With the rancorous cacophony that is our recent news cycle, one could be inclined to believe that Washington, D.C. is currently an anger-filled swamp of hell.
I grew up in central Virginia, have friends who live in D.C., and my wife worked for a contractor at a federal agency for a year, right in the heart of the city. Because of all of that, I\u2019ve spent a decent amount of time there for work and vacation and I\u2019ve gotten to log a number miles in the city and surrounding communities. Though it\u2019s a heavily developed and urban area, there are pleasant places to run, even today.
On my most recent trip, I stayed in Arlington for a conference and my hotel was a quarter mile from the Mt. Vernon trail. Ahead of my visit, I wondered whether this was a good running path or if it had turned into an urban camping corridor. It was the former. The section I was on ran near the Potomac and in some spots, provided wonderful views of several monuments on the National Mall. Other users were consistently courteous, such as cyclists waiting to pass until there was no oncoming pedestrian\/bicycle traffic, and people not running or cycling in a way where they were hogging the middle of the path. In one spot, the trail ran through an on-ramp to the George Washington Parkway. When I saw it from a little ways back, I figured I would have to make a mad dash across it to avoid traffic. Instead, the cars were remarkably patient and allowed everyone to cross.
I\u2019ve run on the National Mall and it was a good way to see some of the city’s highlights. Over a five-mile run, there are close-up views of the Capitol, White House, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial, among other buildings. The pathways on the Mall are a relatively soft, light tan dirt and gravel mix (the federal government must have trillions of tons of this stuff locked away for resurfacing\/repair because it\u2019s been the exact same for as long as I can remember) and I usually see other runners on it. While there are a few street crossings, it\u2019s a pleasant experience.
Maybe it\u2019s nostalgia but I like to think that my enjoyment of running there is due to good design and people there using the paths in a reasonable way. There are likely pockets of angst in the city these days, maybe big ones, but the running miles are still enjoyable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the rancorous cacophony that is our recent news cycle, one could be inclined to believe that Washington, D.C. is currently an anger-filled swamp of hell. I grew up in central Virginia, have friends who live in D.C., and my wife worked for a contractor at a federal agency for a year, right in the … <\/p>\n