I had the good fortune to travel to Washington DC for what's becoming our annual travel destination when we close Fleet Feet for the New Years Holiday.
Our nations Capitol is not only a beautiful city to visit for all it has to offer, but it's an outstanding city to run in as well.
We usually stay in Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is a very short drive outside of DC proper. Old Town is a quaint colonial DC suburb that has charm and great spots to eat and shop. It also is where we begin when we want to start out our day with a great run.
King Street is the "main drag" in Old Town. We typically drive or run, down to the bottom of King St. which takes you to the banks of the Potomac. There, we take the paved trail that allows you to choose to go towards DC, or in the opposite direction towards Mt. Vernon, VA. We typically take the route towards the city.
The path winds through parks and wooded area, and it's relatively flat compared to this area of NJ. As you run along this path, you'll get great views of Maryland across the Potomac and as you near the city, great views of DC. We've taken this trail as far as the Pentagon which means you run along and pass Reagan International Airport. The route from Old Town to the Pentagon is about 5 miles. So, a round tripper will give you roughly a 10 mile run.
When inside the DC city limits, our favorite route is the DC Mall. "The Mall" is a large grassy area that spans from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. It too is relatively flat for running and you have the option to run on the sidewalks that run along the Mall or, you can run on a gravel path that's "on the grass."
Either way, this run will allow you to enjoy many of the most popular sites in DC. If you run the entire route I described above, you'll see the Capitol, the numerous museums that make up the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, the White House, Vietnam War Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. If you're lucky enough to run this route during the spring, the cherry blossoms make this run even more memorable. A round trip will give you a run of about 4 miles!
Washington DC is a dream city for site seeing but, that dream continues if you love to run!
If any of you have run in DC on routes other than the ones I've decribed, please share them as we'd love to give them a try on our next visit!
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