percent and 5 percent respectively compared to 2009. The condo market was up 1 percent.

ACPD Investigating Thefts from Government Buildings — A group of thieves is targeting secured government buildings in Northern Virginia. According to The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, the thieves wait for people to swipe their security badges at entrances, nonchalantly follow them in, and then proceed to steal valuables from unoccupied offices. The Arlington County Police Department is conducting a joint investigation of the break-ins with the U.S. Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service.

Crystal Cup Results — Yesterday we brought you a recap of the Air Force Cycling Classic’s Clarendon Cup, which was held on Saturday, but neglected to mention the results of the second half of the Classic — the Crystal Cup, which was held in Crystal City on Sunday. Luckily, CyclingNews.com covered the race here.  Among those taking the podium following the women’s race was local rider Erin Silliman.

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