National Women’s Half Marathon, Washington DC, Sunday, 5/7/2023
This is a review written by Jennifer Clark (mostly because Bully Bell and I didn’t go!):
The DC National Women’s Half Marathon and 8K was this morning. This is the fourth year they’ve had the race (with a couple year break for Covid) and said they had 2000 participants. It’s my third time to run it.
The race started near the tidal basin a few blocks from the Lincoln Memorial. We ran around the tidal basin, then headed toward Rock Creek Parkway where we ran 3 miles, turned around and headed back to the tidal basin. The start and finish line were at the same place. And It is always good to run into a friend!
It’s always fun to me to see the DC sites, including Reagan National Airport and the wharf across the water, and going past some of the monuments. There was one site that was extraordinary… the Washington Monument framed in the early morning sunrise!
The course is mostly flat with a few rolling hills from mile 7 to 9. It’s on city streets, so do you have the usual broken asphalt and potholes in places.
Positives… The streets we ran on were closed to traffic, and there was great police support from the city and the national park service. There were aid stations every 2 miles with water and Gatorade. There is some crowd support on the route include a drum corps group and a man and his dog entertaining us all!
Negatives…This race is basically no-frills. The swag is a t-shirt and medal; after the race you get a bottle of water and a banana. Packet pick-up is difficult. It was at a running store in a suburb Friday, and at another running store in a suburb further away Saturday. They did have limited pickup early before the race.
Getting to the race start is difficult also. The streets around the park are closed early and there is very limited parking in the area. If you use rideshare or taxi you have to be dropped off a half mile away and walk the rest of the way.
There aren’t many half marathons in DC but this is a solid choice if you know what to expect. And yes, I would do it again!
